Beatty said Friday she decided to join the Liberals to work for positive change in the north.
Calvert said he wished her well, but added she could have accomplished more in the NDP caucus than as a possible backbencher with the federal Liberals.
The byelection to replace Liberal MP Gary Merasty, who resigned last August, will be held March 17. Merasty went to work for a mining company.
The appointment of Beatty by Liberal Leader Stephane Dion short-circuited what could have been a lively candidate race.
Former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate David Orchard is now a Liberal and had been hoping to run in Desneth?-Missinippi-Churchill River. Another northerner, John Dorion, was also expected to make a bid to represent the Liberals.
Dion's decision to appoint his own candidate has rankled some party supporters who say they would have liked to make the choice themselves.
...
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/080107/canada/sask_beatty_calvert
Note: http://ca.news.yahoo.co...
Beatty Will Pay For Decision To Join Liberals, Calvert Says
Posted on Tuesday, January 08 at 10:15 by N SayContributed By
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Tue Jan 8, 8:45<br />
By The Canadian Press<br />
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OTTAWA - Some Saskatchewan Liberals say they're insulted by party leader Stephane Dion's appointment of an NDP defector to run in the upcoming federal byelection so they're planning to elect their own candidate. <br />
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Jimmy Durocher, a past president of the Metis Association of Saskatchewan, is helping to organize an "emergency meeting" Saturday to choose a new Liberal executive in the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River and to set a date for a democratic nomination meeting. <br />
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He said Dion's decision to appoint former provincial MLA Joan Beatty is undemocratic. <br />
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"The concern is they're short-circuiting the democratic process that we hold so very dearly as people from northern Saskatchewan," he said. <br />
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Durocher had been backing anti-free trade activist David Orchard's bid to become the Liberal candidate in Desnethe. Dion's decision to appoint Beatty scuppered the opportunity for Orchard, a two-time Progressive Conservative leadership contender who was instrumental in securing Dion's leadership victory, to win a nomination contest.<br />
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<a href="http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080108/national/byelxn_liberals_sask">http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080108/national/byelxn_liberals_sask</a><p>---<br>"George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va