On the Potash file, were Saskatchewan's Tory MPs silent? Stooges? Or quietly effective?
Saskatchewan's 13 Conservative MPs were accused of refusing to stand up for a province that elected them to federal office in the battle over the proposed takeover of Potash Corp. But for all the attacks they sustained in the months leading up to BHP's abandonment of the deal, there is little doubt among even their harshest critics that the massive BHP Billiton bid for Potash Corp. thrust these 13 people into a position of unusual importance.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Earlier, he admitted to gaps in the federal food inspection system but accused the Liberals of making 'a huge mistake' when they cancelled certain food safety tests. He also travelled to China in a bid to double Canadian wheat exports to the country; assembled a $450-million farmer flood-relief program, which was criticized as inadequate; and worked to diminish the role of the Canadian Wheat Board.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters
Lynne_Yelich: Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification; first elected: 2000 Known for: Trying to ban prison inmates from subscribing to pornographic magazines; writing an angry letter to the CBC for cutting away from a tight curling game; calling for a report on how to improve decorum in Parliament. Background: Ran a family farm.Adrian Wyld
Maurice_Vellacott: MP for Saskatoon–Wanuskewin; first elected: 1997 Known for: Attacking then-governor-general Adrienne Clarkson after she sent a congratulatory letter to a recently married same-sex couple; arguing for 'conscience rights' that would give marriage commissioners the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples; using language some saw as sexist to attack former Tory MP Belinda Stronach for defecting to the Liberals; quoting a Canadian Supreme Court justice as saying she had 'godlike powers,' a statement later determined to be false. Background: Earned a Master of Divinity; was a personal care worker and engaged in pastoral care. Quote: 'Homosexuals already have the right to marry, providing that, like everybody else, they marry someone of the opposite sex.'CHRIS WATTIE
Andrew Scheer: MP for Regina-Qu'Appelle; first elected: 2004 Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole Known for: Being one of Canada's youngest MPs, having been born in 1979 and politically engaged from a young age. Background: Grew up in Ottawa and moved to Saskatchewan in 2003; made popcorn at a concession stand in high school while volunteering for the Reform Party; worked as an intern on Parliament Hill, then as an insurance broker.Tom Hanson
Rob Clarke: MP for Desnethé–Missinippi–Churchill River; first elected: 2007 by-election. Defeated free-trade activist David Orchard in the 2008 election. Known for: Serving in the Conservative aboriginal caucus; representing a northern riding of 347,000 square kilometres _ roughly the size of Finland _ that necessitated driving 40,000 kilometres in his first election campaign; drawing a government pension while sitting as an MP. Background: Member of Saskatchewan's Muskeg Lake Cree Nation; served 18 years with the RCMP and won the RCMP Commissioner's Commendation for Bravery in 2006. He was officer in charge of the Spiritwood detachment when three officers were shot, two fatally, while trying to arrest Curtis Dagenais.GEOFF HOWE
Randy Hoback: MP for Prince Albert; first elected: 2008 Known for: Working to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly; helped to secure funding for Prince Albert Water Treatment Plant upgrade. Background: Salesman for a farm machinery manufacturer; owned a custom spraying and trucking business and served as president of a 20,000-head community feedlot; nominated for Saskatchewan Outstanding Young Farmer award. Quote: Constituents 'want us to concentrate on jobs, get people back to work, and get the budget back in order. And that's what I'll focus on when I get back to Parliament and that's what I'm focusing on now,' he said while explaining the 2008 decision to prorogue Parliament, spoken to a Prince Albert Daily Herald reporter while he was on vacation in California.Adrian Wyld
Brad Trost: MP for Saskatoon–Humboldt; first elected: 2004 Known for: Working to block funding for the International Planned Parenthood Federation and arguing that legal abortion is harmful to maternal health; stating that Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy lost oversight of the Marquee Tourism Events Program because she funded the Toronto Gay Pride parade. Background: worked as a geophysicist; taught English in Russia. Irony: Has pushed to open Saskatchewan's uranium sector to foreign investment. Quote: 'Everyone's giving out money. We're spending like it's Christmas,' he told reporters earlier this week, as Saskatchewan MPs returned to their ridings and worked to defend their record on the Potash deal. Mr. Trost announced $300,000 for a healthy food initiative.Bill Grimshaw
