Murray Wood: Saskatchewan NDP might be better off with a new name
While Carla Beck has been trying to bring the Saskatchewan NDP closer to the centre, Murray Wood says the federal NDP ha...
Sask NDP Leader Carla Beck believes her letter to new federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis speaks for itself.
She was asked about it a handful of times on Monday at a news conference for another matter, and said the letter had everything she wanted to say about it.
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“I have nothing more to say other than the letter right now, and we’re back to focusing here on the things that we can control, the things that we can deliver in this province, and that’s where I’m going to continue to put my focus,” said Beck.
The letter was sent on Saturday, before the results came in that Lewis had won. It declines an apparent invitation to meet with Lewis, saying it was because of his opposition to natural resource development. Alberta’s NDP leader explained a similar sentiment.
Beck said in the letter that the position was “ideological and unrealistic” and it would hurt Saskatchewan workers, communities and industries. It also went so far as to invoke party founder Tommy Douglas, saying he even praised a new pipeline through Saskatchewan in 1949.
“When you publicly reverse your position on these matters and show a willingness to try to understand the realities of our province and the thousands of proud Saskatchewan workers who rely on our industries to feed their families, I will meet with you,” wrote Beck in the letter.
She avoided on a question about what she would do during a federal election with Lewis as the federal leader, saying that’s a long ways away.
And Beck said any decisions about the provincial wing of the party separating from the federal wing would lie with the party membership.
I see the SK NDP is already desperately trying to distance themselves from their new federal leader and his radical policies to shut down our oil industry, nationalize just about everything, and destroy our economy.
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) March 29, 2026
The problem is - that’s like a McDonald’s franchise saying they… pic.twitter.com/lwSL0y9gUJ
Premier Scott Moe was busy over Sunday and Monday, making sure to connect the Sask. NDP and federal NDP. At one point he posted a photo of the provincial party’s constitution saying that it’s part of the federal party.
Moe said he’s been doing that because the two are linked, and he said it’s a sad when you see a party with a new leader and his policies around natural resources that connected to the NDP in Saskatchewan.
“We’ve seen a number of what some might categorize as radical, left-wing leaders run for the NDP in years gone by, but certainly this particular leader would be one of the more radical left-wing leaders that has ever been successful in being the leader of the NDP in Canada,” said Moe.
When asked about the premier trying to keep that connection with the federal party, Beck scoffed and implied the premier was trying to take attention away from things like his spring budget, and reports of one of his ministers breaking rules around subletting his constituency office space.
