Parties & Leaders

David Karwacki

Saskatoon Meewasin [ Liberal Party of Saskatchewan]

The good news for Liberal Leader David Karwacki, 42, is that since the last election, for four blessedly peaceful years, there has been no turmoil within the Liberal caucus.

The bad news, of course, is that there is no Liberal caucus.

The Liberals got wiped off Saskatchewan's electoral map in 2003. Despite running 58 candidates and getting 14 per cent of the vote, their support was spread thin and, for the first time in a general election since 1982, they failed to elect a single member.

Karwacki, a businessman running a fresh produce company, lost in Saskatoon Meewasin to the NDP's Frank Quennell, a lawyer. Karwacki's brother Grant lost to NDP veteran Pat Atkinson in Saskatoon Nutana.

Tough time getting a foothold

The wipeout of '03 was a crushing blow for a party that was once a provincial powerhouse, winning Saskatchewan's first nine elections.

It's been tough sledding in recent byelections, too.

Karwacki made his second bid for elected office in the 2006 Weyburn-Big Muddy byelection, coming in second to Dustin Duncan, the Saskatchewan Party candidate. A year later, the Liberals came in third in the Martensville byelection. The Saskatchewan Party's Nancy Heppner won that race.

Without a seat, the Liberal leader hasn't been able to participate in budget debates or ask questions during question period.

But thanks to a steady stream of press releases, Karwacki had his say anyway. He criticized the NDP government's investments, particularly in the Meadow Lake pulp mill, which lost some $900 million in taxpayers' money over the years.

He has also been critical of how a government investment company, Investment Saskatchewan, was transformed into Victoria Park Capital Inc., a private company with many of the same key staff members. He said it's essentially a backdoor privatization that the NDP rushed through.

Offers up ideas

Karwacki has not inserted himself into every debate, but has floated a number of ideas on how government might conduct itself differently. He talked about using canola-based biodiesel in 2003, years before the NDP government decided to add it to STC buses.

In recent weeks, he's been rolling out more ideas that will be part of the Liberal campaign platform.

A big plank is a plan to eliminate education property taxes on people's homes. He also rolled out a proposal last month to bring in broader use of curbside recycling.

Karwacki, who was born in 1965, has said he's trying to court younger voters.

He comes from Liberal stock. His father Vic was briefly the party president under leader Lynda Haverstock.

He has been the leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal party since October 2001, when he defeated MLA Jack Hillson for the top spot.

A time of turmoil

That followed a turbulent period for the Liberals. After electing one MLA in 1991, Haverstock, the party had a major resurgence in 1995, electing 11 members and becoming the Official Opposition.

However, the decision by a number of Liberal MLAs to join forces with PC MLAs to form the Saskatchewan Party ended the resurgence.

After that development, only three Liberals were elected in 1999 and they soon formed a coalition with Roy Romanow's NDP government.

When Karwacki became leader two years later, he instructed the Liberal MLAs to leave the coalition.

Hillson complied, but the two others stayed. They ran as New Democrats in the 2003 election and were defeated. Hillson ran as a Liberal and also lost.

Another crack at Saskatoon Meewasin

Some observers speculated that if Karwacki had spent more time in his own constituency during the 2003 campaign, rather than travelling all over the province, he would have stood a better chance of winning a seat. Karwacki has suggested in interviews he will take a more focused approach in the next campaign.

If there were lessons to be learned in 2003, he'll now get a chance to put them into practice.

He's running in Saskatoon Meewasin again, a rematch against Quennell.

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