SASKATOON - Prairieland Park is the location Tuesday night for the launch of Saskatchewan’s newest political party.
The Saskatchewan United Party will hold their launch event in Saskatoon. The launch party is the culmination of months of effort by the new political entity in organizing and in getting officially registered with Elections Saskatchewan.
Organizers have predicted upwards of a thousand people will be on hand for the launch, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Several speakers are planned, and it is expected the party will unveil its policies and constitution.
Afterwards, there is a Meet and Greet reception scheduled at 9 p.m. where people can meet leader Nadine Wilson, as well as hear entertainment from the Johner Brothers.
The Prairieland Park location is a particularly notable one, as that was also the venue in 2018 where the Saskatchewan Party held their most recent leadership convention.
Over a thousand people turned up at that time to hear the results, with the leadership contest ultimately won on the fifth ballot by current Premier Scott Moe. The Sask United Party is hoping to make some provincial political history of their own at their own event there Tuesday.
The Saskatchewan United Party is seen to be a potential challenger to the Saskatchewan Party for centre-right votes. The party has described itself as a grassroots movement and they have been particular notable for voicing a hard-line stance against vaccine mandates in recent months in the legislature. According to their website, the Sask United Party supports human rights and civil liberties, the family unit, a school curriculum free from ideologies, improved and localized healthcare, provincial over national or international interests, property rights, and balanced budget with lower taxes.
The new entity has attracted support from political figures including Wilson, who is the party’s lone MLA in the legislature representing Saskatchewan Rivers, as well as former federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who sat as Conservative MP for Battlefords-Lloydminster until 2018.
Last May, when the new Sask United Party was in the process of being formed, Wilson said interest was coming from “all over.”
“It’s urban, it’s rural, it’s different genders, and it’s even other parties that we chat with. I’ve probably talked to thousands of people now, sometimes not by choice. They seek me out because they’re curious. So many people have been looking for a new political home. They feel alienated or not listened to, or, as I say, laughed at, ridiculed.”
At the time Wilson spoke about the possibility of attracting other MLAs to cross the floor and join the new party. So far, no other current MLAs have done so.
Wilson had previously sat as a Sask Party MLA before leaving the party over claims she had misrepresented her vaccine status. The Sask Party has since called on Wilson to resign her seat and run in a by-election if she wanted to keep representing Saskatchewan Rivers under a new banner.
Last Nov. 30, Elections Saskatchewan formally announced that the Saskatchewan United Party had completed requirements to become a registered political party in the province. To meet the requirement, the party had to submit a petition signed by 2,500 voters of which 1,000 had to reside in ten different constituencies.
