If anyone could fill Ralph Goodale’s shoes, it’s Sean McEachern. He will carry the Liberal banner in Regina-Wascana, the riding Goodale represented from 1993 to 2019. McEachern served in Goodale’s Regina office from 2003 to 2006 and managed his 2011, 2015, and 2019 campaigns.

“I have a pretty good handle on this constituency and things that work and don’t work when it comes to campaigning and definitely it’s a change from being a campaign manager to being a candidate and I’m slowly getting over some of those hurdles,” McEachern told the Western Standard.

“Working with Ralph for a number of years, and being a close friend, he was a tremendous mentor in terms of teaching me about the skills of being a good Member of Parliament, someone with integrity, someone who is involved in community, engages, listens, and works really hard to advocate on behalf of their constituents….

“On the doorstep with people, I share that connection, but I’m also very clear that I’m not Ralph Goodale. I’m Sean McEachern, and I’m my own person.”

In 2015, Regina Wascana was the final Liberal island in a prairie sea, as Ralph Goodale’s 23,552 votes outpaced Conservative Michael Kram’s 12,931. In 2019, the roles reversed as Kram took the riding with 22,418 votes, besting Goodale’s 15,242. Projections by Canada338 for this year’s election are a toss-up, with McEachern and Kram tied at 37% support, the NDP at 19%, the PPC at 4.7%, and Greens at 2.5%.

McEachern says his campaign centres on “community, connection, and commitment.”

The father of two is the executive officer to a Deputy Chief Monitor with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. 

Prior to that, McEachern spent 12 years at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association—including five years as SUMA’s girector of policy and communications. McEachern said he believes the Liberals have done a good job helping local governments.

“The federal government since 2015 invested a tremendous amount of infrastructure money into municipalities, whether it be for roadways, water, wastewater systems and so on, and have worked alongside municipalities to address issues around homelessness,” said McEachern.

“Minister Amarjeet Sohi, who was a former councillor in Edmonton, really understood the municipal sector and worked really hard to build a strong relationship and advocate on their behalf to make sure that the programs the federal government put in place were there to help municipalities grow.”

McEachern said he’s heard a wide range of issues at the doors including roads, recreational facilities, climate change, health care, the pandemic, and mandatory vaccinations. He said his supporters come from diverse backgrounds.

“A Liberal voter in Regina-Wascana is someone that focuses on issues around health care, climate change, affordability for families, whether it’s around additional support and childcare. They want to see programs the government puts in place that helps to support them [and] allows them to live prosperous lives in the best way that they can,” he said.

McEachern knows some voters stand against his party, but he says most of them are OK to deal with.

“Most people are very cordial. Any political candidate will tell you I don’t care from whatever party you’re always going to run across one person that’s going to be a little ornery, right? And, when I engage with people that perhaps are a little bit more aggressive on issues, I simply just explain: ‘I’m here as a local candidate trying to identify my supporters, spreading the word of the Liberal federal policies that are going to benefit Canadians,’ and we just leave it at that. 

“There are people at the door that want to discuss things and I’m more than willing to have those discussions within a cordial and kind manner. And most often those conversations are very healthy, good, healthy debate – and that’s an important point. An important foundation of our democracy is the ability to have debates with people respecting each other’s differing opinions. And at the end, you may leave to agree to disagree, but at least you have that discussion, right?”

Click here to see the article on Regina Wascana’s Conservative and PPC candidates and return to Western Standard for an article on the riding’s Green candidate coming soon.