Saskatchewan Liberal leader David Karwacki says the current legislative assembly is not addressing critical issues like farm income problems.
That’s why he will seek election in the Weyburn-Big Muddy provincial byelection expected in June.
He told reporters gathered on the steps of the legislature in Regina that neither the governing NDP nor the opposition Saskatchewan Party are putting forward innovative solutions to deal with agricultural concerns.
“How are we going to get cash into farmers’ hands?” he asked.
But Saskatchewan Party MLA Dan D’Autremont dismissed Karwacki’s chances of winning, saying the Saskatoon businessperson doesn’t understand agriculture or energy, two main industries in the riding.
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The byelection must be called within six months of a vacancy. Brenda Bakken Lackey, who represented Weyburn-Big Muddy for the Sask Party since 1999, resigned effective Feb. 28.
In her final report published in the Weyburn Review newspaper, she said she was not resigning for personal reasons or because she was frustrated as an opposition member.
“I am resigning because I have chosen principle over politics and my loyalty is to what I believe in and the commitments I made to you,” she wrote.
Bakken Lackey won the riding by 385 votes over NDP candidate Sherry Leach in 2003. Liberal candidate Janet Ledingham was third.
Karwacki, whose nomination is set for March 23, said even if he loses the byelection, it is a chance to put forward Liberal ideas and get his message out.
