Less than two months after she was re-elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature, Joan Beatty will switch parties and run federally.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion announced last week that the former NDP cabinet minister would be the party’s candidate in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in the upcoming byelection.
Voters in four federal ridings will elect new MPs March 17. The Liberals won all four in the 2006 general election but the northern Saskatchewan constituency could be the hardest to retain.
It became vacant Aug. 31 after Gary Merasty resigned to take a job with the uranium company Cameco. He won a narrow victory in 2006, defeating Conservative incumbent Jeremy Harrison by 67 votes.
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Harrison is now the Saskatchewan Party MLA for Meadow Lake.
Beatty was the first Saskatchewan aboriginal woman elected an MLA when she won the Cumberland riding in November 2003.
She served as minister of culture, youth and recreation and as provincial secretary, and then as minister of northern affairs and minister responsible for the status of women.
Re-elected in November 2007, Beatty was the opposition critic for women’s issues and northern affairs.
“Under Mr. Dion’s leadership I believe that I can best represent the constituency at this level, in particular, the First Nations communities where the need is so great,” Beatty said in a news release.
She noted she was born and raised in the riding and knows the issues facing northerners.
David Orchard, the former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate and anti-free trade activist, had been campaigning for the nomination for several weeks. He was a key organizer for Dion in his Liberal leadership bid last year and appeared to have the leader’s support.
However, some Liberals, including Regina MP Ralph Goodale, believed Beatty would have a better chance of holding the riding.
Beatty’s resignation from the provincial legislature leaves the NDP with 19 members to the Saskatchewan Party’s 38.
Under provincial law, a byelection must be called within six months of a resignation.
