Dexter Gopher used a now-familiar slogan from the winning Justin Trudeau Liberal campaign to describe what he is seeking in his campaign in the Battlefords.
“Real change,” said Gopher. “We need real change.”
Gopher spoke at the Liberals’ fundraising event in Battleford Feb. 26 prior to the election call.
That event was organized shortly after Gopher, a Saulteaux First Nation member, officially confirmed he would be the Liberal candidate in the Battlefords in the April 4 provincial election. The newly-minted candidate saw the event as an encouraging sign for Liberals in the province.
“Well, we look around the size of the room and how many people showed up tonight,” Gopher said.
“I just announced on Friday that I was going to be running for The Battlefords here. Today’s Thursday, and people had little notice. We had high-profile people here tonight and a lot of people from the Battlefords here. It sends a strong message that, you know, real change is wanted.”
The event saw a strong show of support from local chiefs including Wayne Semaganis from Little Pine, Lori Whitecalf from Sweetgrass and Kenny Moccasin from Saulteaux.
“For this amount of chiefs and councillors to show up and for past chiefs and councillors to show up, I’m just grateful for a lot of support from them,” Gopher said.
Gopher’s background is deep rooted in the Saulteaux and Battlefords communities. According to the profile posted at the Liberal website, he was born in Regina in 1990 while his mother was attending university there.
Gopher grew up in the Battlefords area where he attended Battleford Central School and North Battleford Comprehensive High School. During his time there he was active in athletics and earned four regional gold medals in wrestling.
After graduating in 2008, Gopher wound up leaving the province for employment, spending five years as a heavy equipment operator throughout Alberta and northern British Columbia, ultimately rising to the position of foreman with BTO Contracting and Clean Harbors.
He decided to return home and went back to school to receive a diploma from SIIT in Power Engineering 4th Class. Dexter Gopher is now business manager with Whiterock Gas & Confectionary north of North Battleford.
His campaign office will be at 1202 100th St. in North Battleford.
The Liberals are planning an active campaign across the province. Leader Darrin Lamoureux had said his party will run a full slate and as of Wednesday the Liberals had just about made it, with 60 candidates announced.
Other area candidates include Rod Gopher of Saulteaux First Nation who is running in Cut Knife-Turtleford, Orrin Greyeyes in Rosthern-Shellbrook, Eric McCrimmon in Meadow Lake and Dolores Pahtayken in Lloydminster. Not yet announced is a candidate for Biggar-Saskatchewan Valley.
