Pension reform, health care and the housing crunch are a few of the concerns residents of the Palliser riding have heading into the federal election.

One senior from the riding says pension reform is a top election issue for him.

"The cost of living is eating up the pension," he says.

Another man from Palliser says health care accessibility is chief among his concerns in this election.

"It takes so long to see a doctor nowadays," he says. "It's a three-week wait."

One voter says the lack of affordable housing in the riding is a pressing issue.

"Rents are zooming out of sight and there's not much plans for building new apartments," he says.

Quick Facts: Palliser

Candidates:

Conservative Party: Ray Boughen (Incumbent)

First elected in October 2008, Boughen is a member of the defence committee and the joint committee on scrutiny of regulations. Born in Moose Jaw in 1937, Boughen holds a bachelor of science degree from St. Cloud State, a masters of science degree from Western Oregon and a bachelor of education degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He worked for 35 years as a guidance counselor, teacher, principal, director of education, and registrar and director of provincial examinations and student records. In 1993, he opened a consulting firm and headed the Boughen commission, which examined the financing of Kindergarten to Grade 12. Boughen was mayor of Moose Jaw from 1994 to 2000. He has also served as vice-president of the Urban Municipalities Association, chair of the 1996 Summer Games and Saskatchewan chair of the Canadian Forces Liason Council. He was elected as a school trustee in 2005, and was CEO of the Regina Airport Authority and co-chair of Moose Jaw Multiplex Builders Inc. Boughen and his wife Sandy have two children and seven grandchildren.

Liberal Party: Russell Collicott

Collicott is a project manager with Graham Construction, Canada's fifth-largest construction firm. He has managed the construction of large structures from apartment buildings to housing complexes. Collicott was born in Moose Jaw and moved back to the city six years ago with his three sons. A self-described "Laurier Liberal" – referring to his desire for peacekeepers, not combat units – Collicott has been involved on the policy end of federal campaigns since 2005. He ran in the Fort McMurrary-Wood Buffalo riding in the 2004 Alberta provincial election, finishing second. He has also served as president of the Fort McMurray Construction Association and sat on the board of the Alberta Construction Association.

NDP: Noah Evanchuk

Evanchuk is a Regina-based attorney practicing criminal defence and employment litigation. He has handled activist cases, such as lobbying Calgary-based Talisman Energy to divest itself from Sudan, and fighting the Alberta Progressive Conservative government's health care privatization agenda. Evanchuk helped re-establish the NDP at the University of Calgary before earning a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He was policy director of the youth wing of the NDP and on the provincial executive. He joined an established law firm in 2004, then went on his own in 2007. Evanchuk volunteers with the Salvation Army legal clinic, coaches football, is a member of the Ukrainian Professional Business Association and the Canadian Mental Health Association. He and his wife Anna-Marie have two children.

Green Party: Larissa Shasko

Shasko was born in Regina in 1982 and is a resident of Moose Jaw. She is a political science student at the University of Regina. Shasko was a youth representative on the Saskatchewan centennial committee in 2004. She was the Green Party candidate in Palliser in 2006 and ran for the Greens in the 2007 Saskatchewan provincial election in the Moose Jaw-Wakamow riding. Shasko is the administrative and finance chair council and regional coordinator of the Young Greens. She also ran in the 2008 federal election.

2008 election result:

Conservative Ray Boughen won with 44 per cent, followed by the NDP's Don Mitchell with 33.8 per cent.

Population (2006 census): 65,956

Average family income: N/A

Riding History:

The Palliser riding was created in 1996 from Moose Jaw-Lake Centre and part of Regina-Wascana. Moose Jaw became Moose Jaw-Lake Centre in 1952. Progressive Conservative Ernest Pascoe was elected in 1958 and served a decade before losing to the NDP's John Skoberg in 1968. Skoberg lost in 1972 to Tory Doug Neil, who held the seat until he retired in 1984. Tory William Gottselig won the seat afterward, but lost to the NDP's Rod Laporte in 1988, after the riding reverted to Moose Jaw-Lake Centre. In 1993, the Reform Party's Allan Kerpan beat Laporte in the riding, which became Palliser in the 1996 redistribution. The NDP's Dick Proctor won the seat in 1997 and held until 2004, when he lost by 124 votes to Conservative Dave Batters. In 2006, Batters won over the NDP, but in 2006 the Tories had Ray Boughen, who won handily over the NDP's Don Mitchell.