Saskatchewan New Democrat Leadership Campaign

Saskatchewan New Democrats Choose Dwain Lingenfelter As Leader

2009-06-06T14:39:00.001-07:00

Saskatchewan's Official Opposition New Democratic Party elected a new Leader today to replace the outgoing Lorne Calvert.

Here are the results of today's leadership election held in Regina:

First Ballot - (9444 Votes cast)
Dwain Lingenfelter: 4360
Ryan Meili: 2401
Yens Pedersen: 1380
Deb Higgins: 1303
(Higgins falls off and Pedersen withdraws)

Second Ballot - (9130 Votes cast)
Dwain Lingenfelter: 5028
Ryan Meili: 4102

CBC Saskatchewan has more ....

Generational Polarization - Not Ideological - Main Feature Of Sask NDP Leadership Race

2009-06-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

There are four candidates actively seeking the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party. This Saturday, June 6th, the decision will be made in convention in Regina.

A key distinguishing feature of this race has been the breakdown of candidates, supporters and issues along generational lines as opposed to what usually would be along ideological lines.

During the last Saskatchewan leadership race in 2001, traditional Left/Right factions polarized around Lorne Calvert and Chris Axworthy. Calvert won and Axworthy eventually left the party to run federally for the Liberals. The departure of Axworthy ultimately proved that the Saskatchewan NDP made the correct decision by not selecting him as leader.

This time around, old ideological divisions seem to be taking a second seat to the desire for generational change that is being demanded by the ‘non-babyboomer’ demographic in the party. New Democrats of every ideological persuasion should be ecstatic about the vibrant and articulate youth element that is alive and well in the party. If anything should send shivers through the ranks of the currently governing Saskatchewan Party, it is the sheer size of the youth component active in the NDP.

Candidates Ryan Meili and Yens Pedersen have both clearly articulated their desire for generational change this time around. What they lack in long time experience and activity in the party is largely supplemented by their commitment to social democratic principles and policy. Both are to be commended for making this race a race of ideas.

Dwain Lingenfelter and Deb Higgins have both articulated a vision for the party based on their hard won experience and active service as Members of the Legislature. What they lack in youth is supplemented by the battle scars of active political combat that they have won in the trenches.

Regardless of who wins on Saturday, (be it a veteran New Democrat or a ‘new gen - New Dem’), the Saskatchewan NDP will rally around the new leader. No one has a monopoly on righteousness in the NDP. As a result, our Leader must submit to being a servant of the party. Anything short of that they do at their own peril within the mechanisms of the party. We are a party of ideas and we continue to offer the only real alternative to those on the Right who have damaged the world’s economy with their ongoing commitment to ‘unfettered free market’ nonsense.

Meanwhile .. back in the real world ... Nova Scotia NDP On The Verge Of Forming Government!!

2009-05-29T13:39:00.001-07:00

Pity the Nova Scotia Liberals! No one wants to put up a lawn sign for their candidates. What to do? I know! Demand that ALL candidates take down their election signage and say that it's an 'environmental concern'! LOL!

Liberal candidate wants all election campaign signs down

Photo courtesy Tyler Kinch

Endorsements Starting To Roll In For Lingenfelter And Meili

2009-05-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I had decided not to feature publicly declared 'endorsements' for the candidates during this race. However, the lists of supporters for both Dwain Lingenfelter and Ryan Meili are starting to mount and are certainly worth noting:

-Dwain Lingenfelter Endorsements

-Ryan Meili Endorsements

Meili Wants To Limit Purchase Of Memberships For Others

2009-05-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ryan Meili has offered a very good recommendation in his blog. The party should take note:

"Since the opportunity for such abuses persists, we need to make a constitutional amendment to the party rules that prevents this kind of outcome. One simple way would be to disallow buying anyone else a membership. If that is seen as too restrictive, perhaps one could be allowed to purchase a small number (<5) for friends and family, with the membership form changed to clearly denote the purchaser. At the very least, no candidate or campaign team should ever be able to buy memberships for anyone during a nomination or leadership election."
Ryan Meili

Yens Pedersen's Thoughts On Negative Campaigning

2009-05-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

"One of the other leadership campaigns has been using negative attack language about me in the leadership race. One of their attacks goes something like: ‘Yens ran on a platform of renewal when he ran for president but by the time he stepped down as president, the party was in worse shape than ever.’ The problem with this attack is that it simply isn’t true."
Yens Pedersen

Hale Reports On Rejected Memberships In NDP Leadership Race

2009-05-14T13:33:00.001-07:00

Robert Hale, a Saskatchewan lawyer was commissioned by the provincial New Democratic Party to conduct a review into the specifics of how 1100 potential memberships requests came about. The Provincial Office of the party has issued the following news release:

"Stricter oversight by both the Dwain Lingenfelter campaign and the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party might have prevented the invalid sale of NDP memberships in the Meadow Lake constituency from going as far as it did, Robert Hale said today.

