Bonk wins Souris-Moose Mountain with nearly 84 per cent of vote
Federal Election
May 7, 2025, 11:28 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Steven Bonk has won the Souris-Moose Mountain MP seat for the Conservatives with overwhelming support.
Bonk received 83.7 per cent of the popular vote, followed by the Liberals’ Aziz Mian with 9.1 per cent, the NDP’s Sheena Muihead Koops with 4.5 per cent, the Green Party’s Remi Rheault with 0.9 per cent, Canadian Future Party’s Lyndon Dayman at 0.7 per cent, and Independent Travis Patron with 0.4 per cent.
Voter turnout in Souris-Moose Mountain was strong with just over 75 per cent of eligible voters making their mark through advance polls and the April 28 voting day.
“It’s a very large riding, and there’s been many days where by the time I get home, it’s almost 1,000 km on the car,” said Bonk of the whirlwind five-week campaign jaunt. “So it’s a large riding to get around, but it’s full of great people. They have the same concerns and the same interests, and I think the campaign’s gone very well.”
There was one unifying sentiment that Bonk heard from constituents across the riding.
“People are concerned with the constant overreach that we’ve experienced for the past 10 years with the Liberal federal government, where they’re constantly meddling in provincial affairs, and we need to get back to where there’s a delineation of powers between federal, provincial, and municipal,” he said.
As results began to pour in on election night, Bonk was joined by just over 30 dignitaries and supporters at the Weyburn Legion who shared in his victory, which was predicted around 8 pm—about 30 minutes after the polls closed across the province.
“So many of you have helped me through this whole process, from the nomination right through the campaign, and I just want to thank you because it looks like we’ve been successful. It’s very much appreciated,” he told those gathered.
“I’m really looking forward to this role. As you know, there’s so much work to be done in Ottawa. The country’s in a real mess. Hopefully we can hold them to a minority government.”
As the reality of a Liberal minority government came to fruition with each poll update during the evening, Bonk remained optimistic about the work ahead.
“We can really press them and hopefully have another election very soon and change the outcome on that, but it’s just such an important time in our country,” he said. “I really appreciate the acceptance, the help, and the warmth I felt from all the people here.”
Later, he told the World-Spectator how the ultimate results were bittersweet.
“I’m very pleased and very happy with results here in Souris-Moose Mountain,” Bonk said. “I must admit, I’m quite disappointed with overall results federally. I was hoping that the Conservatives would have a strong majority.
We have really good people who just seem to get things here in Souris-Moose Mountain, and we need to export that kind of logic to the rest of the country, because after seeing tonight’s preliminary results, the rest of the country could sure use a little bit of that common sense that we have here in Souris-Moose Mountain.”
Leading up to the election, Liberal leader Mark Carney promised to make Canada an “energy superpower,” but Bonk says he is skeptical when it comes to seeing any actual pipeline construction.
“I struggle to believe too many things that the Liberals say they’ll do,” said Bonk. “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and the Liberals have a strong track record of trying to keep our resources in the ground and stopping any major projects from happening. So I don’t have a lot of faith in them, but hopefully the Conservatives can push them to realize that there’s utility and some potential in Canada, if only they let us do what we do best.”
When asked about what he’s heard from constituents across Souris-Moose Mountain throughout the campaign, Bonk pointed to the longstanding complaint that the West doesn’t matter.
“The people here in this riding feel like their voice has not been heard from the Liberal government for the past 10 years, and they’re really concerned with the system,” Bonk explained. “They want the right to farm, to work in the resource sector, to provide jobs for their fellow citizens, to provide income for their family, to support their communities, and they feel like they’ve been under threat from the federal government for the past 10 years.
“This is one of the main concerns that I’ve heard from people in our riding, and they were really looking forward to a Conservative government that can bring some hope to them, some hope to just let them do what they do best and support their industries instead of vilifying them.”
