The Saskatchewan NDP gathered on Sunday to pick a new leader with current leader Ryan Meili returning to private life..The new Sask NDP leader is Carla Beck (MLA Regina Lakeview)..Beck has been in the Saskatchewan Legislature for the past six years. .She ran on a platform of rebuilding the NDP in Saskatchewan, as they only have 12 seats compared to the 48 seats the Saskatchewan Party holds..“I feel really excited about our prospects for change in this province and for our party. I thought that given my history and given my ability to bring teams together and reach out. This was the right time for me to pursue this goal,” said Beck..The NDP has not won over 13 seats in the past three provincial elections, but Beck wants to win the next election..Beck said she’s “ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work.”.During the candidate showcase, Beck received considerably louder cheers from the audience and Doyle Vermette (MLA Cumberland) gave an endorsement speech along with Beck’s children..The other leadership candidate, Kaitlyn Harvey, was the first Métis person to seek the leadership of the Sask NDP..Harvey’s campaign did not get any momentum going and she campaigned on only one issue, “the climate crisis.”.In his resignation speech, outgoing leader Meili thanked the members of the party for helping him while he was the leader, even if they did not vote for him..Meili called Premier Scott Moe a “post-truth Trump Republican,” which received loud clapping and shouting from the audience..Meili said that the NDP called on the government during the COVID-19 pandemic to do the “right actions even if it wasn’t popular.”.The two most important challenges facing Saskatchewan are indigenous “reconciliation and climate change,” according to Meili..Beck now moves to rebuilding the Sask NDP party.
