You gotta love those Saskatchewan Liberals.
They keep shooting themselves in the foot, yet they keep stumbling along.
They held their convention more than a week ago, but it’s still making news. They wouldn’t release the numbers on the vote for a leadership review, and they apparently bused in about 40 young people whose support may have saved leader Jim Melenchuk from another fate.
Actually, we do have some numbers, thanks to senator Herb Sparrow, who number-dropped to the media.
They showed a narrow margin of victory for Melenchuk, who apparently believes that 50 plus one (or just a few more) is enough to stay on. Other leaders, Lynda Haverstock and Joe Clark among them, both had higher approval ratings from their parties at political conventions, but they resigned anyway.
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Sparrow appeared angry at the voting result, but when he was at the Winnipeg airport recently, on the way to Ottawa for the abortive attempt at federal aid, it was a different story. People in the concourse were startled to hear the word “Jim” echo throughout the hall.
It was Sparrow, greeting Melenchuk with a smile and a handshake. Were the greetings political correctness or hypocrisy? Take your choice, but you can be sure they weren’t repeated at the Saskatoon meeting.
The Liberal convention was watched by many in Saskatchewan. Certainly the NDP and Saskatchewan Party were paying attention, as it was in the best interests of both that Melenchuk stay as Liberal leader and the Liberal-NDP coalition survive so everyone could live to fight another day in the legislature.
Coalition and balance of power aside, there are implications for other parties in the way the convention was conducted.
Those implications centre on the youth delegates. Some of the 40 who were bused from Regina were apparently as young as 13 or 14. A tender age, one might say, but old enough to hold a youth membership, according to the rules.
And old enough to have worked, we are told, in at least one election campaign.
The kids’ point is, “if we’re old enough to help in election campaigns, we’re old enough to take part in conventions.”
They have a point, but if people are concerned about their party’s fate being in the hands of teenagers, they had better take a look at the rules.
They can’t have it both ways.
As for Melenchuk and the Liberals, the saga and the bad publicity continue.
If they continue to shoot themselves in the foot, they soon won’t have a leg to stand on.
