REGINA — The Saskatchewan Party government had a field day Monday after the federal NDP convention in Winnipeg that elected Avi Lewis as new national leader.
Lewis, an author of the “Leap Manifesto” and a vocal critic of the resource sector, was a target of attacks from government members who sought to link the provincial NDP to the policies of their federal counterparts.
Those attacks come in the wake of new attempts by provincial New Democrats, including a letter from leader Carla Beck herself, to distance themselves from Lewis and the policies of the federal party.
At a news conference Monday, Beck was asked if any of her provincial NDP MLAs were at the federal convention in Winnipeg. She replied no, saying that since coming to the legislature she had not known MLAs to attend conventions.
“I think probably because they're busy,” said Beck. “We were in Prince Albert this weekend. I know that there are MLAs that were in Moose Jaw. There are MLAs that, I assume they sleep, but they don't do a lot other than hold the government accountable here and reach out to people in this province and build those solutions that we are driving so hard to provide for people in this province.”
Still, that did not stop Sask Party MLAs from attempting to tie the provincial NDP to the happenings of the federal party throughout Monday's sitting of the legislature.
James Thorsteinson, MLA for Cut Knife–Turtleford, took particular aim at NDP policies in his remarks in the assembly, as recorded in Hansard.
“This past weekend the federal NDP held their convention and elected an anti-energy activist as their national leader. The policy resolutions coming from the federal NDP convention this weekend will damage our economy and put Saskatchewan people out of work. Just listen to these reckless policies. The NDP will take socialized ownership of the oil and gas industry. The NDP will undertake a review to increase taxes on the potash industry. The NDP opposes the development of nuclear power…
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Speaker, I got my notes mixed up. Those are all policy resolutions from the most recent Saskatchewan NDP convention under that Opposition Leader.”
In his members' statement in the assembly, Daryl Harrison, MLA for Cannington, characterized the federal NDP policies as “dangerous” under new leader Lewis.
“Policy no. 1: no approvals for new pipelines or natural gas terminals. That means no new jobs, no new projects, and no economic opportunity.
"Policy no. 2: they want to tax some of the largest employers in our province into oblivion.
"Policy no. 3: they would cancel federal approval of the billions of dollars in private capital being invested into Saskatchewan projects.
“No. 4: nationalize industries like pharmaceuticals, resources, and grocery stores, stagnating job creation and innovation with bureaucracy.
"Policy no. 5: the NDP wants to impose a national rent cap that would eliminate new housing development. And their new leader has vilified resource workers claiming that major projects like pipelines lead to murder and sexual assaults.”
Harrison also made note of the portion of the Saskatchewan NDP constitution which reads: “The Party shall constitute a section of the New Democratic Party of Canada.”
“Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Opposition can send out as many letters as she wants, they’re still the same old NDP,” Harrison said.
In speaking to reporters, Premier Scott Moe doubled down on Harrison's remarks as he also pointed to the provincial NDP constitution tying the provincial party to the federal NDP.
“I mean, it is absolutely 100 per cent a fact of the constitution of the provincial NDP,” said Moe.
As for Lewis, Moe said that “we've seen a number of what some might categorize as radical left-wing leaders run for the NDP in years gone by, but certainly this particular leader would be one of the more radical left-wing leaders that has ever been successful in being the leader of the NDP party in Canada, I think even by the admission of the leader of the opposition here in Saskatchewan.”
Moe said that was the reason why Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck has “written a letter trying to distance the provincial party from the federal party, of which this absolutely is not possible.”
Premier Moe went on to criticize Lewis’ policies, accusing him of wanting to “shut down the resource industry, the oil and gas industry, the mining industry, all of the industries essentially that are creating wealth here in the province of Saskatchewan.” He also criticized Lewis’ plans for nationalizing additional industries including grocery stores.
“What this new NDP leader is bent on doing is actually destroying half of the economy in our nation and then nationalizing the other half,” Moe said.
“And that's a sad day that we see a leader that has policies like that that are connected to the provincial NDP party, which the NDP party is part of. There's no question on that.”
As for the provincial NDP, they have been working in recent days to downplay any connection to the federal party. Over the weekend, the Saskatchewan NDP released a letter by Beck to Lewis sent prior to the leadership vote announcement, in which Beck voiced strong disagreement with Lewis’ stances on resource development.
In that correspondence, Beck described Lewis’ positions as “ideological and unrealistic” and said they would “hurt Saskatchewan workers, communities, and industries.”
Beck also stated that she would only agree to a meeting with Lewis if he changed his position.
Beck’s letter has drawn criticism from at least one former NDP MLA. Jennifer Bowes, who represented Saskatoon University prior to the 2024 election and is also a Lewis supporter, posted her concerns on her Facebook feed.
“I am disappointed with this behaviour from our SK NDP Leader,” Bowes stated. “The federal NDP members have voted overwhelmingly for Avi Lewis — we should expect our leaders to work to unify and find common ground, not shut the door before it has a chance of opening.”
Beck seeks to focus on provincial issues
At her news conference Monday morning, Beck had tried to steer the focus of her remarks to concerns over office subletting by Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA Ken Cheveldayoff, which she said had violated assembly rules.
But Beck nevertheless faced several questions from reporters about her letter to Lewis. Beck was asked about comments by Lewis in which he said his door is open whenever Beck was ready to have a meeting with him.
"I sent a letter. I think folks have seen it. It's pretty clear in that letter. It says everything that I want to say on the matter,” said Beck, adding that her focus that day was on “holding this government accountable.”
But reporters continued to press Beck. When asked if she could ever see a point where a meeting with Lewis would be set up, Beck reiterated she was “pretty clear in that letter. I have a calendar right now that doesn't allow a lot of extra outside of all of what we're doing here in Saskatchewan.”
"We'll see what happens in the future, but as I said, I was pretty clear in the letter, and I am laser-focused on the things that matter to Saskatchewan people.”
As for Premier Moe and the Saskatchewan Party’s attempts to link the Saskatchewan NDP to the federal NDP, Beck said she has “no doubt that the premier does not want to be talking about what's going on here with Minister Cheveldayoff. I have no doubt the premier does not want to be talking about all the ways that his budget has failed people in this province, the fact that he's tripled the debt. This is a no-no with this premier. If the heat gets too hot, he likes to distract and point fingers and try to bring other things into it.”
When asked whether she would ever consider a break by the Saskatchewan NDP from the federal NDP, Beck said “those kind of decisions belong with the membership. Different concerns come up in different years. I get one vote like everyone else.”
