With the provincial election coming this fall, Saskatchewan voters will soon be receiving information about polling stations and voting areas based on newly redrawn constituency boundaries. For some communities and rural residents, the final report of the Saskatchewan 2022 Constituency Boundaries Commission will result in some disconnects from past practice. Nowhere are shifts more clear than along boundary edges that will see some locales drift from one constituency to another, sometime placing voters in a geographic and regional economic pool that has little to do with them. 

Take for example the four corners of constituencies in the Humboldt region.  

One of the most notable sets of shifts occurs in the Humboldt-Watrous boundaries. The new lines cast the village of Muenster outside its previous boundaries and now in the Melfort constituency. Given the proximity of Humboldt and Muenster, and their close economic and social ties, Muenster village residents will need to focus on candidates who serve communities and RM’s far to their north and east. 

Further to the south, the town of Lanigan will now find its residents voting in Kelvington-Wadena instead of Humboldt-Watrous. 

The reason for the changes is simply population shifts over the decade since the constituency boundaries were last redrawn. The Boundaries Commission Report states that the mandate is to ensure that there is no more than a plus or minus five percent population variation between constituencies. As populations dropped or grew within a constituency boundary, the lines were redrawn to better distribute the 18-year-old plus voting population within the 5 percent threshold.  

Consequently, Kelvington-Wadena now extends significantly beyond its previous boundary in the southwest to take in the communities of LeRoy, Lanigan, Drake, Jansen and the southern border at Nokomis.  

The Batoche constituency now extends south to Highway 5 along its western boundary, taking in areas outlying Saskatoon. Weldon and Kinistino now fall into Melfort.  

While the Commission’s work wrapped up in 2022 following a series of well-publicized public consultations, many voters, especially those in constituency border communities, may need to familiarize themselves with new polling stations and a geographical shift in thinking.  

For detailed maps, click the link to the 2022 Commission Report.