Former MP enters race for Saskatoon-West

A former Member of Parliament plans to take another crack at federal politics.

Jim Pankiw has joined the list of candidates in the new federal riding of Saskatoon-West, representing the Canada Party.

He’s facing off against Conservative candidate Randy Donauer, the Liberals’ Lisa Abbott and the NDP’s Sheri Benson.

Pankiw served as an MP with the Reform Party of Canada, the Canadian Alliance and finally as an independent in Ottawa from 1997 until 2004.

He was booted from the Alliance party in 2001, after Stephen Harper was elected as the leader of the Alliance. Pankiw then joined the Progressive Conservative-Democratic Representative Caucus coalition.

Once elected, Harper dissolved the coalition and Pankiw was denied re-admission into the party following allegations he made offensive comments to an aboriginal man in a bar and challenged him to a fight.

In 2003, Pankiw ran for mayor in Saskatoon, but finished in third place behind runner-up Peter Zakreski and the winner, Don Atchison.

Pankiw made three more attempts to run federally, losing in 2004 to Brad Trost and then again in  2006 to Gerry Ritz for the Battlefords-Lloydminster riding. Pankiw made one last attempt to run as an independent in 2011 for his riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt, where he lost to Trost again.

In January 2014, Pankiw was found guilty on impaired driving charges stemming from an incident in July 2011.