Saskatchewan Conservative MPs donate to Saskatchewan Party; candidate incredibly denies ties between the two

Nancy Heppner, Saskatchewan Party candidate for Martensville

According to the Saskatchewan Party’s Registered Political Party’s Fiscal Period Returns for 2004, 2005 & 2006, four sitting federal conservative MPs contributed to the party yet Martensville candidate Nancy Heppner is quoted in today’s Saskatoon StarPhoenix saying that there is no link between the two.

In Speech interjects Ottawa into campaign (SP Oct. 18, 2007), Leader-Post columnist Murray Mandryk reported that Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall “mostly brushed off reporters’ questions about the throne speech and [Conservative Prime Minister Stephen] Harper’s potential impact on the provincial campaign. And one of Wall’s MLAs denied her party has any relationship with Harper.

“There are no ties between the Saskatchewan Party and the Conservative government,” said Rosthern candidate Nancy Heppner, who left her job as a Harper communication strategist to run for the Saskatchewan Party. “We are completely independent of each other.”

The Saskatchewan Party’s annual returns to Elections Saskatchewan, however, show that the following four individuals contributed to the Saskatchewan Party and are Saskatchewan Conservative MPs in Stephen Harper’s government:

Carol Skelton – Conservative MP for Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar.
Apparently donated $526.11 in 2004; $702.85 in 2005 and made at least two donations in 2006, one for $765.71 and another for $400.00. Heppner was Skelton’s constituency assistant and also worked in both Opposition and the Prime Minister’s Office with the Conservative Party of Canada.

Bradley Trost – Conservative MP for Saskatoon–Humboldt.
Appears to have made one donation for $400.00 in 2006.

Lynne Yelich – Conservative MP for Blackstrap.
Records show one contribution of $293.46 in 2004.

Tom Lukiwski – Conservative MP for Regina–Lumsden–Lake Centre.
Two contributions are recorded: $290.00 in 2005 and $295.11 in 2006. Lukiwski served as the Executive Director of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan and General Manager of the Saskatchewan Party.

It should be noted that the returns filed with Elections Saskatchewan show only the names of those individuals and corporations that contributed more than $250.00. It is certainly conceivable that other conservative MPs could have contributed lesser amounts but only the Saskatchewan Party would have that information.

For the sake of transparency and honesty perhaps the Saskatchewan Party should release all the names of its contributors between 2004 and 2006.