Sask. NDP elects Carla Beck as first female leader of party
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party has elected Carla Beck as its new leader.
Beck becomes the first woman leader of the party, with hopes to become the first female premier of the province. She has been an MLA for Regina Lakeview since 2016.
She described her history-making win as "special" and "an honour."
“It’s exciting, I’m not sure if it’s fully sunk in yet,” Beck told reporters after the results were revealed. “Mostly I’m excited and eager to do the work that’s in front of us, and thankful for the team that we’ve got around us.”
The veteran MLA secured 3,244 votes out of 4,741 votes cast – approximately 68 per cent. There were 7,294 eligible party voters.
“Friends, I am so excited abut the future and the change we have to deliver with the Saskatchewan people again, and I also feel a great deal of responsibility to get this right,” she said during her acceptance speech.
The party announced the results at a leadership convention in Regina on Sunday.
Beck said the party is having a celebration on Sunday night, but will be back to work with a caucus meeting on Monday.
'WE NEED TO DO BETTER'
Beck’s sole opponent, Saskatoon-based Metis lawyer Kaitlyn Harvey, received 1,492 votes.
“We ran a hard campaign, we worked everyday to put forward our message to Saskatchewan: to save it we need to do better,” she said, after the votes were read.
“I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished in this short period of time and I’m happy for Carla, she’s going to be great, I’m happy to see where she takes the party.”
Kaitlyn Harvey speaks at the Saskatchewan NDP leadership convention on June 26. 2022. (Brendan Ellis/CTV News)
The environment and climate change, as well as Indigenous justice policies, were two key focuses of her campaign.
“I will never stop advocating for you and for justice that Indigenous people deserve in this country and I will never stop advocating for justice for future generations of Saskatchewan children,” she said during a campaign presentation earlier in the afternoon.
Harvey said she still intends to run in the byelection for the vacant Saskatoon Meewasin seat, previously held by former leader Ryan Meili.
PARTY UNITY
Meili praised a “positive leadership race” and said he is thrilled for Beck and looks forward to supporting her.
He preached party unity during a speech on Sunday afternoon before the votes were revealed. Meili encouraged NDP members to support the new leader fully, no matter if they voted for them or not.
“Be there to build up that new leader. Support her. Invite her opponent and her supporters into the project, organized and working together,” he said.
“There’s nothing Scot Moe and the Sask. Party will rejoice to see more than a divided NDP. And there’s nothing more powerful than the people’s party working together as a team.”
Former party leader Ryan Meili speaks during the NDP Leadership Convention on June 26, 2022. (Brendan Ellis/CTV News)
Beck also emphasized party unity in her remarks ahead of the vote.
“Across our province people are struggling and they’re tired of division and they are looking for change, and we, we’re the only ones who can deliver that change,” she said.
“Our real power comes from unity.”
Meili announced he would be stepping down as leader earlier this year, triggering the leadership race.
On the last day of the legislative session, he also announced he would be stepping down as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin.
Premier Scott Moe congratulated Beck on her win, in a tweet shortly after the results were revealed.
“Congratulations to [Carla Beck] for earning the support of membership and being elected the next leader of the Saskatchewan NDP and the Leader of the Official Opposition,” the premier said in the tweet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.