Odds And Ends From The Race!

-Higgins Unveils Plan To Protect Environment, Build Green Economy

-NDP leadership candidate practices medicine in Wynyard

-Pedersen Encouraged By His Poll Results

Murray Mandryk Wades In

NDP Leadership Forum - Regina

Accidental Deliberations has excellent coverage on last night's Leadership Forum in Regina.

Saskatchewan Main Stream Media Attacks NDP Leadership Candidates Meili and Lingenfelter

If you hold any doubt that the main stream media (MSM) in Saskatchewan is trying to downplay or negatively portray the NDP leadership race, yesterday's news coverage will set you straight.

The most disturbing of two separate stories was an attempt by CTV affiliates to try and negatively portray Ryan Meili's attendance at the Summit of the Americas Conference in Quebec City in 2001. For starters, the issue that they raised occurred nearly a decade ago. A CTV reporter questioned Meili's protest activities towards globalization in what can only be described as an amateurish news segment.

For perspective, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix published an article in April, 2001 concerning the police brutality that Mr. Meili was subjected to while in Quebec City.

In another article:
"University of Saskatchewan law Prof. Tim Quigley said it’s not clear to him how police were justified in arresting the three men unless some Quebec provincial or municipal law gave them a right to clear the alley. If they had no such authority, then they were not lawfully carrying out their duties and no obstruction by the protesters was possible, he said."
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
January, 2003

The second example of recent negative MSM treatment of a candidate for the NDP Leadership was the April 15th article by Murray Mandryk concerning Dwain Lingenfelter:

"Well, notwithstanding all the big and little "p" politics in play here, Lingenfelter does deserve to be taken to task here. For one thing, it's absolute nonsense for the one-time NDP privatization critic, who vowed at the time to make Saskatchewan "ungovernable", to suggest his party could have done more. The 100-plus hours of NDP filibustering on the legislation to privatize the Potash Corp. was the longest debate in Saskatchewan legislative history and resulted in the use of foreclosure at the legislature for the first time."
Murray Mandryk
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Meili Responds To SNDW

The Saskatchewan New Democratic Women (SNDW) issued questions to each of the four leadership candidates. Today we are publishing Ryan Meili's responses:

(Q) What steps will you take to ensure that women have greater participation in leadership positions at all levels within the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party?

· Too often in our party, there has been no succession planning, no deliberate process of institutional renewal in constituency associations and party sections. We should be constantly identifying and mentoring potential new leaders. This process includes a determined effort to seek out women, and people from other under-represented groups, as candidates and party leaders.

· Coordinated mentorship from women and men in caucus, on the executive and in other leadership roles in the party will foster the involvement of the next generation of women leaders.

· Retreats and courses for female party activists, particularly involving current and former female MLAs and party office holders, would help interested women chart their own political future.

· Hiring a staff organizer for the SNDW who could facilitate this process would support a more proactive approach to identifying and mentoring potential future leaders for the party’s internal structures, as well as future candidates.

· As with Provincial Council, where there are several positions to be elected at once, it is a simple matter to require gender equity. Where there is one office (ie, party president), it is important to ensure that the nominating committee gives due consideration to female candidates.

Perhaps the most important strategy is to have policies that address issues that are important to women. If we advocate for pay equity, affordable child care and other policies that address societal inequities lines, we will attract more women to the party as voters, members and leaders.


(Q) What specific actions will you take to ensure the NDP meets its goal of having women make up 50 per cent of candidates in the 2011 election?

· Candidate recruitment must include identifying strong and credible female candidates in every constituency. Over the next 18 months, I will continue to work with party leaders and other progressives in every constituency to identify potential candidates.

· We should adapt the federal party’s nomination rules require at least one equity-seeking candidate in the race before a nominating convention can happen.

· All candidacies should be challenged. No candidate for a nomination – no incumbent MLA, no identified star candidate, not even the leader – will be protected from a contested nomination.

· We also need to address barriers to women as MLAs. The legislature must become a better working environment where sexism is not tolerated, where discourse is more respectful, where child care is available, and where work hours allow for a family life.

· Income security is a real issue for many potential candidates, especially single mothers. Job security provisions of The Elections Act should be extended to ban the practice of forcing nominated candidates to take unpaid leave from their job prior to an election being called.

