Prominent Liberal donated to Wyant
By James Wood, The StarPhoenix January 22, 2011 The financial documents of the candidates in last fall's Saskatoon Northwest byelection are now in and one item in particular sheds some light on the current dynamics of provincial politics.
Among the individual donors to victorious Saskatchewan Party candidate Gordon Wyant is Saskatoon lawyer Evatt Merchant, who gave $600.
That name may sound familiar because Merchant is currently president of the federal Liberal party in the province and the scion of one of the most prominent Liberal families in Saskatchewan.
Merchant said he's been close friends with Wyant for more than a decade, making such a donation only natural.
And with the federal and provincial Liberals split into two separate political parties by mutual agreement in 2009, he said there isn't any particular issue around the donation.
However Merchant, who briefly pondered running for the provincial Liberal leadership after David Karwacki's resignation in 2007, had some strong words of praise not only for Wyant but also for the Sask. Party government.
"There are other MLAs in government that I think the same way of. They've got some terrific people," he said, singling out MLAs Don Morgan, a federal Conservative, and former provincial Liberals Ken Krawetz and Rod Gantefoer.
Merchant noted the Sask. Party was founded by both Progressive Conservative and Liberal MLAs in 1997. (The PC party went into a decade-long hibernation while the provincial Liberals soldiered on.)
And while the Sask. Party is often viewed as closely aligned with Stephen Harper's Conservatives (there are at least 12 card-carrying Tories in the Sask. Party caucus among many other connections), Merchant said there are government MLAs in-line with the federal Liberals.
Wyant himself is a former federal Liberal. He hasn't renewed his membership for a few years but noted his wife is active in the federal party.
He said the Sask. Party "does embody a lot of the things I believe in as a Liberal, as a former Liberal."
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The Saskatoon Northwest documents filed with Elections Saskatchewan show, unsurprisingly, that the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP were the big spenders in the byelection campaign.
Wyant, who won with 3,066 votes, took in $51,351 in contributions and spent $51,366. His donor tally included $14,026 from individuals, $25,700 in corporate donations and $10,000 from the constituency. He also took in $1,425 from "passing the hat" at Premier Brad Wall's Saskatoon golf tournament last fall.
NDP candidate Jan Dyky, who finished second with 1,717 votes, had contributions of $50,744 and expenses of $47,961.
In a close race for third, The Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and Greens each took less than 160 votes.
For Liberal Eric Steiner, who took third, contributions were $3,602 while his expenditures were $2,470.
PC candidate Manny Sonnenschein took in $8,744 in contributions and spent $6,216.
Green party candidate Larissa Shasko, who finished fifth, had $3,290 in contributions and $3,286 in expenses.
The documents don't, however, paint the full financial picture of the campaign. Party financial forms for the campaign are still to be filed with Elections Saskatchewan.
Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Prominent+Liberal+donated+Wyant/4148187/story.html#ixzz1BoJQNXV0
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