But Hale, a Swift Current lawyer who investigated the membership affair on behalf of the party, said the safeguards in place for the process caught the irregularities in a number of areas, and voting process for the June 6 Party Leadership was not put at risk.

“The (Dwain) Lingenfelter campaign did not direct, authorize or condone this activity,” Hale said. “However, their policies did allow this to proceed further than it should have. If they had taken more time to speak with (the local DLC volunteer) and perhaps to members of the Band offices prior to spending $10,000, this could have been stopped sooner.”

However, sufficient concerns about the amount and quality of the membership applications were raised by the Lingenfelter campaign, the Provincial Office staff, the Meadow Lake constituency, the Chief of one of the Bands involved, and the other three Leadership candidates, that the problem was resolved early enough to prevent any negative consequences.

Hale concluded that (the local DLC volunteer) acted alone, without the authority or approval of the Lingenfelter campaign. However, he said that even if the intent had been to control the election with these improper ballots, it would not have worked.

“For those who might claim that this was an attempt at some type of voting fraud, it is important to note that the address was the Band office,” Hale said. “While we do have enough information to question the integrity of the individual who presented these applications, it would be entirely inappropriate to question the integrity of the officials at the Bands.

“Band officials would have arranged for members to receive their mail. The most likely outcome is that many ballots would have gone in the trash because people were not expecting them or they would have been returned to sender because the address was incorrect.”

He rejected out-of-hand (the local DLC volunteer) explanation to the Lingenfelter campaign of why he acted as he did because such actions are acceptable in Aboriginal communities. He said his consultation with past candidates, volunteers, canvassers, local executives and other volunteers clearly indicated this was not the case.

Hale accepted and supported the philosophy which allows Party members to pay for the membership of others, but said this case indicates the Party needs to put in place tighterregulations on this practice.

Saskatchewan NDP Provincial Secretary Deb McDonald said the Party now considers the matter closed.
“We are satisfied with the report and in due course will consider Mr. Hale’s recommendations about how this incident could be avoided in the future,” McDonald said. “At this time, however, the Party believes it is now time to move forward with letting the members decide who the next leader of the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan will be.”

In addition, the $11,000 that was paid for the rejected memberships has been confiscated by the New Democratic Party and will be used to defray the costs of the Hale inquiry. Should the $11,000 not cover the full cost of the review, the Lingenfelter campaign must pay for the difference.

When the Hale Report news conference concluded, Dwain Lingenfelter was scrumed by the local media. One question, in particular, caught my attention:

-Reporter: Do you feel vindicated by the review?
-Lingenfelter: I felt vindicated when I wrote to the Party asking them to review me and my campaign.

UPDATE:
I am monitoring the websites for all 4 candidates to see if there are any further statements on the Hale Report. I will post them as they appear:
-Statememt by Dwain Lingenfelter
-Statement by Ryan Meili

Pedersen Reprimands Wall Government For Watered Down Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets

2009-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

"The Saskatchewan Party’s brand new legislation, The Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Act (introduced Tuesday) pays only lip service to addressing climate change. The legislation is a baby-step in the right direction but doesn’t even come close to righting the wrong of watering down their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets or stripping the $320 million Green Futures Fund left by the NDP.

The government has broken its promise to keep the same targets as the last government and instead adopted the weaker federal targets. We should be shooting for a 40% reduction by 2020 which is double what the government has identified."
Yens Pedersen
'Too Little Too Late'

Meili Campaign Launches YouTube Channel

2009-05-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

"NDP leadership candidate Ryan Meili wants to reach a new generation of political activists. To do so, he’s using the viral power of online social networks to change the way politics is practiced in Saskatchewan.

Today, the campaign officially released a series of digital videos on party renewal, agriculture and rural life, the environment, First Nations and Métis issues and health care. Meili hopes that his supporters will promote the videos across their online social networks and in the blogosphere.

“When M.J. Coldwell and Tommy Douglas were building our party, they depended on people sharing the CCF story and vision with their friends and neighbours,” said Meili. “We’re just doing the same thing in a 21st century way. Online communities created through social networking allow people with common political values to organize and to inspire each other.”

