Volunteers hit the road delivering signs as candidates compete for votes

Volunteering during provincial elections has been a tradition for Wilfred Martin for almost twenty years.

Martin lives in Saskatoon and started delivering signs and knocking on doors before Paul Merriman was elected to office for the first time in 2011.

Martin said he knew Merriman and wanted to do what he could to help him get elected.

“I started one term before Paul started in politics. When Paul started, me and another guy knew him really well and we liked what he stood for. He asked us to help him and here we are, still here,” Martin said.

Read more

Martin said he never imagined that 13 years later he would still be delivering signs and knocking on doors to convince people to vote for the Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland MLA candidate.

Martin said he and other volunteers will be busy over the next month convincing people to vote in favor of their candidate.

“Today we’ll probably be on the road for four to five hours, or more. Probably after midnight again, I’ll go out again to see if anything is damaged. (I’ll be gone) every day, pretty much until the election is over. I love it,” he explained.

Martin likes to help Merriman, but also likes to talk to people and finds this the best part of the job.

“I think meeting the people – this is a great group of people – I’ve been a volunteer in this town since I moved here in the ’70s and I just enjoyed volunteering. I think it’s really important that people come out and vote,” Martin added.

When it comes to knocking on doors to pitch why people should vote for Merriman, Martin said he’s just speaking from his experience and honesty.

Martin is hopeful of getting Merriman back into the Saskatchewan legislature.

“Hopefully we get our candidate that we’re running for elected, but stranger things have happened, I guess,” Martin said.

He also said he hopes everyone gets out and votes.

In Regina, Glenn Tarr was on the road hours after the order was lifted to start the 2024 provincial election and spent a few hours delivering orange election signs to several homes in the city.

“I support Carla,” Tarr said. “We need change, and I’m trying to make a difference here.”

Tarr drove his truck through several neighborhoods in the Regina Northeast constituency, posting signs on lawns and leaving a thank-you note in the mailbox.

He said he supports the NDP because he is part of a union.

“NDP is all about supporting the working class of the union, so it is exactly the right move for me,” he added.

Tarr said he will deliver more than 100 different signs in the coming days.

Read more