Regina Douglas Park is Heating Up
The Saskatchewan Party recently announced that they are holding a nomination meeting for Regina Douglas Park on August 12, 2009. The nomination meeting will be held at 6:30 pm at St. Mary’s Hall on 2020 Winnipeg Street. After this meeting, there will be three confirmed candidates in Regina Douglas Park. On July 7, the New Democratic Party announced that Dwain Lingenfelter will be their candidate, and on July 10, the Saskatchewan Green Party announced that perennial candidate, Victor Becker Lau will be flying their flag. Unfortunately, there is no information on the Saskatchewan Liberal Party’s intentions for that election.
So far, the election seems like it will be another interesting one. Victor Becker Lau has already come out swinging, pointing out four major issues that affect the constituency. In Becker Lau’s mind, nuclear power, poverty, affordable education and electoral reform are going to be key issues in this by-election. Larissa Shasko (Leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party) fired a well-timed salvo at the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, stating that “A two-party system between the NDP and the SaskParty is failing the environmental and social aspirations of the people of Saskatchewan.”
To his credit, Dwain Lingenfelter has done his best to come across as a statesman, a role which Lorne Calvert never seemed quite comfortable accepting. On the Provincial N.D.P’s web site, Lingenfelter diplomatically noted that, “many people, such as farmers, students, working men and women, Seniors and the economically-challenged are not seeing that prosperity. We will be the voice of fair and equal treatment.” Decidedly N.D.P., that statement has a certain ‘third wave’ voice that seriously reminds me of something Roy Romanow would have said.
It will be very interesting to see who will get the Sask Party nomination and what will happen during the run-up to the election. While Regina Douglas Park is considered prime N.D.P. territory, the Saskatchewan Party will certainly try to send Lingenfelter packing. A Saskatchewan Party win would be a major blow to the New Democrats and to Dwain Lingenfelter. Be sure to watch this space (or subscribe to our RSS feed) to keep track of this race – it is going to be a good one!
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About Greg: Greg Hluska is an early 30s Regina guy. By day, he works in User Experience in a technology company and by night, he is an avid reader/writer who helps publish the Regina Streets Magazine. |
[...] almost two months since Harry Van Mulligen announced his resignation from Regina Douglas Park and the major provincial parties appear to be gearing up for a major race. As I see it, this constituency, a long-time N.D.P. stronghold, is incredibly important for all [...]
Hiyo. I’ve been browsing the blog a bit, it’s alright. Not a big commentator, though.
I’m a little confused by this one, just one statement. How is the GP firing a “salvo” at the Liberals? Wouldn’t the Liberals be in full agreement that a two-party system is killing democracy in SK? Like, the SaskParty was created out of the Liberals and PCs to beat the NDP because of our two-party attitude. So the Liberals have gotta be as annoyed with this mess as the Green Party, I think.
Maybe both should start pushing for proportional representation.
Hey there, Niles!!
First off, thanks for the comment. I feel honoured that someone who is ‘not a big commentator’ decided to make a comment on something that I said. Second, thanks for reading our blog!!
Your comments got me seriously thinking and you know, I think I was wrong to call that ‘well timed salvo’. I let your statements sink in and now I realize that Shasko was not talking about the official parties, she was talking about elected parties. Huge difference and I am embarassed for having made the statement that I did.
Thank you for pointing that out! This is what I love about publishing a magazine/writing on a blog. I get to learn such an incredible amount because of people like yourself.
Take good care, thank you again and be peaceful. Let me know if I can ever be of service!
Greg
ya well I don’t have much to say cause i don’t know what to do about the situation
seems like the greens and liberals can have all the good ideas and good candidates they want but Sask voters can’t get their heads around more than two parties, the one they hate or are afraid of and the one the that has the best chance of beating that one. like, everyone in the NDP hates Link, but they voted him for leader anyway because they think he has the best chance (I think he has no chance, he’s creepier than Elwin Hermanson)
meanwhile proportional rep has been voted down in the places you’d think it would be popular, so like anyones gonna go for that here.
sask democracy is a joke
why bother, I wonder
nothing’s gonna change until people stop being afraid of change (like, getting over this stupid fear of private liquor stores would be a great start!)
[...] few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Saskatchewan Party was holding its nomination meeting for Regina Douglas Park o…. Well, that meeting has come and gone and the Saskatchewan Party finally has a candidate. [...]