By Canadian Press

Restless roots? Singh heads to Saskatchewan to rally NDP support amid questions

Oct 6, 2019 | 10:47 AM

SASKATOON — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was campaigning in Saskatchewan on Friday, a province in which his party has a rich history but where some say his decisions have made the grassroots restless.

The NDP won three seats in Saskatchewan in 2015 after 15 years of being shut out. But Singh’s position against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the way in which Regina Lewvan MP Erin Weir was ousted over harassment allegations have longtime Saskatchewan New Democrats worried those gains could be wiped out in the Oct. 21 election.

Weir was suspended from the NDP caucus in February 2018 after fellow New Democrat Christine Moore sent an email to her colleagues saying she had heard numerous complaints about Weir allegedly harassing staff.

An investigation upheld several complaints of harassment, which Singh described at the time as a failure to read non-verbal cues in social settings. 

Weir called the investigation “deeply flawed.” He said while he accepted he may have inadvertently stood too close to some people, or spoken to them longer than they liked, he did not believe those things constituted harassment in the minds of Canadians.

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Singh’s decision to cast out Weir prompted almost 70 party members in Saskatchewan to sign a letter that accused Singh of denying Weir due process and of unfairly maligning Weir’s character.

One of the signatories, former NDP MP Lorne Nystrom, said the Weir affair may have caused some of the province’s veteran New Democrats not be less involved in this campaign.

Singh was abrupt when asked about Weir in Saskatoon on Friday.

“I made a decision. I stand by it. I’m ready for next question,” he said as his supporters cheered.

Weir said he believes the NDP is at risk of being swept off the electoral map in the province.

“Saskatchewan New Democrats worked hard for many years to finally elect federal representatives after being shut out for more than a decade,” he said this week. “Certainly the federal NDP leader seems willing to hand Regina Lewvan over to the Conservatives.”

Singh’s bigger issue in Saskatchewan could be his opposition to twinning the Trans Mountain pipeline and his position that he wouldn’t impose national infrastructure projects on provinces. Both run counter to strong support for oil pipelines in the land-locked province.

“He’s definitely not gaining any support within Evraz,” said Mike Day, president of the United Steelworkers Local 5890, which directly represents almost 1,100 members. Evraz is a large steel mill on the north side of Regina.

“We make pipe.”

Day said although the NDP has typically been seen as the party for labour, the vast majority of his members don’t feel that way with Singh as leader and are looking at voting Conservative.

“I think it’s a difficult situation,” Singh said Friday when asked about the steelworkers. 

“People deserve better than bust-and-boom economies. I’m going to make the investments and make the decisions to change (Employment Insurance) to support workers for retraining, to support them when times are tough.”

Jim Farney, head of the politics department at the University of Regina, said Saskatchewan voters tend to be centrists and Singh has moved the national party further left.

He expects the NDP to lose its Regina seat and believes there will be a tight race in the north. Incumbent Georgina Jolibois faces a formidable challenger in the Liberal candidate and well-respected former Lac La Ronge Indian Band chief Tammy Cook-Searson.

Farnery said the only safe seat may be Saskatoon West where  incumbent Sheri Benson is running and where Singh held his rally.

“It’s not rock-solid safe, but it’s as safe as it gets for the NDP here.”

Provincial NDP Leader Ryan Meili was not at Friday’s event with Singh. He has said that while he supports some positions of the federal NDP, such as universal pharmacare, he is against others, such as refusing to impose national infrastructure projects onto disagreeable provinces.

Former Saskatchewan cabinet minister Pat Atkinson, who wrote the letter about Weir on behalf of other New Democrats, said Singh has performed well during the campaign so far.

“He is proving himself on the campaign trail,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2019.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press