David Buckingham (politician)

David Buckingham is a Canadian politician, who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2016 to 2024, representing the district of Saskatoon Westview as a member of the Saskatchewan Party.

David Buckingham
Member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
for Saskatoon Westview
In office
April 4, 2016 – October 1, 2024
Preceded byCam Broten
Succeeded byApril ChiefCalf
Personal details
BornShellbrook, Saskatchewan
Political partySaskatchewan Party
ResidenceBorden, Saskatchewan
ProfessionCommercial truck driver

Early life

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Buckingham was born and raised in Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. He moved to Saskatoon in 1979 and then the village of Borden in 1988. There he worked as a commercial truck driver, and raised three children with his wife Karen. Buckingham also worked as a volunteer firefighter.[1]

Political career

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Buckingham's first foray into politics was at the municipal level. He served one year on the Borden council before serving two terms as mayor from 2009 to 2015. He resigned as mayor after receiving the Saskatchewan Party nomination for the new Saskatoon Westview district ahead of the 2016 provincial election.[2] Buckingham stated that his interest in provincial politics stemmed from working with the government on flood relief in Borden in 2013.[2]

In the 2016 election, Buckingham pulled off an upset by defeating Cam Broten, leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP), by a narrow margin of 232 votes.[3][4] Buckingham was re-elected by a wider margin in the 2020 provincial election, taking 54% of the tally in Saskatoon Westview.[5] During his time in the government caucus, Buckingham was a backbench MLA and served a stint as government caucus chair.[1]

In the 2024 provincial election, Buckingham was unseated by April ChiefCalf of the NDP in another close race—in the final tally, Buckingham was defeated by a margin of 74 votes.[6] In the lead-up to the election, it was revealed by former Speaker Randy Weekes that Buckingham had used a racial slur in a 2023 caucus meeting.[7] Buckingham was reported by a staffer, who later quit; Buckingham was required to undertake sensitivity training as a result.[8] After the incident came to light, Buckingham publicly apologized, calling it a "really dumb mistake".[9]

Election results

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2024 Saskatchewan general election: Saskatoon Westview
Party Candidate Votes %
New Democratic April ChiefCalf 3,576 49.56
Saskatchewan David Buckingham 3,502 48.53
Green Jupiter Neault 138 1.91
Total 7,216 100.00
Source: Elections Saskatchewan[10]
2020 Saskatchewan general election: Saskatoon Westview
Party Candidate Votes %
Saskatchewan David Buckingham 4,322 54.30
New Democratic Malik Draz 3,260 40.95
Green Glenn Wright 229 2.88
Liberal Robert Rudachyk 149 1.87
Total 7,960 100.0
Source: Elections Saskatchewan[11]
2016 Saskatchewan general election: Saskatoon Westview
Party Candidate Votes %
Saskatchewan David Buckingham 3,892 49.07
New Democratic Cam Broten 3,675 46.34
Liberal Naveed Anwar 240 3.03
Green Tammy McDonald 124 1.56
Total 7,931 100.0
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division; Elections Saskatchewan[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mr. David Buckingham – Government Caucus". Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  2. ^ a b "The new face of Saskatoon Westview; a look at David Buckingham". CKOM. 2016-04-06. Archived from the original on 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  3. ^ Cowan, Micki (2016-04-05). "Saskatchewan election: Big wins and losses". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Charles (2016-04-05). "NDP Leader Cam Broten loses seat in Saskatoon Westview to Sask. Party's David Buckingham". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Archived from the original on 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  5. ^ Ellis, Brendan (2020-10-26). "Sask. Votes 2020: Results for all 61 constituencies". CTV News Regina. Archived from the original on 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  6. ^ Brezinski, Caitlin (2024-11-09). "Sask. NDP's ChiefCalf officially claims seat in Saskatoon Westview as final election ballots tallied". CTV News Regina. Archived from the original on 2024-11-13. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  7. ^ Cairns, John (2024-10-09). "Randy Weekes endorses NDP, levels racism charge at Sask Party". Sask Today. Archived from the original on 2024-11-13. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  8. ^ Simes, Jeremy (2024-10-08). "Sask. Party candidate apologizes for 'racially inappropriate word'". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  9. ^ Mantyka, Wayne (2024-10-08). "'Was a really dumb mistake': Sask. Party MLA nominee apologizes for using racist slur". CTV News Saskatoon. Archived from the original on 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  10. ^ "2024 General Election Official Results". Elections Saskatchewan. 2024-11-09. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  11. ^ "A Report on the Twenty-Ninth General Election, Volume I: Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections Saskatchewan. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  12. ^ "2016 General Election Results". Elections Saskatchewan. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.