A Weekend of change.

This weekend I was there to see history. A long term Saskatchewan political party took another turn. It grew up went on it's own. The new Saskatchewan Liberal is taking on all comers. Bring them on . The federal and provincial party have been two party's in this province for a long time.This makes it former. The new leader has a lot of work in front of him.


The Saskatchewan Liberal Party and the Liberal Party of Canada (Saskatchewan) have become two separate and independent organizations. Two separate websites for the provincial and federal parties are now being developed and will be online shortly.

Sign up for newsletters and other party information...
Name: Email:

...the website for the Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party.

...the old website for donations to or to join the provincial party.

...the website for the Liberal Party of Canada in Saskatchewan for donations or to join.
© 2009 Liberal Party of Canada

Liberals must embrace the West, Ignatieff says

Well watching this event yesterday. Was very in that how many people I was that calls them selves federal liberals. There Sk party people and NDP and those see them selves with no party loyality. As my love put it there some people he to see who is this guy they call Iggy is. The this third time I have seen him live. Once at a private lunch in small crowd, once at the nation stage , now in this medium setting every time he has come ascross. As some who listens and cares about his counrty and listens. Time will tell if he becomes PM but so far so go. At least he can draw a crowd. When was the last time you seen 400 people at a liberal event?


Liberals must embrace the West, Ignatieff says
BY CHRIS PURDY

The Canadian Press

February 14, 2009 at 10:51 PM EST

SASKATOON — The Liberal party must embrace Western Canada instead of running against it, says Michael Ignatieff, who is making his first visit to Saskatchewan this weekend as leader of the federal Liberals.

Mr. Ignatieff told a brunch crowd of about 400 people in Saskatoon on Saturday that the party must work hard to win more seats, and more respect, in the West.

“Sometimes we've fallen prey to the temptation to run against the West, you know, to run against Alberta, to run against the Saskatchewan energy sector. This is not the way to go,” he said.

“The Western economy is the beating heart of Canadian progress in the future. This is where the action is. And, if this is where the action is economically, then we have to be there, too.”



Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff greets party supporters at a brunch in Saskatoon on Saturday.
Mr. Ignatieff joked with the crowd that long-time Liberal MP Ralph Goodale is lonesome and needs more company in Saskatchewan. Mr. Goodale retained the Liberals' lone seat in the province in the last election.

Mr. Goodale said Mr. Ignatieff is destined to help the party make a significant breakthrough in solid Tory territory.

“We now have exciting leadership that I think connects with and resonates with western Canadians,” Mr. Goodale said. “But we have to earn the support and trust of people in Saskatchewan and make sure that we take absolutely nothing for granted.

“We have to be here. We have to listen. We have to work for it. I think if we do that the political reward will be there.”

Mr. Goodale introduced Mr. Ignatieff with the traditional “the next prime minister of Canada,” igniting a rally of whoops and hollers.

Mr. Ignatieff took off his blazer, rolled up his sleeves and answered questions before posing for photos and signing autographs like a political rock star.

Organizers jokingly called it a Valentine's Day “Liberal love-in” with the new leader.

“I'm here in the West to send a message,” said Mr. Ignatieff, who will continue his Saskatchewan visit in Regina on Sunday.

“I want to be able to stand up in the House of Commons as the prime minister of Canada and say I represent every province in this country. But I can't do it alone. I'm going to need you to get to work.”

Mr. Ignatieff said unity is a priority both across the country and within the party. He said the leadership battles are over, and the political infighting must stop.

“We don't have to love each other. But if we want to get more seats in Saskatchewan, we have to fight and win as one,” he said.

“We can't waste a single good Liberal here.”

Liquor Privatization

With the SLA convention a week away here is one of the idea coming up. Hey Ryan it is good to be different dare to dream.

Ryan's Blog: http://ryanbater.ca/
25-Jan 09: Liquor Privatization: The Problem with Paternalism
Category: Crown Corporations Posted by: ryan
The cold war over the privatization of liquor stores in Saskatchewan has been stewing under the surface for years in our province. I could go on and on about the virtues of opening our province to the benefits of a free market, but in this blog I will address the issue of liquor availability.


This past weekend I enjoyed a visit in Edmonton, and the difference between our government monopoly system and Alberta’s free market system is like night and day. While driving down Jasper Avenue I noticed about 10 private liquor stores in about as many blocks- all of them open well into the evening and owned by local entrepreneurs. This was an eye opener for a Saskatchewanian like me who is used to a sparse population of government monopoly stores that are closed early in the evening.

There are few who dispute that under a privatized system the number of businesses would increase. The number of stores increased by 134% in the first two years after Alberta privatized their retail liquor stores in 1993. By 2001 the number increased by 318%.

This is music to the ears of Prairie Liberals who prize free markets and know that the number of players is greatest fundamental measure of how ‘free’ a market is. In Saskatchewan consumers could benefit from a free market through competitive selection, pricing, and increased convenient locations. However, there are special interest groups who claim that increased availability will lead to greater consumption and, in turn, more social problems associated with problem drinking.

To make this argument the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union has turned up the heat on this ‘cold war’ in Saskatchewan with a brochure and a video.

The video is confusing at first (I’m not sure I follow the connection between those children and the supposed 'evils' of a free market system), and then quickly becomes annoying. People are innocent until proven guilty and we should all be justifiably irritated by accusations that private enterprise is more immoral or moral than public enterprise. To conclude that potential private owners of liquor stores of would illegally sell alcohol to minors is to convict them of a crime before even having the opportunity to commit it.

The brochure, on the other hand, asserts that increased availability will lead to a myriad of social problems. However, not only has the consumption of alcohol decreased since privatization in Alberta, but nobody has been able to prove a causal relationship between alcohol availability and the degradation of society. I urge you to read this report from the Calgary Police Service and this one from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for detailed analysis.

The main arguments against a private system are unfounded and based on the idea that government must protect us from making ‘bad’ decisions- that we are incapable of making responsible decisions to govern our own lives. This is not an appropriate role of government. We all have the right to self determination as long as we do not deny that same right of others. The people of Saskatchewan are being punished and robbed of the benefits of a free market because of paternalistic conservative and socialist governments that prefer to impose social order.

Unfortunately, these arguments have largely gone unanswered….until now.

Ok now this interesting

This story got my eye today . Police work has gone high tech




Police track stolen truck with GPS to Saskatoon

Last Updated: Monday, February 9, 2009
In what may be a sign of things to come, Saskatoon police used global positioning system technology to locate a stolen truck on the weekend and arrested a suspect.

A man was arrested in connection to the stolen truck just before midnight on Saturday night, hours after the truck, which was equipped with GM's OnStar tracking system, was stolen in Prince Albert.

OnStar staff transmitted the location and direction of travel of the vehicle to the Saskatoon police.

Officers caught up with the truck in Saskatoon when it stopped near St. Paul's Hospital on the city's west side.

The driver was arrested without incident. Police believe a passenger in the truck left the area just before they arrived.

A man, 22, has been charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000, driving while prohibited, and breach of probation.

The man also had warrants for being unlawfully at large, police said. He's scheduled to appear in provincial court Monday.