Nelson Pohl wins Yorkton- Melville Conservative nomination
June 22, 2026, 10:22 am
Ashley Bochek, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Nelson Pohl will be the Conservative candidate going to the polls in the next federal election in the Yorkton-Melville riding.
Pohl—a Yorkton-area farmer and small business owner—won the Yorkton-Melville Conservative nomination on Saturday, June 13 against Quinn Haider—a school principal and Yorkton city councillor, and Albert Duff—an IT worker and farmer from Melville area.
The nomination race was held after long-time Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall announced she would not be running in the next federal election.
Pohl said leading up to the nomination race that freedoms and affordability were two issues of concern to him.
“Having two daughters, growing up watching the condition this country has gone into, and the erosion of our freedoms that is happening, and just listening over the years to hundreds and hundreds of customers at their kitchen tables talking about their issues, whether it’s if they’re farm families, or the big one is the transferring of farms to families, it’s getting very difficult to do that with the capital gains and inheritance taxes,” he said.
“Just listening to the affordability problems that people are having, it’s very real.
“At the end of the day, we have to stand up—somebody has to stand up and be strong on these issues, and there’s just a window of time right now that I’m really able to do this. My girls are older now, my business is okay, and it’s just something I can do right now and put my whole heart and soul into it.”
Pohl has had some previous political involvement, and has also been involved on a number of boards.
“I’ve been involved on the Yorkton-Melville Conservative EDA on the executive, and I’ve worked on provincial campaigns and also Cathay Wagantall’s federal campaign,” he said.
Pohl said there were certain issues that were top of mind for constituents as he talked to them around the riding during his campaign.
“Top of mind is the firearms grab. I hear a lot about that,” he says. “I hear a lot about the hate speech about the freedoms of speech, and that they’re taking away the religious freedoms. And I hear a lot about affordability, that people are just having a hard time.”
