Supporters of the Saskatchewan NDP are calling for leader Carla Beck to find common ground with her newly-elected federal counterpart, Avi Lewis.
This comes after Beck wrote an open letter to Lewis on March 28 which indicated that his views on natural resources are “ideological and unrealistic” to realities in Saskatchewan.
Beck also said she would not meet with him until he reversed his position.
The letter was sent to Lewis — and later shared with members of the media — before he was voted in as the NDP’s federal leader on the first ballot. Lewis was considered a far-left candidate whose platform was based in part on no new fossil fuel development, including liquid natural gas (LNG).
Another open letter — this one addressed to Beck by a group of self-described NDP members and supporters — has gained more than 500 signatures since it was shared on April 10. The letter, which is accessible to the general public and can be signed by anyone, called her ultimatum toward Lewis “unproductive and divisive.”
“The federal and provincial NDP are strongest when they work in solidarity, drawing on each other’s energy, organization, and volunteers,” it read. “That does not require total agreement on every issue. It requires a willingness to act like we are part of the same broader movement — rather than treating each other as liabilities to be managed.”
Speaking to delegates at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention in Regina this week, Beck said she and Lewis are at “glaring odds” regarding their respective views on energy generation.
“It’s clear to both of us that there are differences in our positions,” Beck told the convention. “There’s a difference in the reality here in this province and how we generate power.”
Those who wrote the letter to Beck identified themselves collectively as those who have door-knocked, donated and cast ballots in support of the NDP in Saskatchewan.
The letter asks Beck to reconsider her stance on fossil fuels, noting that it’s “mirroring” the Saskatchewan Party government to tie the province’s identity to oil and gas development.
“What it can do is alienate the very people we should be bringing closer: grassroots members, volunteers, federal party supporters in Saskatchewan, and people looking for a stronger, more confident progressive movement,” the letter read.
Despite Beck’s opposition to Lewis’s energy policies, data from Elections Canada indicates that nearly half of Saskatchewan-based donations to the federal NDP leadership candidates went to Lewis. About 850 people from the province handed over a combined $99,000 to all nominees, the data shows, with 407 of those donors contributing $47,300 to the new leader.
When asked what she would say to Saskatchewan people who contributed to Lewis’s campaign, Beck highlighted her provincial party’s energy plan that was in development for more than a year.
“This is a practical plan that meets the needs of people in this province,” said Beck, “and I’m simply at odds with the plan that Avi Lewis put forward in his leadership campaign.”
“I think that’s been clear. I’ve been clear to the people of this province.”
Beck said she talked to Lewis over the phone on April 10, the same day NDP supporters posted their online letter, and noted that they discussed the Grid and Growth Plan. Beck also said she offered her condolences regarding his late father, Stephen Lewis, who was a leader of the Ontario NDP.
— with files from Brett McKay, Local Journalism Initiative.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story, published on April 15, contained incorrect information provided to the Leader-Post. The Saskatchewan NDP’s Grid and Growth Plan includes the use of natural gas. The story has also been updated to clarify that the open letter addressed to Beck is accessible to the broader public, not just NDP members.