The Conservative nomination race is in the home stretch in Battlefords-Lloydminster, and nomination candidates are actively trying to nail down support in advance of the voting on Friday and Saturday.
One of those is Aron Klassen, who was at Porta Bella's in North Battleford as part of a meet-and-greet tour in advance of the nomination.
The tour was originally expected to go on until next week, but plans changed when Justin Trudeau called the by-election for Dec. 11.
"Everything happened very quickly here," Klassen said in speaking to the News-Optimist Thursday. "The Liberals called the byelection on Sunday so we had to go into hurry-up mode."
The timing is not ideal for the party, he says. Two nomination meetings are scheduled for Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, and the concern is that a number of Conservative members will not be able to come to the nomination meetings and vote due to Remembrance Day commitments.
"It's unfortunate that we've been forced our hand to do it on Remembrance Day," Klassen said of the nomination process.
Despite that concern, Klassen feels confident, due to an early start to his campaign.
"We've been campaigning since mid-September, so we've been mobilizing our supporters and our base and getting our message out there for a while. So I feel quite good about it," said Klassen.
Another reason why Klassen started early was because of competition for attention from the Sask Party provincial leadership race, which has seen several leadership candidates visit the riding.
"Given that the Saskatchewan Party is also having their leadership race, there's a lot going on. So it was important to get the information out, and people engaged early, so they knew what to expect when things did happen," said Klassen.
It promises to be a crowded field of candidates, which includes Lloydminster social worker Rosemarie Falk, Kindersley town administrator Bernie Morton, Prongua resident Richard Andrew Nelson, and Langham mayor John Hildebrand. A sixth candidate, Ken Finlayson, failed to get his candidacy past the party's vetting process and is not on the ballot.
Like others in the race, Klassen's campaign pushed to sign up new members to the party in time for a Tuesday 11 pm deadline. Thsse who signed up are eligible to vote at the party meetings this Friday and Saturday.
Klassen is a small business owner, the proprietor of Tunes Music and Audio in Lloydminster. Not surprisingly, he's heard plenty of small business concerns during his campaign for the nomination.
"I'm very well aware of the challenges small businesses are facing right now and the challenges heading our way," said Klassen. "It's going to make it more difficult for families like mine and families throughout the riding to earn a living."
He noted the Liberals' small business tax reforms are a big issue, and also pointed to issues such as the Carbon Tax, which he opposes. In addition to those, Klassen supports issues such as Senate reform, tougher sentences on crime, parental rights, and freedom of speech.
Klassen expects the party will come out of the nomination process unified and ready to fight the by-election after a nominee is declared Saturday night at the Tropical Inn in North Battleford.
"At the end of the day we're going to come out of it with the right conservative voice for Battlefords-Lloydminster."