Having diverse candidates is in keeping with the egalitarian philosophy of the NDP. It also translates into electoral success: a great combination. With concentrated effort we can go from talking 50% to showing it and winning with women as candidates in key ridings.

Meili Challenges Star Phoenix Over Its Claim That 'The NDP Will Take Saskatchewan Back To The Past'

"Saskatchewan has the greatest potential for wind and solar energy production in the country. We can obtain all of our energy needs from renewable sources such as wind, solar and small-scale hydro rather than non-renewable technologies such as coal, fossil fuels and nuclear power. These can come online much more quickly and less expensively than nuclear power."
Ryan Meili

Pedersen Takes Sask Party To Task For 'Manufacturing Consent'

"Regardless of what you happen to believe about the feasibility of nuclear power, Saskatchewan people ought to be up in arms about this. Nothing in this entire process is about educating the public or seeking public approval. This is a textbook case of manufacturing consent."
Yens Pedersen

Higgins Wants To Fight Poverty

From CBC Saskatchewan:"NDP leadership candidate Deb Higgins wants to make poverty a key issue in the next provincial election, saying she wants to reduce the number of people living below the poverty line by 25 per cent.

That can be done by building more affordable housing, boosting the minimum wage and giving more help to people with addictions, Higgins said.

Her anti-poverty plan also calls for:

* Increased access to mental health and addiction services.
* More support for childcare, including more spaces and help for parents working non-traditional hours.
* More money for literacy programs and community schools.

Higgins, who is the MLA for Moose Jaw Wakamow, estimates her plan to reduce the gap between rich and poor will cost an additional $628 million a year.

That may seem like a lot, but reducing poverty is in the best interests of all Saskatchewan people, Higgins said."

Making Saskatchewan a Green Economy Leader - Lingenfelter Policy Statement

Making Saskatchewan a Green Economy Leader
April 3rd, 2009
A Policy Statement by Dwain Lingenfelter

For too long, politicians and political parties have talked about balancing environmental sustainability and economic progress as if one could only be advanced at the expense of the other. This is a false trade-off. I am convinced now more than ever that environmental leadership equals economic leadership.

Due to the vision of successive CCF-NDP governments, Saskatchewan has long been acknowledged as a Canadian public policy leader in areas such as Medicare and Crown Corporations. Unfortunately, with per capita greenhouse gas emissions that are three times higher than the Canadian average and the highest of any Canadian province, we are not fulfilling our responsibility to protect our environment and show public policy leadership in embracing the green economy. I believe it doesn’t have to be this way. I believe there are public policy solutions that can make Saskatchewan a green economy leader.

In 2007, the NDP government moved to remedy this situation by introducing a comprehensive plan to secure our long-term economic prosperity through the setting of aggressive targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. While the Sask Party committed to adhere to these targets during the last provincial election campaign, the Wall government scrapped the NDP’s climate change plan, and then refused to release a plan of its own. In a recent report, the David Suzuki Foundation congratulated the NDP for having put in place a “reasonably ambitious target for greenhouse gas emissions” but slammed the Sask Party for adopting the NDP’s target with “no plan or strategy to get there.”

Elsewhere too, the Wall government is moving our province backward on the environment. Brad Wall:
- Abolished the NDP’s $320 million Green Future Fund that provided funding for projects to fight climate change
- Eliminated the Saskatchewan Office of Energy Conservation
- Scrapped the Climate Change Secretariat
- Gutted renewable energy programs
- Bought his Cabinet Ministers brand new, gas-guzzling SUVs

Brad Wall’s Minister of the Environment has mused about not only backing away from the NDP government’s targets, but adopting targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases that are even “less stringent” than the extremely minimal targets set by the Harper government.

Due to Brad Wall’s lack of leadership, Saskatchewan will fail to meet the NDP government’s target of stabilizing its greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, and we will waste valuable time as other jurisdictions work to build their green economies and create green jobs.
..... Read more ............

'Gender Parity within the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party' - Lingenfelter Policy Statement

Dwain Lingenfelter released a policy statement today on the issue of gender parity in the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.

"In both 2003 and 2007, Saskatchewan New Democrats offered a smaller percentage of women candidates for election than either of the other two main parties – slightly more than 20%. That is unacceptable in the 21st century. We simply must do better. When women are underrepresented in the Saskatchewan Legislature, public policy suffers, because it is less likely to adequately address issues of importance to the women who constitute 50.9% of Saskatchewan’s population.

