“Step aside for the sake of your constituents”: Meili calls for Sask. Party MLAs to resign ahead of Aug. 6 loophole

“My message to Corey Tochor and Warren Steinley: It’s wrong to slow-walk your resignation past August 6, and it’s wrong to deny the people who elected you a voice for well over a year. Please step aside, for the sake of your constituents,” Meili said.

The NDP has tabled legislation to close the loophole that would allow these seats to go unfilled for over a year. The NDP bill would require a by-election be called within six months of a seat becoming vacant when the period between general elections is more than 48 months. Such an amendment is required because the Sask. Party added an additional six months to their term for the second election cycle in a row. 

“Both Mr. Tochor and Mr. Steinley have been federal Conservative candidates since early 2018,” said NDP Ethics and Democracy Critic David Forbes. “That’s a lot of time they’ve spent auditioning for a new job, when they should have been doing the job the people of Saskatchewan entrusted to them.” 

“Now they’re running down the clock to deny those voters any representation at all for well over a year,” said Forbes. “It’s cynical, it’s anti-democratic, and it’s wrong — they should do the right thing and step down by the end of this week.”