Social Services Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor announces SaskParty Leadership bid

Changes in SaskParty caucus Social Services minister to run for SaskParty leadership, another SaskParty MLA to resign. Wayne Mantyka reports.

Social Services Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor announced Tuesday she’s entering the leadership race for the Saskatchewan Party.

“After a lot of reflection and discussion with my family, I would like to announce that I am entering the leadership race for our Party,” Beaudry-Mellor said in a press release on Tuesday afternoon. “I think it is safe to say that no one will ever fill the shoes of Premier Brad Wall. I will state here that I am not going to try. Besides, I prefer high heels.”

Beaudry-Mellor is the first candidate to announce she is running to be the next premier of Saskatchewan.

Wall announced last week that he's stepping away from politics after 10 years as premier. He said his province and the party will benefit from a fresh perspective.

Beaudry-Mellor, who was first elected in April 2016, predicted people will say that she has not been in office long enough.

"They will be correct," she said. "But if this is really about renewal, then I see this as an advantage, not a disadvantage."

Beaudry-Mellor is the first woman to run for the leadership of the Saskatchewan Party in its 20-year history.

Shortly after her statement was released, Wall's office outlined rules for any cabinet ministers who enter the leadership race. In an email, his office said Wall has advised all ministers that they will be required to leave cabinet if they decide to run to lead the Saskatchewan Party.

"Outgoing ministers will be required to vacate their offices on the day they announce and they will be assigned to a regular MLA office as soon as possible," it said.

Wall wants to ensure no candidate has any advantage by virtue of being in cabinet, the email added.

He also said running a leadership campaign may not allow a minister sufficient time to perform ministerial duties, and being outside cabinet allows candidates to openly express their views on all issues.

It's expected several cabinet ministers could join Beaudry-Mellor in the race, although no one else has officially announced.

Federal member of Parliament Brad Trost has also said he's considering whether to enter the leadership contest.

"If the party wants to have an outsider, reset something, not someone from this caucus, I fit the bill," Trost said in a phone interview from Saskatoon.

"If they want to reach out to a lot of the new Canadians, the immigrants who have been streaming into Saskatoon and Regina over the last several years, both because of family and political history, I have probably the best connections of anyone in the province.

"There is a case to be made for me to do it. I just don't know if I'm going to do it."

Trost was first elected as an MP in June 2004 and recently ran to become leader of the federal Conservatives. He lost to Regina MP Andrew Scheer.

With files from The Canadian Press