Two NDP candidates are out of the Saskatchewan election race.
The party dropped Clayton Wilson, who was running in Saskatoon Northwest, after social media posts were found that made light of domestic violence.
Leader Cam Broten had earlier accepted Wilson’s apology for calling farmers who weren’t in favor of the Canadian Wheat Board “stupid.”
Wilson’s posts were a few years old.
“The internet is certainly full of bad and inappropriate jokes, and no one wants a campaign where every old retweet or Facebook post is dragged out in ‘gotcha’ politics, but violence against women is a serious issue and comments which take sexual harassment lightly are below the standard we should all expect from our elected representatives,” Broten said in a statement March 10.
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Then March 11, he accepted Weyburn-Big Muddy candidate Mark Jeworski’s resignation. Jeworski resigned at 6 a.m. for personal reasons, according to the party.
However, the Saskatchewan Party issued a news release earlier in the week noting Jeworski’s support for Alberta’s controversial Bill 6, and another Friday morning about his lack of support for the uranium industry.
“The only way I’d agree to nuclear is if we can store the spent rods in Brad Wall’s house with him,” said Jeworski’s social media post from Oct. 2, 2015.
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix has reported receiving several screen grabs of other posts by Jeworski that disparaged Wall’s mother and former agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud.
The NDP intends to find another candidate in Saskatoon. It wasn’t yet clear if a replacement would be sought in Weyburn-Big Muddy.
Broten was in Saskatoon this morning, announcing he would cut the number of MLAs to 55. There were 58, and after boundary redistribution for this election, the number of constituencies went up to 61.
“No one thinks we need more politicians in Regina, so I don’t understand why Mr. Wall decided to add three more MLAs to the legislature,” Broten said.
Reducing the number could save $5.5 million over a four-year term, he said.
However, Wall countered that the addition of the three is revenue neutral because the cost is $891,000 per year and the Sask Party members on the Board of Internal Economy, which controls internal expenses such as MLA salaries and office costs, presented a budget to reduce funding for all MLA and caucus expenses by that amount.
Wall was also in Saskatoon, announcing a new tax incentive to commercialize innovation. Known as a “patent box,” the incentive would lower corporate income tax on income earned by Saskatchewan companies that commercialize products at home.
Contact Karen.briere@producer.com
