New Democrats can learn from Sask. Party leadership race

Saskatchewan New Democrats may find lessons from an unlikely source as they approach their leadership choice this Saturday.

There is much to be learned from what the Saskatchewan Party has gone through in picking Scott Moe as its new leader and premier.

To recap: Moe was elected on the fifth and final ballot on Jan. 27, by a healthy 1,161-vote margin, taking 8,075 votes, or 53.87 per cent, over runner-up Alanna Koch.

However, it was much closer than that. Moe’s success was due to taking the lion’s share of Ken Cheveldayoff ’s support after he dropped off after the fourth ballot.

Moe didn’t pass Koch until that fourth ballot when his 36.43 per cent gave him a 389-vote lead over Koch (34.06 per cent) after Gord Wyant dropped off on the third. Prior to that, Moe had consistently trailed Koch — by 54 votes after the third ballot, by 38 votes after the second ballot and by 46 votes after the first ballot.

With only Ryan Meili and

Trent Wotherspoon on the mailin, preferential ballot system, we won’t see the same ballot-by-ballot drama at Saturday’s NDP leadership convention in Regina.

And given their unwillingness to publicly mix it up — even though they differ in policy in some key areas — one might think the NDP is headed for a relatively easy transition regardless of who wins.

Think again.

It will very much depend on who wins this two-man NDP race and how badly the losing side reacts. Past Saskatchewan NDP leadership votes in 2009 and 2013 — and even 2001 — have demonstrated a party divided by generations and philosophy, and not all that good at political compromise.

This takes us back to what the NDP might learn from the Sask. Party.

One obvious and spectacular difference between the NDP and the Sask. Party is that the latter is entrenched in government with a solid majority, due to its stranglehold on its rural and conservative right wing base, while the former is trying to regain its urban base with little or no hope of making serious inroads in the rural areas.

Picking the next NDP leader less likely to bridge that gap would be unhelpful, but even more unhelpful would be a lot of angry exits from Saturday’s convention.

By contrast, consider how the Sask. Party membership’s consensus choice did seem to be aimed at winning the next election. And consider how Moe himself has responded to the challenge.

While Moe was occasionally criticized during the leadership race for being the overwhelming caucus choice, it has made for a relatively seamless transfer from the Wall administration. The new cabinet hasn’t created much of a stir, nor has the implementation of Moe-specific leadership policies. (That said, the rubber may yet hit the road in the April budget, when Finance Minister Donna Harpauer tries to keep up plans for a balanced budget in three years, having just lost nearly $200 million in provincial sales tax revenue on insurance through the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year.)

Most critically, there doesn’t appear to be faction abandonment of the Sask. Party in the wake of the leadership contest. There was plenty of reason for that to happen in a five/six-person race.

Koch aggressively courted right-wing farmers and wellheeled oil and business types. Cheveldayoff courted the socially conservative right.

And while many never marked an X on their preferential ballot for Moe, there really hasn’t been the seething anger we saw in the past three NDP leadership races.

Farmers and big business may not have got what they wanted, but that Moe is still aggressively opposing the carbon tax and doling out tax benefits to farmers seems to be placating a lot of them. Similarly, consider his quiet pro-life position and cabinet moves (plus his statements post- Gerald Stanley verdict) that all seem to be reaching out to the potentially disenchanted.

After all, the first three off the ballot (Rob Clarke, Tina Beaudry-Mellor and Wyant) were the most liberal-minded and/or most critical of Wall policies. One can only wonder if the new NDP leader will be as astute ... or if his party will be as compromising.