Suddenly it all makes sense

No, Sask Party Watch's post documenting John Gormley's refusal to talk to PC Leader Rick Swenson wasn't much of a surprise from the standpoint of civility and openness to debate. But I did find it somewhat odd that Gormley would be refusing to hear criticism of the Wall government even from the right.

Suffice it to say that's one mystery solved.

Decisions, decisions

In case there was any doubt, the litigation process over the Saskatchewan PC Trust Fund is still a few steps away from any great public revelations: even if Rick Swenson is able to force Brad Wall to testify as part of the discovery process, that evidence wouldn't generally go public until a trial a ways down the road. But the news that the Sask Party hasn't been able to weasel its way out of the claim does leave the Wall government with an interesting choice over the next year-plus.

After all, it can almost certainly get itself out of the litigation if the Sask Party and its supporters back away from the trust fund - but that would mean having to put up with a well-funded challenge from the right for the election. Or on the other hand, the Sask Party can keep both the PCs and the trust fund tied up through another election - but only if it doesn't mind devoting plenty of its own resources to defending the claim.

Of course, it's probably a telling sign that the Sask Party's preference so far has been to keep a straitjacket on the PCs. But we'll see if the calculation changes as both election day and a possible trial draw near, particularly if the PCs succeed in attaching Brad Wall's name to the Sask Party's evidence.