Not only is gender parity the right thing to do from a public policy perspective, it is critical to the New Democratic Party’s chances of defeating the right-wing Wall Government. A balanced team of strong and capable women and men as our candidates in 2011 will have the ability to mobilize greater support for a progressive agenda.

In a 2004 survey conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada, 90 per cent of Canadians said they wanted more women elected to all levels of government. Statistics show that when it comes to elections, female candidates fare just as well as male candidates. Voters are just as likely to cast their ballot for a female as they are a male. It appears that the only reason more women are not being elected is that there aren’t enough women on the ballot. Since political parties are essentially the gatekeepers, determining who becomes a candidate through the nomination process, parties must play a more positive role in changing these circumstances.

I believe there are certain steps we should take as a Party toward achieving a more representative group of nominated candidates and people in our key leadership positions.

As Leader, I would propose to establish a Women’s Commission responsible for helping me to recruit, train and mentor women interested in seeking leadership positions within our Party, whether on constituency executives, the Provincial Executive or as candidates for nomination. I would propose to ask current and former female MLAs to join with representatives of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Women amongst others, to serve on this new body.

I would also propose an Annual Conference, facilitated by the Women’s Commission, which would bring together women from across the province to network, share knowledge and experience, team build and develop new expertise with respect to leadership and campaigning skills.

In the year following the leadership convention, I would propose to launch a special Fundraising Campaign for the Party to help finance the creation of the Women’s Commission and to help fund its work at a high level.

I continue to encourage women to consider running for our Party in the next election. These women include leaders in the business community and the trade union movement. They include key people in a variety of community organizations and the co-operative sector, as well as the professions. This work cannot begin too early, as all potential candidates need time to consider this important step, arrange their lives so they can run for nomination and, if successful, spend the time needed to campaign in their ridings to win.

I believe each of these steps will encourage more women to be willing to let their names stand for nomination as candidates for our Party in the 2011 provincial election. However, the campaign for gender parity should not be limited to our nominated candidates alone. We should work as a Party to encourage gender parity at all levels of our activities.

As I have travelled the province during this campaign, I have met many strong and capable women and have urged them to take up leadership positions on our constituency association executives and other important positions within our Party. I have set a goal of achieving gender parity on the Provincial Executive as soon as the June Convention. I also believe there needs to be gender parity on all major Party Committees as soon as possible thereafter.

While accomplishing gender parity throughout our Party will be a team effort, I understand that the example begins with the Leader. It is the job of the Leader to create an environment that encourages Party members to search for and support skilled and talented women in their campaigns for leadership roles within our movement. That’s why many of the key positions on my campaign team are held by women, including my Campaign Co-Chair and my Assistant Campaign Manager.

Throughout my province-wide tour I’ve stressed the need for our Party to present a candidate team that is much more representative of our population than was the case in either the 2003 or 2007 Provincial Elections. This is of great importance to the future of our Party and our province. I’m confident that if we act to achieve gender balance in politics, and lead by example, we will achieve gender parity not only within our Party but also within the Legislature in the near future.
Policy Statement

Saskatchewan Party Attempts Mischief 'Motion' In The Legislature ... (they aren't quite as smart as they think they are)!

Jeremy Harrison, (defeated Conservative MP and currently the Saskatchewan Party MLA for Meadow Lake), is attempting to cause some mischief with the following Private Member's Motion which will be debated and voted upon in the Saskatchewan Legislature on April 2, 2009:

MOVED:
That the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan supports the consideration of further value-added development of Saskatchewan ’s uranium industry including nuclear power generation and recognizes the potential benefits to the growth and prosperity of the people of our province.

The intent of the Saskies, by bringing forward this motion, is to try and create some division or sparks in the New Democratic leadership race. All candidates are aware of the Sask Party's thinly veiled intent. The New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan has pragmatically dealt with the nuclear/uranium issue during the government terms of Premier Blakeney, Premier Romanow and Premier Calvert. The party is not about to fall apart over the issue at this time.

Jeremy Harrison is the Sask Party designated 'mischief maker' but he is generally not very articulate on weighty issues.

New Democratic candidates are all anxious and willing to debate the nuclear question or any other issue that the province faces. In fact, the Caucus has some very clear and pointed questions that the Wall crew needs to answer!

CBC Saskatchewan has more ...