Sask. NDP faces 'huge' challenge to win over voters by 2024, prof says
CBC
The new leader of the Saskatchewan NDP has vowed to "take back the province" with an election win in 2024, but the task is "huge," according to a Saskatchewan political scientist.
Carla Beck stood flanked by her caucus colleagues on the steps of the legislature Monday morning, launching what she is calling the "Build to Win" campaign.
Beck said she and her fellow MLAs will criss-cross Saskatchewan over the next three weeks.
"We will be meeting with folks in their places of work, in their communities, sharing their stories and a vision of Saskatchewan that works for all of us."
Beck and her NDP caucus will travel "everywhere from south of Carnduff to brand cows, to Prince Albert, to celebrate the birthplace of medicare."
"I'm prepared to run the tires off my car," Beck said.
Beck said the initial goal is not to sell NDP memberships but to find "connections."
"I know that we've got a lot of work to do. But we want you there with us," Beck said in a message to voters on Monday.
Beck's tour may be the first step on a long road to rebuilding the party.
On Sunday, Beck won the leadership comfortably, taking 68.5 per cent of the vote.
However, her 3,244 winning votes were less than the 4,860 Trent Wotherspoon received when he finished second in 2018. Wotherspoon received more votes in 2018 than ballots cast in 2022.
Total membership was almost cut in half from the 2018 leadership race (13,414) to the 2022 contest (7,294).
In the 2018 leadership race, voter turnout was 81 per cent, with 10,837 of 13,414 registered Saskatchewan NDP members casting votes. In 2022, voter turnout was 65 per cent, with 4,741 votes of 7,294 registered NDP members casting votes.
Tom McIntosh, professor of politics and international studies at the University of Regina, said the reported membership numbers indicate the party is now down to the "absolute base of the core."
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