NDP leadership hopefuls debate
Wotherspoon, Meili use debate to stoke supporters at NDP’s anual convention
Saskatchewan NDP leadership candidates squared off in an upbeat debate at the party’s annual convention on Saturday in Regina.
Regina-Rosemont MLA Trent Wotherspoon and SaskatoonMeewassin MLA Ryan Meili covered a wide range of topics in the debate, moderated by Steve Patterson, host of CBC’s The Debaters.
Predictably, the two rivals agreed on a number of issues — the need for a made-in-Saskatchewan solution to climate change, bringing back the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, protecting Crown corporations from being sold and finding workers in the province rather than outsourcing procurement for infrastructure projects.
Wotherspoon quipped the two were in “fierce agreement” with Meili noting “it’s hard to agree this much.”
But the two are trying to stake out individual territory and win votes of party faithful.
One area where the two differ slightly is on their take of the state of the provincial NDP.
Wotherspoon dedicated much of his closing remarks to rallying the troops in a need to keep fighting. He is apparently trying to build on the momentum seen by the party in recent months.
After being decimated in the 2016 election, Wotherspoon took the reins as interim leader.
With him at the helm, the party won a byelection (that saw Meili become an MLA) and gained traction in popularity polls.
At the same time, the governing Saskatchewan Party has seen a drop in popularity, largely due to its austerity budget released this March.
To that end, Wotherspoon is indicating he wants to keep the party on its current trajectory.
He noted the party has wind behind its sails and how he wants to “build on that momentum” by connecting with people across the province.
Meili, who isn’t discounting any of that momentum, is not forgetting what happened in the previous election.
“If we get more of the same, we’ll get more of the same results,” he says.
Some are seeing that as a veiled approach to casually paint Wotherspoon with the same brush as former NDP Leader Cam Broten, who was criticized for not taking a bold enough stance on policy and was largely responsible for the 2016 election defeat.
There was no clear winner of the debate.
Wotherspoon had a bit more fervour around his campaign — many “Trent” buttons were seen at the convention — but part of that is geography bias, because Wotherspoon’s support is based in largely in Regina.
Meili had just as many, if not slightly more, people on their feet as he finished delivering his closing argument.
NDP members will choose a new leader on March 3.
It’s possible they could be joined by another candidate by then, as the deadline to join the race is not until Jan. 12.
But there is nothing more than rumour and speculation about others putting their name forward at this point.
Meili and Wotherspoon have actually squared off in a leadership race before.
In 2013, Meili came within 44 votes of beating Broten for the job.
That same year, Wotherspoon ran but dropped out after the first ballot.
If we get more of the same, we’ll get more of the same results.
RYAN MEILI