All Aboard the Liberty Train!

The last two days of our tour has been a whirlwind of activity that has seen us visit 11 different communities in less than 48 hours. As I sit at this moment in the Whitesand Regional Park campground I can’t help but feel as though our Tour RV has been more like a train that has been rolling from station to station- and at each stop we have been able to meet with dozens of people and spread our New Liberal message of Personal Liberty and Freedom of Enterprise.

The first day started with a departure from Crystal Lake. Ryan Androsoff and I were joined by our friend and former Saskatchewan Liberal President Greg Gallagher whose cabin we stayed in the night before.

Our first stop was at Stenen at 9:30am, where we visited with local residents at a few businesses. We then were back on track as we headed to Preeceville for our next stop at 11am. We met people on Main Street and visited with a few businesspeople, and then headed down the line to Sturgis for lunch at noon.

After lunch with some local residents we headed south down the line to Canora. I was no stranger to this community as many of my friends from University were from there. Canora and the overflow campground at Good Spirit Lake were the site of our Annual Canada Day Long Weekend ‘reunion,’ although it’s been several years since our last one.

In Canora we visited some local businesses and met people at a local coffee shop before we headed back on the line to Kamsack. By now we had a good momentum- we visited more businesspeople and supporters and then headed back down the line to Veregin. In Veregin we visited the National Doukhobor Museum before headed back to Canora for supper at Wong’s Café on Main Street. Our evening concluded back at Crystal Lake where we enjoyed a few hours of rest on the calm waters of the lake before heading for an early bedtime.

We were up early at 6am in order to get to our next stop at Norquay where we enjoyed breakfast at the Whistle Stop restaurant. We enjoyed conversations with local people over breakfast, a few more business visits, and then we said good-bye to Greg as Ryan and I headed further south down the line to Melville.

In Melville we met people in the downtown area before heading back to Yorkton for lunch. After a nice lunch on a restaurant patio, we headed to the Broadway area to meet more people and for some interviews and discussions with local media. Our day concluded with another ride down the line to Theodore, where our Liberty Train reached the Whitesand Regional Park- our last stop of the day.

We learned a lot from people and heard a similar message about community sustainability and the desire for a different kind of politics in Saskatchewan. I heard repeated feedback from people that they did not feel like we were ‘ordinary’ politicians or opportunists- that we had a genuine desire to learn about what is needed in east central Saskatchewan. After all, we came round their way years ahead of an election. Our reception in these communities was very good, which makes sense considering that 4 of the 5 seats in this area were Liberal in 1995.