With the provincial election coming up next fall, Megan Patterson is hoping her attachment to the community and desire to see her hometown improve and thrive will lead to her becoming the Member of Legislative Assembly for Moose Jaw Wakamow.
In the meantime, it’s all about connecting with her potential constituents and raising the kind of political profile that will not only land Patterson the nomination but lead to a win in the general election in late October 2024.
To that end, Patterson held a special coffee talk session at the Church of our Lady on Sunday afternoon, with the goal of hearing some of the concerns and interests folks in Moose Jaw Wakamow might have.
“I'm really feeling excited and blessed and happy to have the opportunity to run,” Patterson said. “I've always felt like public policy is really important and plays a key role in people's lives and I’ve always been interested in politics, so this is a chance to see what I can do to help Moose Jaw continue to be a vibrant and growing community.”
Patterson was born and raised on South Hill, growing up on King Crescent in the house her grandfather built. She attended Empire School and then Riverview Collegiate, where her father also attended high school.
In other words, her Moose Jaw roots are strong.
“I’m South Hill through and through,” Patterson said with a laugh. “That’s one of the reasons I’m running, the connections I have to the community… I really want Moose Jaw to be a vibrant community that’s safe for families and also provides lots of opportunities for the future, and I think the potential is really there.”
Upon graduating from Riverview, Patterson attended the University of Saskatchewan and was in the midst of getting her Commerce degree when tragedy struck. A serious car accident left her with severe injuries and saw her in a coma for two weeks, leading to a long and arduous recovery before she was able to regain full function. Damage to her throat led to only 10 per cent of her airway being usable, resulting in a tracheostomy that she wears to this day.
Even while fighting through her brain injury, Patterson was able to return to school and finish her Commerce degree and over time recovered to the point she was able to earn her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Regina.
From there it was off to work in the private and public sector, where Patterson has worked for the past 20 years. That included a stint in Toronto, where she met husband Sean Osmar in 2011 while working on politician Joe Oliver’s campaign as Sean worked for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. After a time, they decided to move back to Saskatchewan to raise their family and have lived in Moose Jaw ever since.
“I always knew that I wanted to come back to Saskatchewan,” she said. “I just felt like I wanted to raise my family here. It's a great place to raise a family, it's a great quality of life. And I think one of the things that makes me a good candidate is that I have another perspective because I've lived in Ottawa, I've lived in Toronto. I've lived in Saskatoon, I lived in Calgary, so I know how great Moose Jaw is and how special it is.”
Patterson is currently a public relations, marketing and leadership instructor at Sask Polytech, which leads into one of her potential platforms -- retaining some of the incredible talent coming through that educational facility and having them stay in Moose Jaw.
“We have a lot of international students here that are very high calibre, very talented and the more of them we can retain in the city, the better,” she said. “So we need to increase the vibrancy of the city to make it more appealing for people from other cultures.”
Another focus will be the aforementioned opportunities for the future, with attracting new industry and jobs a key component.
“I think the more industry we can attract here and the more jobs that we can create, the better the chance we'll have opportunities here for our children,” Patterson said.”They won't have to leave the city and the province like so many people had to do back when the NDP was in power.”
One difficult aspect surrounding her candidacy is how things are going with her predecessor. Longtime Wakamow MLA Greg Lawrence likely would have retained the nomination, but he continues to recover from a serious motorcycle injury and has opted to focus on recovery while deciding not to run.
As of right now, the Wakamow nomination is uncontested, with a deadline to submit papers on Jan. 15 followed by the nomination date on Feb. 1.
Should everything go as planned, it’ll be on the campaign trail as soon as the announcement comes. Patterson has experience running in provincial elections, as she took a stab at current NDP leader Carla Beck’s riding in Regina Lakeview in 2020. She hopes the experience there will help this time around.
“I like campaigning, my team and myself knocked on 6,000 doors in Lakeview last election and I like talking to people,” Patterson said. “I'm very extroverted, and I actually feel like I've been campaigning for a long time since I filed for this nomination back in July. So I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it and we’ll see what happens.”
You can follow along with Megan’s campaign on Facebook at megan.wakamow and if you have any questions, fire off an e-mail to [email protected].
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