The Saskatchewan Party has a new candidate for Saskatoon Eastview.
Chris Guérette, the current CEO of the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association (SRHBA), will take the nomination following former candidate Daryl Cooper’s resignation Saturday.
Guérette has been the CEO of the SRHBA since 2016 and has over 15 years of leadership experience in the housing, not-for-profit, health and education fields.
“Elections are not won by simply, an individual alone. There are with teams,” she said during a Sunday morning press conference. “Elections are not won on social media, they’re won on the doorsteps… that’s where I’m going to be spending my time.”
Cooper, the former candidate for the Saskatchewan Party, resigned after now-deleted social media posts and interactions linked to conspiracy group QAnon surfaced online.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe addressed the comments Sunday morning.
“Once we were made aware of the posts, we took the appropriate action. We were made aware on Friday,” he explained.
“I have had just a brief time to look at what exactly QAnon is, and I’d first and foremost that these are not policies or directions that the Saskatchewan Party government supports or in any way, embrace.”
Moe said the posts by Cooper were made after the vetting process, which he described as “thorough.”
“I won’t go into great detail on why, or what the theories are,” he said. “We have a number of different theories that are based in science.”
“It doesn’t have any place in the Saskatchewan Party, I would condemn the views of (QAnon) and we should not be in any way, sharing or promoting these views in the province.”
Moe said if a similar situation is to come up in the future, the party will take appropriate action.
Guérette said she doesn’t share the same views but knows she needs to build the trust of the constituents to secure the seat.
“Those constituents deserve a candidate that’s going to represent those views, and work hard,” she explained.
The SRHBA said it wishes Guérette all the best in her endeavour into politics, according to a Sunday press release.
“Guérette will continue working for the Association at a significantly reduced capacity for the next three weeks to ensure a transition with the team. Should Guérette be successful in her efforts on election night, October 26th, she will be resigning and assisting the Board with the transition to new leadership,” SHRBA’s press release reads.
Guérette will look to retain the seat for the Saskatchewan Party after former MLA Cory Tochor, the current MP for Saskatoon University, stepped away to run in the last federal election.
Cooper responds to resignation
Daryl Cooper resigned from his position Saturday, but he released a statement Sunday following Guérette’s nomination.
“I submitted my resignation from this team not because I did anything wrong, but because I did not want to become a distraction in the debate about the important issues facing our province,” the emailed statement reads.
“Let me be clear. I am not a member of internet groups such as QAnon. I do not subscribe to or support conspiracy theories such as they advance. Any fair reading of my social media posts would make this clear.”
Cooper said he educated himself on as many diverse opinions as he could find, as a rookie in politics.
“Reputations are sullied not by actual actions or beliefs but by innuendo and digital lynching. This makes reasoned political debate about the future of our country and province very difficult. It artificially reduces the choices available to voters,” he said in the statement.
Cooper also pointed to the Sandra Morin case in Regina Walsh Acres as voters being denied the option to elect a representative for the residents.