Ens can't bring down Wall in Swift Current

NDP Candidate Aaron Ens checks incoming results on election night at his campaign office in Swift Current. Photo by Sean Trembath.

by Sean Trembath

Swift Current NDP candidate Aaron Ens kept a positive attitude after Monday night's provincial election, despite falling to incumbent premier Brad Wall by a convincing margin.

Ens received 1,224 votes, which was 16.6 per cent of the vote in the riding, to Wall's 5,929, or 80.7 per cent. Amanda Huxted of the Green Party collected 192 votes. Ens was gracious in defeat, focusing on the great effort he said his team put forth.

“It's been a pretty good, hard-fought election. I'm very proud of my entire team,” he said immediately after media sources called the constituency for Wall.

With the massive popularity of both Wall and his Saskatchewan Party, Ens knew that victory in this election was unlikely. In the days leading up to the election, Ens set a goal of 26 per cent of the vote in Swift Current, which would have been a solid improvement over the 23 per cent the NDP received four years ago. The drop to 16.6 per cent was quite the opposite.

Ens pointed out a few things his campaign could have done better, but overall seemed content with the result.

“I would have liked to have been able to start a little earlier. That was a logistics problem. We didn't get our nomination until a bit later. Those things played a little bit of a factor, but I think we did the best we could with the time we had” he said.

Ens and a collection of local supporters gathered at his campaign office on Central Avenue in Swift Current to watch the results come in. The candidate took time to address his supporters, thanking them for the work put in on the campaign and telling them to keep their heads up.

“We have nothing to be ashamed about. We had a very tough fight ahead of us. We knew that going in. All we can do is look to next time and look to do better,” he said.

Once it became clear that Wall would win the riding, Ens travelled to Wall's home in Swift Current to concede and offer congratulations. The exchange between the two men was private but, according to Ens, Wall was very genial, showed respect for his much younger opponent, and even encouraged him by relating how he himself lost his first attempt at the legislature at a similar young age of 25.

After another week in Swift Current cleaning up the campaign office, Ens will return to Regina, where he is enrolled in the political science program at the University of Regina. His current plan is to run again in Swift Current during the next election.

Overall, Ens considered the experience of running an overwhelmingly positive one.

“I knew what I was getting into when I started. It's been a good time. I don't think I would have done anything differently. You only get to run your first campaign once, and what better way to do it that running against an incumbent premier,” he said.