A graceful departure

Within a day after public questions first surfaced about his plans, longtime Regina Northeast MLA Ron Harper has announced that he'll be stepping down after the 2011 election. We'll find out soon just who will seek the now-open NDP nomination in a riding which the party has regularly won in a romp until an unusually close race in 2007 - but for now, Harper deserves credit for his 16 years of hard work in the party and the Legislature.