Koch, Cheveldayoff must figure out a way to carve own path

Yet Saskatchewan Party leadership candidates seem to be of same ilk as Wall

Two candidates officially announced Monday that they intend to succeed Brad Wall as Saskatchewan premier.

Three decades ago or so, both were either sitting beside Wall in university classes or in meetings as young executive assistants with Wall in the Grant Devine government.

This doesn’t exactly bode well for Saskatchewan Party renewal.

After all, just because former Wall deputy minister Alanna Koch (whose loose political/ personal connection obviously played a role in her ascending to agriculture deputy minister and then Wall’s deputy minister) isn’t known to the public doesn’t mean she is the fresh face who will change much of anything.

But Koch — who will be quickly viewed as one of the front-runners — offering the same ruralbased, business economy driven policies as Wall did shouldn’t be nearly as worrisome as the fact that she is backed by the same cabal of old Devine executive assistants inside and outside government that have been of questionable influence since the Saskatchewan Party transition team 10 years ago.

Similarly, just because Ken Cheveldayoff — clearly, another Sask. Party leadership frontrunner because of vast party connections throughout the province — has been rumoured to be on the outs with Wall doesn’t mean that he will be able to distance himself from the biggest problem facing a government that appears to be more of an old boys (and girls) club than one that can address the myriad needs in this province.

This doesn’t mean that either of the new entrees are automatically unqualified. If anything, their past has served them well.

It wasn’t so long ago that Cheveldayoff was carrying the weight of virtually the entire government on his rather broad shoulders.

If memory serves us well, this was well before a time of smart meter blows, massive rate hikes and bizarre land deals that essentially saw Crown corporations bankrolling the payments, or any of the talk of Crown shutdowns and closures.

It does seem as if there has been some level of friction between Wall and Cheveldayoff, but his record as a senior minister has been more stellar than most.

As for Koch, there is simply no denying she is a bright, competent woman whose ascension to the top civil service job in the province has also had to do with those qualities she developed in years working for government, business and third-party organizations.

Yes, there are legitimate questions of how she can perform in an intensely public political role, having never run for office. And questions remain about her use of a civil service position as a launching pad.

(Koch was been wrongly cited by many — including yours truly — of attending things like the premiers’ golf tournament fundraiser. For this wrong information, I apologize.)

The more critical question is how any of these faces set the Sask. Party on a path in which they can sincerely re-address past mistakes and deal with the province’s problems that have gone unaddressed.

Jeremy Harrison certainly attempted to do so last week by putting forward new conflict-ofinterest guidelines and directly criticizing former economy minister Bill Boyd for his handling of the Global Transportation Hub. But after months of his vehement defence of Boyd, Harrison’s turnaround is completely insincere.

Former justice minister Gord Wyant at least looked like he was doing something to address the GTH while in cabinet. And the federal-card-carrying Liberal promoted anti-spousal abuse policies as minister.

However, his protection and response team announcement last week to address rural crime was rightly criticized by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (who had no interest in participating) for not addressing root causes or doing little to ease racial tension.

In fact, as all Sask. Party leadership candidates have, Wyant’s leadership announcement highlighted his commitment to rural voters.

As proof positive, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart and Sask. Party veteran June Draude were there to show support.

This is a party that’s still headed in the same direction, guided pretty much by the same people.