Complaints about MLAs’ move to federal politics miss bigger issues
The easy path to disappointment for political watchers is to expect all honourable members to always behave honourably.
Honour is always in the eye of the beholder. Those crying foul often do so to score cheap political points. As a result, they can miss the bigger, more relevant political issues in play.
The NDP is accusing Saskatoon Eastview MLA Corey Tochor and now Regina Walsh Acres MLA Warren Steinley of acting dishonourably by remaining in their legislative seats after winning federal Conservative nominations to run in Saskatoon University and Regina Lewvan, respectively.
So egregious is this indiscretion, says today’s NDP, that the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly Act must immediately be changed to prohibit MLAs from collecting salaries from provincial taxpayers while running for a federal party.
Admittedly, such divided loyalties are always untoward. They have been going back to the days when former Regina mayor Henry Baker sat as an NDP MLA.
The honourable thing for the two Saskatchewan Party MLAs to do is resign. That said, it is fact that the last New Democrat government allowed the exact same thing to happen. One wonders why parties discover honourabil-ity only while in opposition.
Already campaigning and federally nominated NDP MLA John Solomon waited until Sept. 9, 1993, to resign his provincial Regina Northwest seat. He won the Regina-Lumsden seat on Oct. 26, 1993. Tochor and Steinley will now do as Solomon did — campaign federally, not resign until the federal writ is dropped and collect their MLA paycheques in the interim.
Of course, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili saw no relevance to this Monday, saying he was still in high school in 1993. One only wishes New Democrats’ memories were as short when it came to their incessant references to Tommy Douglas (elected premier 74 years ago in 1944) or medicare (introduced 56 years ago in 1962).
Asked why it would have been appropriate for Solomon to have stayed on, Meili tritely said he was unfamiliar with the circumstances. Well, the circumstances were identical, except for the fact neither Tochor nor Steinley have yet received a cushy patronage appointment. (The NDP government later named Solomon chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board after he lost his federal seat.) This doesn’t make Premier Scott Moe’s “the precedent has been set” nonsense acceptable. Tochor and Steinley should resign, as John Solomon should have also done 25 years ago. Legislation isn’t required to do the honourable thing.
And opposition politicians like Meili need to be a tad less sanctimonious and maybe a little more focused on issues that truly make a difference. (In that regard, full credit to Meili and the NDP for demanding an end to corporate and union donations — a move that corrects past wrongs and positively affects future policy.)
Also, Meili and others might be better served by focusing on the real ramifications.
One such ramification is how Steinley’s nomination makes distinguishing between the federal Conservatives and the Sask. Party that much more impossible. This is a real issue for both Meili and provincial voters.
Steinley might very well defeat current Regina Lewvan MP Erin Weir (who currently may or may not be a member of the NDP federal caucus) next year. But for the now-Conservative candidate to say the Sask. Party is now anything more than the federal Conservative farm team — especially after Gord Wyant had to tear up his Liberal card to be seen as a legitimate Sask. Party leadership contender — is laughable.
The next issue of consequence is that Sask. Party MLAs are fleeing the cities (Jennifer Campeau, Kevin Doherty and now Tochor and Steinley) and returning the Sask. Party to its roots as an almost exclusively rural-based party.
This may seem like good news for Meili, but the political reality is he can’t win the 2020 provincial election because of something else that happened in 1993 when he was in high school — the closure of 52 rural high schools.
Sadly this only underscores the dysfunctional rural-urban split in Saskatchewan.
The Tochor/Steinley Conservative nominations suggest this old Saskatchewan problem is getting worse.