Premier quick to dismiss Meili’s call for early vote

The newly elected leader of the Saskatchewan NDP says Premier Scott Moe does not have a clear mandate to lead the province and should call an election long before 2020.

Speaking to reporters at a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) conference in Saskatoon on Friday, Ryan Meili said Moe is the province’s premier only because slightly more than 8,000 Saskatchewan Party members voted for him to replace Brad Wall.

“We’ve got a premier who wasn’t elected by our province … I don’t think we’ve got a government that has a mandate, nor really the trust of the people, and I think an opportunity to go to the polls earlier would be wise,” Meili said.

The Saskatchewan Party government has given no indication that it plans to call an early election. Under the province’s fixed election date laws, which the Sask. Party introduced in 2007, the next general election can be held no later than Nov. 2, 2020.

“We have a strong mandate to govern,” Moe told reporters Friday in Regina, adding that the Sask. Party has “always said elections should be every four years” and putting voters through an unnecessary $25 million general election would not be prudent.

“I’ve never indicated anything different,” Moe added.

If the election is called for late 2020, Moe will have been premier for two years and nine months. That would not be unprecedented; it is, in fact, almost exactly how long the most recent NDP premier held office before his first general election.

Lorne Calvert won the NDP leadership in January 2001 and succeeded Roy Romanow as premier the following month. The next general election was held in November 2003 — two years and nine months after Calvert took office.

The Sask. Party caucus recently lost one of its veteran MLAs — Kevin Doherty, who resigned as the MLA for Regina Northeast last week — and could soon potentially lose two more, as Warren Steinley and Corey Tochor seek Conservative Party of Canada nominations.

“I wonder if that will have some influence on the decision of the Sask. Party?” Meili mused.

“If the ship is sinking and people are leaving that ship, will that actually have them consider — maybe they don’t want to lose byelection after byelection.”

While Meili and Vicki Mowat won byelections last year for the NDP in ridings previously held by the Saskatchewan Party, the governing party stormed to victory in three seats — Kindersley, Melfort and Swift Current — on March 1.

Meili said one of his priorities for the next legislative session, which is scheduled to begin Monday, is to encourage the Sask. Party to pass new campaign finance laws. The NDP leader did not accept union or corporate donations during his campaign.

The Saskatoon Meewasin MLA appointed Deb McDonald, who previously served as the party’s CEO and chief of staff to Calvert, as his interim chief of staff, to take over following the previously planned departure of the party’ s current chief of staff.