Matthew Liebenberg
The next provincial election in Saskatchewan is set to take place in 2028, but political parties have already started the process to nominate their candidates.
The name of Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley will again be on the ballot as the Saskatchewan Party candidate for the city.
The party held an uncontested nomination meeting in Swift Current on Oct. 15 where Hindley was officially nominated and acclaimed as candidate in the next provincial election.
He reflected on his nomination and the party’s preparation for the next election during an interview with this newspaper on Oct. 21. He expressed gratitude to local party members for their ongoing endorsement.
“It’s always an honour and I’m very fortunate to have the support of Saskatchewan Party members in the Swift Current constituency,” he said. “It’s not lost on me that not many people get this opportunity to run as a candidate for a provincial party here in Saskatchewan, and to run as a candidate here for the Saskatchewan Party to continue to be an influence on the government on behalf of the constituents of Swift Current is a role I take seriously.”
Premier Scott Moe was nominated in April 2026 as the Saskatchewan Party’s first of 61 candidate for the 2028 provincial election. Hindley was the party’s tenth candidate to be nominated since then.
He was the only candidate seeking the party’s nomination for the Swift Current constituency. The nomination meeting was therefore a formality, because there was no need for a vote to take place.
“If I’m doing my job as the MLA and as the Saskatchewan Party representative for the constituency, I would hope that people would choose to have me to continue to serve, but it’s not a given,” he said. “We do have an open nomination process and any Saskatchewan Party member can run for the nomination. It happened before where sitting MLAs have been challenged. Sometimes the MLAs are successful and other times they’re defeated by a new candidate. That’s the value of an open nomination process.”
He was first elected as the MLA for Swift Current in a 2018 by-election. He was re-elected in the provincial elections of 2020 and 2024.
“There’s never a dull moment,” he said. “Obviously there’s some times where it’s quieter than others, but there’s always new people that you’re talking to, new issues that crop up that you try to navigate on their behalf as best you can and there’s things you want to get done in the community and see that this constituency continues to be well represented, and I want to continue to do that.”
He still feels motivated to continue in this role if he is re-elected in the next provincial election.
“It was something that I made my mind up on fairly quickly,” he said about seeking the party’s nomination again. “There’s still some exciting times ahead for Swift Current and it’s something I’m proud to be part of.”
He described interactions with local residents and other elected officials as well as the opportunity to engage with community-based organizations and service groups as highlights of his role as MLA.
“It’s something that I never take for granted,” he said. “I don’t think any elected official should ever take for granted that you’re there as a public servant. You’re there to represent the people to the best of your ability.”
He added that it is not always possible in his role as MLA to provide an answer to someone or to assist them with an issue.
“There are days where you’re discouraged and frustrated that you haven’t been able to change something or fix something, but there are days where you are able to do that and if you have more of those days, then you’re doing the right thing,” he said. “It’s just such a humbling opportunity and something I’ll never forget when the time comes when I’m not doing this job anymore.”
Hindley has served in various roles as a member of the governing party since his election as MLA. He was government whip and legislative secretary to the minister of trade and export development. He has been a cabinet member in different portfolios since November 2020, initially as minister of mental health and addictions, seniors and rural and remote health. He became the minister of health in August 2023 and he has been the minister of education since November 2024.
“They’re big jobs and sometimes they take a lot of time out of my schedule,” he said about his different ministerial roles. “But it’s most important for me to serve as the MLA for this community and to represent the people of Swift Current. I’m very grateful to get to carry the Saskatchewan Party banner once again for this constituency in the next provincial election. That’s something that I always look forward to.”
He noted that the local constituency association is already preparing for the next provincial election campaign.
“We’re always getting ready,” he said. “We’re making sure that we have funds raised for the next election campaign, that we have a team assembled for that campaign so that when the time comes that we can get a campaign office up and running fairly quickly, that we can get some lawn signs around the community fairly quickly, that we can have an army of volunteers who can go door knocking with me to seek support for the next election.”
He feels confident about talking to voters about the Saskatchewan Party government’s record in office since the previous election in 2024.
“We’re proud of the record that we have built as a province,” he said. “Is there more that we can do? Certainly. We’re focused on trying to achieve that. We have never as a government said that we’re perfect and we try to learn from our mistakes.”
He noted that Saskatchewan is an exporter of a growing number of commodities during a period of very uncertain times economically across the globe.
“A lot of really positive economic activity is happening in Saskatchewan, which we need to help fund the social programs and the infrastructure that we need to invest in,” he said. “We as a government want to make sure that we’re continuing to foster that economic growth so we can pay for the things that people in our communities expect and that they deserve.”
