Saskatchewan Party pulls Regina Walsh Acres candidate information from website; party brass aware of complaint when nomination sought

“[Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall] indicated he didn’t know what was going on in this situation. He said he didn’t know about the gold-plated health benefits that they (MLAs) took. He worked for a cabinet minister who got convicted of fraud and said he didn’t know what was going on there.”

“At some point in time, we would like to know what Mr. Wall does know? ... For a person that is wanting to be premier, you better know.”
– David Karwacki, Liberal Leader

The Saskatchewan Party appeared to be in full damage control mode after losing Regina Walsh Acres candidate Dan Harder over the weekend.

According to Sask. Party candidate withdraws (Leader-Post, Oct. 29, 2007) Harder got the hook after party leader Brad Wall learned of the details of a complaint made against him last year.

The article notes that “Harder served as the executive director of the Big Brothers of Regina when in 2006 some employees complained that he had made comments to them that were alleged to be inappropriate.”

Equally disturbing is learning that “The Saskatchewan Party was aware of the complaint when Harder sought the party’s nomination.”

“(Wall) knew accusations were made about the Regina Walsh Acres candidate, but he signed his nomination papers anyway,” said NDP candidate Pat Atkinson.

Incredibly, it seems leader Brad Wall was not aware of this, or so the public is being led to believe.

According to a March 9, 2007, Saskatchewan Party news release the candidate nomination meeting for Regina Walsh Acres was on March 27, 2007. There appeared to be no subsequent news release announcing Harder’s candidacy.

The Leader-Post also reported that “References to Harder were removed from the Saskatchewan Party Web site by Sunday morning, as was a Web site Harder had created for his candidacy.”

The information may have been yanked but remnants of its existence remain, at least for the time being.

Cached versions of Harder’s biography, a message from what appears to be the Regina Walsh Acres Constituency Association, and a low resolution photo of Harder that were posted on the Saskatchewan Party website are available.

As for Harder’s own website (www.trydanharder.com) a cached version of his “About Me” page appears to be still there. Missing though is a photo with the caption: “Dan Harder with Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall.”

This latest incident can be added to the list of other controversies plaguing the Saskatchewan Party. These include:

– Corporate and media contributions
– Connections to Stephen Harper’s federal conservatives
– Enterprise Saskatchewan & Labour legislation
– Misleading election platform
– Crown corporations
– Dan D’Autremont fiasco