Muirhead Koops running for NDP in Souris-Moose Mountain
April 14, 2025, 10:54 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sheena Muirhead Koops has wanted to run for the NDP since high school, and now she has her chance in the riding of Souris-Moose Mountain. The seed to take on that challenge was planted last November, when a moment while she was driving confirmed the desire.
“I was driving from Estevan back to the farm, and you can see the lights of the States,” she explained. “On the radio is this person sharing ignorance and fear, just overall threatening.”
Those comments belonged to current U.S. President Donald Trump, and while at first the words had a negative impact on Muirhead Koops, a sudden realization replaced those feelings.
“I just got this overwhelming sense of courage,” she recalled. “I sat up tall and I thought, ‘ohh my goodness, I think the only thing that can speak to this guy that’s spouting the fear is love.’ Instead of giving into that fear and not being able to comfort those around me, I really dug into what I believe, where I come from, and who I am.”
Muirhead Koops was born in Lampman and grew up south of Macoun, and has a 30-year teaching career formed by rural values and Indigenous teachings. She’s been a Nation Builder Advocate since 2018 with the Treaty Education Alliance in Fort Qu’Appelle, and is currently a sessional instructor at the University of Regina, where she is a PhD candidate.
In a riding that has been a traditional Conservative stronghold, Muirhead Koops believes people in the riding need to ask themselves one important question before casting their ballot later this month.
“It’s been Conservative for a long time, but I think people could ask themselves, ‘has it gotten better for you’? That’s where myself as a New Democrat and someone that really believes in people and believes in hope, I’m going to fight for the people that I represent.”
She pointed to the NDP’s strong priorities of pharmacare, child care, and dental care as examples.
“You hear ‘care, care, care’, and we’re going to keep making those choices, those priorities that take care of people and just regular people,” said Muirhead Koops. “You don’t have to be in the millionaire status to be valued in our society. I think that’s what people are looking for down in the southeast. We’re neighborly people. We know about care, and that’s who I’ve been my whole life, and I know that’s who my neighbors are as well.”
Hitting the campaign trail in a riding as large as Souris-Moose Mountain is no easy task—especially given the tight timeframe counting down to April 28.
“The main issues that I’m hearing is economic hope, and reclaiming and re-imagining healthcare, universal healthcare, because it comes from here,” Muirhead Koops said. “When I think about climate, it means so many things.
It’s our relationship with the land, it’s our relationship with our neighbors, it’s our relationship with government.”
Giving more power to municipalities is another priority for Muirhead Koops, as she noted the message of ‘reclaiming and re-imagining universal health care through brave rural leadership'.
“I believe in getting things done for my neighbours and but doing it in ways that are loving, kind and this is really helping me set that bar for myself,” she said. “I feel in some ways free, because it’s like using my beliefs and my gifts and then listening and walking with people. I think that message is going to resonate all over Souris-Moose Mountain, and I think it is already. I keep being surprised by people that are reaching out to me.”
