SASK VOTES 2024: An inside look at campaigning in rural areas

A provincial election means pamphlets filling mailboxes and hopeful candidates knocking on doors while vying for the votes of Saskatchewan residents.

In urban centers, covering an entire neighborhood can be fairly straightforward, but running in a rural area poses a unique set of challenges for candidates.

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Barret Kropf, the Saskatchewan Party’s candidate for Dakota-Arm River, is campaigning in a riding that spans nearly 50,000 square kilometers. This area extends south of Bethune toward Saskatoon and includes regions near Outlook and Elbow, encompassing approximately 16,000 voters.

Barret Kropf, the Sask. Party candidate for Dakota-Arm River (centre), with his volunteers. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

“It makes a lot of turf for us to door knock,” he said.

Kropf said his strategy focuses on attending a variety of events in small towns, including rodeos, parades, pancake breakfasts, harvest celebrations and hockey games.

“A hockey rink is kind of like the church in every small town,” he said. “It’s packed on the weekends.”

Reaching such an extensive constituency has also put wear and tear on the tires for both Kropf and his volunteers.

“We’ve gone through six oil changes on our vehicles. That tells you how many kilometres we’ve travelled to cover every inch of this riding,” he said. “That’s a lot of McDonald’s coffees and bags of sunflower seeds.”

Barret Kropf, Sask. Party candidate for Dakota-Arm River, says he’s been knocking on many doors in many small towns during the election campaign. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Kropf said homes in his riding are often at least half a kilometre apart.

“In the city, you can knock on 1,000 doors a night with a strong team. But here, if we have a strong team, we are pretty happy with 200 doors,” he said.

So far, Kropf said he and his team have visited 4,500 homes.

Kropf emphasized the value of engaging in face-to-face conversations with voters, regardless of what their lawn sign says.

“I will still go knock and make sure that I’m showing that I care,” he said. “They need to know that I’ve got their back. It doesn’t matter which colour flag they fly.”

Tammy Pike, the Saskatchewan NDP candidate for Martensville-Blairmore, also has a lot of ground to cover in a constituency populated by approximately 15,000 voters.

Tammy Pike, the NDP candidate for Martensville-Blairmore (centre right), with some of the volunteers helping her campaign. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Her riding is a hybrid of both urban and rural areas that include Saskatoon’s Kensington neighbourhood, Cathedral Bluffs, the town of Dalmeny, and the surrounding rural areas.

To reach as many doorsteps as possible, Pike said she has support from dozens of campaign staff members who assist her in connecting with thousands of prospective voters.

She also includes personalized notes on many of the pamphlets she leaves at each door.

“When I first started, it was very important to make sure we knocked on every door and made sure we had the opportunity to talk to every person,” she said, adding that she and her volunteers often return to neighborhoods multiple times to connect with voters at home.

Pike said her team also reaches people in rural areas by phone, and will arrange a time to speak with voters in person if they wish.

She explained that campaigning across such an extensive area takes up a considerable amount of time.

“We are usually at it in the office 8:30 (or) 9 o’clock, and we have still been there at midnight on occasion,” she said.

Like Kropf, Pike said she knocks on every door, regardless of the party signs displayed, stressing the importance of addressing any concerns voters may have.

“It’s always an opportunity to get a Sask. Party and an NDP sign on the same lawn,” she said with a laugh.