Ryan Meili YouTube

'Restoring the Mandate of SaskEnergy' - Lingenfelter Policy Statement

2009-05-11T11:51:00.001-07:00

After the brutal gouging that Saskatchewan natural gas consumers endured from our incompetent Saskatchewan Party administration this past winter, the following policy statement is timely:

"A province with abundant reserves of natural gas should be able to use that natural bounty as a strategic advantage in economic development and to shield its people from frequent spikes in the world market price. We can’t do that in Saskatchewan today, because we no longer own any natural gas reserves. Considering that its hands were tied by the Devine government’s privatization agenda, SaskEnergy has done a remarkable job trying to protect the people of Saskatchewan from the volatility of natural gas prices. During the nineteen nineties, the corporation developed a hedging and storage program to cushion Saskatchewan people from the effects of wild fluctuations in the price of natural gas. This allowed the public utility to purchase natural gas supplies at lower prices (usually during the spring and summer months), store large amounts of natural gas underground for use during the winter season, and avoid the worst price spikes of the open market.

This system worked until the Wall government began to interfere with it in 2008. Political interference resulted in SaskEnergy locking in high prices for its natural gas supplies in the summer of 2008. The result was a 20% increase in the cost of natural gas for Saskatchewan people at a time when the market price was plunging by 40%. The effects of this political blunder were magnified by a very cold winter. Now it is time to consider restoring the full mandate of SaskEnergy; to allow this efficient public utility not only to buy natural gas on the open market, but to explore for and develop its own natural gas reserves on behalf of its customers, the people of Saskatchewan."
Restoring the Mandate of SaskEnergy

Lingenfelter Promises Full Cooperation With Party Probe

2009-05-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

REGINA -- "Dwain Lingenfelter promised full co-operation with an NDP investigation into 1,100 improperly obtained party memberships even as its terms of reference released Thursday contained new revelations — including that his campaign had purchased the $10 memberships mostly with small bills.

The former deputy premier apologized Monday for a lack of oversight in the campaign and for what he said was the work of an overzealous volunteer in signing up individuals en masse on the Flying Dust and Waterhen Lake First Nations without their consent or knowledge."
Regina Leader-Post

Lingenfelter Releases Immigration and Multiculturalism Strategy

2009-05-07T16:25:00.001-07:00

"Immigration is crucial to Saskatchewan’s future economic growth, social development, and prosperity. It is clear that the combination of Saskatchewan’s aging population, the growth of our economy, and a labour shortage across a number of important occupations will necessitate an increase in international immigration over the next several years. Along with our Aboriginal population, these new immigrants will form the foundation of Saskatchewan’s labour force and economy in the 21st century."
Dwain Lingenfelter

Party Outlines Hale's Terms of Reference

2009-05-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hale's Terms of Reference

Membership Controversy Livens Up Campaign!

2009-05-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a good old fashioned political controversy to liven up a fairly lack lustre leadership campaign! In fact the strutting and sputter that is coming from the Saskatchewan Party is almost laughable considering a couple of looming 'controversies' that are percolating around them at the moment .. (more on that later).

Kudos to NDP Provincial Secretary, Deb McDonald for her handling of the membership questions to date.

Officials of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party have decided to toss out all 1100 memberships that were brought forward by the Lingenfelter campaign and which came under question as the deadline for memberships ended.

Some of the candidates are now commenting on the matter;
-Dwain Lingenfelter's news conference ...
-Ryan Meili's thoughts ...

Ryan Meili On First Nations And Metis

2009-05-06T09:37:00.001-07:00

The Meili campaign has released a video concerning his policies on First Nations and Metis in Saskatchewan.

Membership Hits 14,169 - Some Questions Out Of The North

2009-05-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

Next month, 14,169 members will be entitled to cast a vote for the next leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.

CBC Saskatchewan is reporting that there have been a few complaints out of northern Saskatchewan concerning membership eligibility. Provincial Secretary, Deb McDonald has indicated that she will investigate.

CBC Saskatchewan

Odds And Ends From The Race!

2009-04-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

-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

2009-04-24T09:30:00.001-07:00

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

Saskatchewan Main Stream Media Attacks NDP Leadership Candidates Meili and Lingenfelter

2009-04-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

Higgins Wants To Fight Poverty

2009-04-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

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."

Pedersen Takes Sask Party To Task For 'Manufacturing Consent'

2009-04-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

"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

Making Saskatchewan a Green Economy Leader - Lingenfelter Policy Statement

2009-04-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

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 ............

Meili Responds To SNDW

2009-04-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

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'

2009-04-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

"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

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

2009-04-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

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