Link steps down after Sask. Party landslide

Dwain Lingenfelter talks to supporters after he lost his seat and stepped down as provincial NDP leader Monday night. Photo by Natasha Tersigni.

by Tory Gillis

On Monday night, the leader known as ‘Link’ walked into his party’s election night headquarters to an applauding crowd chanting his nickname, while televisions around the room showed he lost by a landslide to the Saskatchewan Party.

Dwain Lingenfelter stepped down as NDP leader shortly after he lost his seat Monday night.

The Sask. Party came out on top in the provincial election, taking 49 seats to the NDP’s 9 in a total of 58. The Sask. Party counted a 64 per cent share of all votes.

Lingenfelter’s direct Sask. Party opponent, Russ Marchuk, won the Regina Douglas Park seat. Marchuk said he knew at the doorsteps that Lingenfelter wouldn’t be reelected.

Following his defeat, Lingenfelter addressed his supporters.

“And I’m proud—when I came down I thought there might be two people left in the hall,” he joked. “But I have to say I am so impressed with all of you that are here.”

He conceded that Sask. Party leader Brad Wall was hard to beat this time around.

“Part of the problem isn’t what went wrong, but the fact that Brad Wall is a very popular leader, the economy is moving along very well—and I give full credit to the premier for the work that he’s done,” Lingenfelter said.

It was hard to detect evidence of resignation in his voice, though. Lingenfelter started by thanking NDP candidates and volunteers emphatically, and remarked on what he says is the future strength of his party to a cheering crowd.

“The platform we ran on was principled, was progressive. And whether it was accepted in this election or not, these are the principles of childcare and housing and those things that matter, that we will talk about for the next four years and be victorious in the future.”

But Lingenfelter’s confident veneer dissolved when he added he would “turn over the reigns of power to a new group of people.”

“(It’s) not your fault at all, it was mine. And for that I say I am sorry, but we will do better. And those young candidates and those young people that are working for us will mean that we will be victorious on the principles we believe in the next election, just keep working at it.”

The departing leader was mum on a potential replacement. Several other veteran NDP MLAs were ousted from their ridings—Kevin Yates, Deb Higgins, Judy Junor, Sandra Morin, Andy Iwanchuk and Frank Quennell did not recover the seats they held at last count.

NDP candidate Warren McCall regained his spot in his long-held Regina Elphinstone-Centre riding. He has been elected for ten years straight, but he wouldn’t discuss any future plans for leading the party.

“Obviously we’ve got a lot of thinking to do as a party (to see) what the best way forward is from here. That’s where my thoughts are at right now,” he said.

Dwain Lingenfelter was elected leader of the Saskatchewan NDP in June 2009.