Ryan Meili and Trent Wotherspoon faced off in the party's first leadership debate at its annual convention on Oct. 28, 2017. (980 CJME file photo)

By CJME News

Saskatchewan NDP to elect new leader in June

Feb 28, 2022 | 2:25 PM

It’ll still be another few months before the Saskatchewan NDP has a new leader.

The party said its council decided on the weekend to hold the leadership convention in late June to replace Ryan Meili.

The group also decided on the rules for candidates. Along with needing to be a member in good standing with the party and to be approved by the party, candidates will also have to collect the signatures of at least 100 Saskatchewan NDP members from at least 20 constituencies — and half of those who sign must be women or gender diverse.

Candidates will also have to pay a non-refundable registration fee of $4,000 and their campaign expenses will be limited to $200,000.

The party said all members who are in good standing will be able to vote online or by mail-in ballot.

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More information is expected to be released as things start rolling.

The candidates

As of Monday morning, no candidates had officially put their hat in the ring for the leadership, though on the weekend some party members began to throw support behind Regina Lakeview MLA Carla Beck.

That included the party’s deputy leader, Nicole Sarauer, who had said last week she was still making a decision herself about running for leader.

Several people have made clear they won’t be running for the top spot, including Regina Rosemont MLA Trent Wotherspoon, Saskatoon Centre MLA Betty Nippi-Albright and Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark.

Solidarity with Ukraine

At the same meeting the Saskatchewan NDP decided on its leadership convention, it also passed a motion for the party to express its solidarity with the people of Ukraine and those in Saskatchewan who have friends and family there.

The motion also commended the party’s caucus for “taking meaningful action and offering to work collaboratively with the provincial government” to do a number of things. Those include:

• Calling on the federal government to expedite the process to settle people fleeing from the violence in Ukraine;
• Expanding the resources available to settlement agencies in Saskatchewan to support newcomers; and,
• Expanding the mandate and membership of the Saskatchewan-Ukraine Relations Advisory Committee to include members from both the government and opposition parties.

“Saskatchewan has a long history with Ukraine. Our province was settled by many Ukrainians, and we are proud that many Ukrainian-Canadians call our province home. We encourage Caucus to continue its efforts, as Ukraine continues to face violence and an unjust war,” read the motion.