Ryan has decided not to run in the Riversdale by-election and that's
the right decision for a wide range of reasons. (The link I gave is to News Talk 980 and even they mis-spell Link's first name as “Dwaine”! Er, I hope that mistake doesn't go *poof*. 😉)
1) It allows
a great female candidate with deep roots in that area to run unopposed, increasing the chances both her and Ryan will be in the Legislature in 2011 (and she's a lactivist too
– Shea met her at convention and all I could say was, “Uhm, I'll just be over
here” as they compared notes and chatted like old friends.)
2) The choice not to get into a nomination battle once again showed Ryan's principles and values. It's not just about winning for him – it's about the long-term future of the party and also doing the right thing.
3) It allows
Ryan to avoid some of the nastiness that is inevitably coming with
Dwain Lingenfelter squaring off against Brad Wall. (Today, John Gormley was openly speculating about whether Dwain Lingenfelter even meets the Elections Saskatchewan regulation stating that you have to have been a resident of the province for the past six months to be elected. I may not have that 100% correct but that's the gist of what he was on about. That detail is also referenced in the last line of this Discover Moose Jaw story.)
4) It gives Ryan time to re-group after a grueling, five-month campaign of non-stop activity.
5) And it will be a
chance to see whether Link needed Ryan more than Ryan needed Link as I
suspect is very much the case.
Comments 2
Re: the residence requirement, I'd be highly interested to know whether Gormley breathed a word of concern when Pamela Wallin was appointed as a Saskatchewan senator. Or when Nancy Heppner ran for the Sask Party shortly after “returning” from working for the Con government in Ottawa. (Of course, IOKIYAC presumably aplpies to them.)
I guess from my perspective, the main issue is – are the rules being followed – yes or no – regardless of which party/political affiliation is involved.
If Link qualifies because he's got his name on the family farm here, we're good to go. If he doesn't because he didn't pay income taxes here last year (or whatever criteria they use – not sure), then we've got a problem.
Same with Wallin and Heppner. I didn't pay close enough attention in either of those cases but if they met the criteria, good on them. If not, vamoose!
This is only slightly related but you'd be a good guy to ask as this sort of comes down to something I heard over and over at the convention – “Link is best qualified to fight the Sask Party.”
Do you think that's still a major requirement of the job or has politics shifted somewhat in the last few years?