The Sask. Party disclosed which of its candidates have DUI convictions. Does it matter to voters?
CBC
The Saskatchewan Party has released its full slate of 61 candidates for the 2024 provincial election. Within that announcement, in a social media post Friday, was a list of five candidates that have past convictions for impaired driving.
The Saskatchewan Party is the first political party to release information about past criminal convictions ahead of the election, planned for Oct. 28.
"We do that to ensure Saskatchewan people are aware. It is strictly disclosure and transparency," Premier Scott Moe said Wednesday.
The post listed five candidates (Sean Wilson, Chris Beaudry, James Thorsteinson, Terry Jenson and Moe) that had convictions from 1992 to 2011.
In an email, Saskatchewan Party executive director Patrick Bundrock said Jenson was also convicted of dangerous driving alongside his impaired driving charge and Beaudry of driving with a suspended licence related to his impaired driving charge.
Bundrock said none of the other candidates have criminal convictions.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said her party would also disclose which candidates have criminal convictions.
So far, according to the provincial NDP, only one candidate has a conviction: Bhajan Brar in the Regina Pasqua riding was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm in 2011, which was also disclosed in 2020.
"We want people to have confidence in those who are elected. That disclosure is important prior to the election, but also conduct while members are elected is also very, very important," Beck said on Tuesday.
In an email, NDP spokesperson Brock Bowman said the party will be releasing a full list of disclosures once it has finished nominating its 61 candidates.
In 2019, Prince Edward Island overtook Saskatchewan as the province with the highest police-reported rate of impaired driving. It was the first time in more than two decades that Saskatchewan did not post the highest rate of impaired driving offences among provinces, according to Statistics Canada.
StatCan data from 2023 shows there were about 414 incidents per 100,000 people in Saskatchewan (second to a rate of 515 per 100,000 people in P.E.I.).
CBC/Radio-Canada contacted all registered political parties in Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan Progress Party, formerly known as the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, said it has no plans for disclosure as "any convictions are public record."
