SASKATOON - Could we soon be saying a final "adios" to the Saskatchewan Liberal Party?
It could happen if a resolution is passed at an upcoming party meeting this month.
According to the party a vote on the possibility of beginning the process of changing the name and re-branding the Liberal party will come up at their 2023 annual general meeting March 25 in Saskatoon and online. The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. that day and will feature speakers including Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Jeff Walters. A new party executive will also be chosen.
The Saskatchewan Liberals have a storied history in Saskatchewan politics, having held power for years during the early portion of the province’s history going back to Premier Walter Scott.
But the party has not held power since the defeat of Premier Ross Thatcher in 1971, and has struggled just to maintain its relevance in more recent years.
The party did return briefly to Official Opposition status under Lynda Haverstock, but their fortunes dipped dramatically after four Liberal MLAs defected to join the Sask Party in 1997.
Later, under leader Jim Melenchuk, the remaining Liberal MLAs signed on to join NDP Premier Roy Romanow's coalition government in 1999. That move proved unpopular with Liberal voters, who deserted the party in the next election and reduced the Liberals to no seats.
The party has not held a seat in the legislature since 2003. Last fall, leader Walters ran and lost in the recent Saskatoon Meewasin byelection.
The Saskatchewan Liberals aren’t the only provincial Liberal party in Canada to consider a name change: the BC Liberals recently voted in favor of changing their name to the BC United Party.
