On questionable recruitment

Kent is right to note that with the Sask Party obviously taking aim at Regina Northeast, the Saskatchewan NDP will need to figure out in fairly short order whether its 2011 candidate will be incumbent Ron Harper or a new face. But it's worth noting that there are some serious questions being raised about the challenger already appearing on Sask Party billboards. Here's Len Taylor from Thursday's question period:

The Premier brought in one Kevin Doherty back to the province to run as a candidate in Regina Northeast. To entice Mr. Doherty to run for the Sask Party, the Premier gave him a job as vice-president of corporate relations at SaskPower. Kevin Doherty is now being paid by the Saskatchewan people through their power rates, Mr. Speaker, to actively campaign for the Saskatchewan Party.
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So to the minister: did the efficiency secretariat think it was a good idea for the Premier to use a vice-president position at SaskPower to recruit a Sask Party candidate, or is this yet another example of the Premier breaking trust with Saskatchewan people?

Previewing the holiday news dump

Saskatchewan's fall session of the legislature undoubtedly answered some key questions about the Sask Party. For example, on the all-important issue of whether Brad Wall's government can find its own ass with a map and a flashlight, the clear answer is that it can't even find the flashlight.

But there also more than a few questions which the Wall government failed or refused to answer over the last few months. So let's note a few of the areas where it seems likely that there will be some important news trickling out over the next few weeks (and seemingly conveniently timed to avoid any questioning in the Legislature):

The Revenge of TILMA. As Len Taylor noted on Monday, the Sask Party has signed onto the "Western Economic Partnership Agreement" with a promise to finalize the details by January 1, 2010 - but hasn't actually carried out a minute of public or legislative consultation. Which figures to mean that we'll see the agreement emerge fully-formed during the holidays with little to no intention on the Sask Party's part to allow the mere public to influence its contents afterward. (See Owls and Roosters for more information.)

The Nuke Question. The conventional wisdom seems to be that Wall and company have rightfully backed away from nuclear power. But at last notice, Wall was still promising a final decision whether or not to push ahead with nukes by the end of the year - and given that the Sask Party has already spun itself into knots trying to keep open the prospect of nuclear power, there may be reason to worry it's simply been waiting until it can avoid answering for the decision before giving the go-ahead.

Cutbacks to Come. In yesterday's question period, Dwain Lingenfelter made a seemingly reasonable request for answers to written questions about the Sask Party's plans to try to make up for their own fiscal incompetence. And Wall's response was to ignore the request entirely in favour of resuming his party's "don't worry, be happy" reaction to evidence that the province might have problems worth addressing. Which would seem likely to signal that the answers will be dished out in tiny pieces intended to slip under the radar over the holidays, rather than being provided at a time when the government would face direct questions.

All of which is to say that there's plenty of reason for suspicion that the holiday season will be a busy one on the Saskatchewan political scene. And we'll find out before long just how much worse off the Wall government can make the province during the legislative break.

On reunification

CBC reports that Dwain Lingenfelter has started to put his stamp on the Saskatchewan NDP caucus with a shuffle of critic duties. And all indications that leadership race loyalties have been put behind the party in determining who will play leading roles going forward:

Dwain Lingenfelter, the new leader of Saskatchewan's NDP, has selected Deb Higgins, one of his opponents in the party's leadership race, to take on the duties of second-in-command at the legislature.

Lingenfelter made the announcement Monday as he unveiled a slightly rejigged roster of critic duties for members of the Opposition. He was chosen as leader June 6.

In addition to serving as deputy leader, Higgins maintained her responsibilities as Opposition critic for municipal affairs.
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Lingenfelter said he will serve as the party's critic on agriculture matters. He has said he will seek a seat in the legislature when a byelection is held for the soon-to-be vacant seat of Regina Douglas Park.

In the meantime, Lingenfelter has tapped Len Taylor to act as interim Opposition leader.

Particularly in a caucus where Lingenfelter proudly boasted the support of a majority of members, it's a pleasant surprise that the top two positions within the NDP caucus for the moment were given to an MLA who (to my recollection) stayed unaligned, along with Lingenfelter's lone caucus leadership opponent. And while there's still plenty of work to be done in bringing the party together on the policy front, today's announcement looks to signal that Lingenfelter is off to a good start in bridging the gaps that appeared during the leadership race.