Regina Lewvan MP Erin Weir not seeking re-election

Regina Lewvan MP Erin Weir announced Tuesday that he will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming federal election.

Weir currently sits under the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) banner after he was kicked out of the NDP caucus following harassment allegations in May 2018.

He was first suspended from the NDP caucus on Feb. 1, 2018, shortly after allegations of harassing female staffers first began to surface. They were raised by then fellow NDP caucus member Christine Moore.

In his statement, Weir describes himself as a lifelong New Democrat, and would not want to run under another party’s banner.

“My candidacy under another banner this year would not help to maintain progressive representation for Regina in Ottawa. Because the federal leader continues to veto my candidacy for the NDP, I will not run in the upcoming federal election,” Weir said in a statement.

Weir won his seat in the 2015 federal election. He narrowly beat Conservative Party of Canada candidate Trent Fraser by 132 votes.

In September 2018 Weir said he planned on seeking the NDP nomination for his riding. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he would not endorse Weir as a candidate. The Regina Lewvan NDP membership voted in favour of letting Weir seek the nomination during their annual general meeting in January. Weir said Singh still refused to let him seek the nomination.

“The Regina Lewvan NDP have been focused on trying to resolve this situation and allow me to seek the nomination. I really appreciate that support from the local riding association, and I fear they’re essentially back to square one on finding a candidate,” Weir said.

There is no NDP candidate yet for Regina Lewvan. Global News has reached out to the riding association for comment.

The Conservatives are a “threat” in Weir’s eyes in the upcoming election.  Despite being ousted, Weir feels the Regina Lewvan NDP is in good shape with 2,500 members and $100,000 in the bank.

Saskatchewan Party MLA Warren Steinley will represent the Conservatives for the riding in the Oct. 21 election. The Liberal riding association does not have a nomination date set yet, but a spokesperson said they have been approach by “a variety of talented community leaders.” Naomi Hunter was chosen as the Green Party candidate for the riding on April 3.

Weir said he doesn’t know for sure what is next for him once his time in federal politics comes to a close in October. He plans on staying involved in public policy on some level. With a provincial election looming in Saskatchewan next year, Weir said he doesn’t have plans on seeking a Saskatchewan NDP nomination, but he says he’ll “never say never.”

Riding association frustrated with NDP

The Regina Lewvan NDP have a potential candidate lined up for the October election, but riding association president Susan Butson said they still have not received approval from the party’s head office on their ability to hold a nomination meeting.

“It’s very frustrating. The federal party doesn’t want to talk to Lewvan. They don’t want to talk to Erin,” Butson said.

She added the potential candidate has been submitted for vetting, but they have not heard back from the federal NDP’s head office. According to Butson, the potential candidate said he’d only seek the nomination if Weir was not running for the NDP.

“The whole constituency believes in Erin. We want him to be the candidate,” Butson said.

The riding association had been pushing for an appeal of the “so called” harassment allegations, and to bring Weir back into the party. Butson said no one from the party’s top office would get back to the riding association between May and October last year. The last contact Butson had with them was when Singh called her shortly after becoming head of the riding association in October.

Butson said the riding association is unhappy with the federal party and Singh.

With the federal election five months away, no official NDP candidate, and a tight race in 2015, Butson is not holding out hope for another NDP win in 2019.

“A lot of us feel without Erin running we’ve lost this riding,” she said.

“Right now it looks like it will be a Conservative win.”