Turnover

The CP reports that Peter Prebble and Joanne Crofford won't seek re-election next time Saskatchewan goes to the polls:

Corrections Minister Peter Prebble and Community Resources Minister Joanne Crofford said Friday they will continue to represent their ridings until an election is called.

Voters aren't expected to go the polls again until 2007.

Premier Lorne Calvert is expected to shuffle his cabinet, possibly within two weeks.

The upcoming shuffle will become all the more interesting now that two longtime stalwarts have indicated that they won't be sticking around. While the experience and knowledge will undoubtedly be missed, it's also a plus for there to be some room for renewal both in the cabinet and the caucus.

That said, the electoral implications remain to be seen. There hopefully won't be too much doubt whether the NDP can hold Prebble's and Crofford's ridings: the party won them by 17% and 41%, respectively, in 2003. But the question of whether the NDP can attract positive attention - both for any new cabinet appointments, and for the replacement candidates - will likely play a large role in whether the Dippers can hold onto government past the current term.

Update: While the NDP's departing members will leave the caucus on good terms, the same doesn't appear to be true of the Sask Party's Brenda Bakken-Lackey:

In a cryptic statement distributed by the party, she says the political system did not always allow her to do what she believed was in the best interest of her constituents and she found that frustrating.

Bakken-Lackey also alludes to how she will not compromise her commitments to accountability and transparency, but she does not elaborate.

Considering that the Sask Party has another chance at forming government within a year, one would have to figure that the problem isn't so much frustration with the opposition benches as concerns with the party itself. And when sitting MLAs are leaving on principle, that could be a prelude to voters doing the same.