Joan Beatty

A former CBC journalist,[2] Beatty became the first Aboriginal woman and first First Nations person elected to the Saskatchewan legislature when she was elected on November 5, 2003. She was appointed to cabinet a month later as Minister of Culture Youth and Recreation and Provincial Secretary. Beatty was re-elected in the 2007 general election that defeated the NDP government and sat as Opposition Critic for Women's Issues and Northern Affairs.[3]

In 2007 she was approached by both the federal NDP and the federal Liberal party to run in the Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River by-election. Beatty told the press that she would decide by January 2008 whether she will run federally and for which party.[4] On January 3, 2008 Beatty was selected as the Liberal candidate for the riding. She accepted the Liberals' offer and was appointed the party's candidate by leader Stéphane Dion on January 3.[5]

Beatty defended her decision to switch from the provincial NDP to the federal Liberals saying that the Liberals have a better chance of taking power and "the one thing that I have found out [is] that you have to be in government to have say when it comes to policy or budget decisions or raising issues at that level."[2] She said she was initially approached by the federal Liberals in the summer of 2007 but decided to run provincially in hopes that the Lorne Calvert-led Saskatchewan NDP government would be returned to office.[2]

Beatty's appointment as the Liberal candidate angered supporters of anti-free trade activist David Orchard who had earlier announced his candidacy for the Liberal nomination. Metis leader Jim Durocher wrote a letter to Dion complaining about his decision to appoint a candidate rather than allow for party members to vote in a nomination meeting. He argued that "the people of this riding resent, and I personally resent mightily, the attitude of certain southerners that they know what's best for our riding." Durocher, a former Liberal candidate and Orchard supporter, also told Dion "If you impose Joan Beatty, the Liberals will lose this riding."[2]

National Liberal campaign co-chair David Smith defended Beatty's appointment by saying that Dion had made getting more women into politics a priority, saying that the party is "prepared to bite the bullet to demonstrate that our commitment to increasing our number of women candidates - particularly well-qualified ones - is very real."[2]

Beatty ultimately lost the ensuing byelection by a substantial margin. Nonetheless, she sought the Liberal nomination again for the forthcoming 40th Canadian federal election, this time in an open vote of the Liberal riding association with Orchard also a candidate.[6] Orchard won the nomination.[7]