Ed Komarnicki: MP for Souris–Moose Mountain; first elected: 2004. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour Known for: Calling Stephen Harper 'Canada's greatest prime minister;' delivering to Parliament a petition asking the federal government for legislation requiring mandatory electronic or other monitoring for pedophiles released from custody. Background: A small-town lawyer for 30 years; has eight childrenAdrian Wyld
Kelly Block: MP for Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar; first elected: 2008, when she won one of the tightest races in the country by 227 votes. Known for: defending spanking, which she called a 'traditional' punishment; bringing forward a private member's bill that would obligate first nations chiefs and band councillors to disclose their salaries; using 'Mrs.' Rather than 'Ms.' – because it communicates to people that she's married. Background: A stay-at-home mom who served first as councillor, then mayor of Waldheim, Sask., a town of fewer than 1,000 people; lost a nomination bid to run for the provincial Saskatchewan Party Voted: 'Rising star' by MPs in a Maclean's poll. The magazine said she has gained notice 'not by splashy speech-making but by applying herself doggedly to a backbench apprenticeship.'Adrian Wyld
Ray Boughden: MP for Palliser; first elected: 2008 Known for: Chairing the caucus of Saskatchewan Conservative MPs. Background: Spent 35 years in the school system as a guidance counsellor, teacher, principal, registrar and director of provincial examinations and student records; interim president of the Regina Airport Authority; led the Boughen Commission on Financing Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education, which recommended increasing sales tax to pay for schools; served as mayor of Moose Jaw. Quote: 'Backbenchers aren't involved in a lot of these decisions,' he said while defending the federal government's decision this year to pull funding from First Nations University, which is located in his riding.TROY FLEECE
Tom Lukiwski: MP for Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre; first elected: 2004 Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Known for: Filibustering a private member's bill on implementing the Kyoto accord; asking for non-renewable resources to be removed from equalization calculations; anti-gay remarks. Background: Veteran Saskatchewan political operative, including turns as executive director of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan and general manager of the Saskatchewan Party. Long-time friend of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. Quote: 'There's As and there's Bs. The As are guys like me. The Bs are homosexual faggots with dirt on their fingernails that transmit diseases.' From a videotape made in the early 1990s. Mr. Lukiwski apologized for the remarks when they came to light in 2008.Sean Kilpatrick
Garry Breitkreuz: MP for Yorkton–Melville, first elected in 1993 as a Reform MP. Known for: Outspoken criticism of the long-gun registry; paying a staffer who wrote a controversial press release calling police who support the gun registry a 'cult;' and saying Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff should be beaten 'black and blue' for his support of the registry; opposing same-sex marriage; raising a private member's motion calling for women considering abortion to be given 'complete information' by their doctor outlining the risks. Background: Spent 24 years as a teacher in Cameroon, the Solomon Islands and Saskatchewan; was given the Sport Shooting Ambassador Award by the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities in 2005. Quote: 'In the 1950s, buggery was a criminal offence. Now it's a requirement to receive benefits from the federal government.'
David Anderson: MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands; first elected: 2000 Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food for the Canadian Wheat Board. Holds a Masters of Divinity from the Canadian Theological Seminary and chairs the National Prayer Breakfast Known for: Sending mailouts opposing Saskatchewan Liberal MP Ralph Goodale; attacking the Canadian Wheat Board for providing 'good deals' to foreign buyers and losing $130-million of farmers' money. The CWB denied both accusations. Irony: as parliamentary secretary to the CWB, Mr. Anderson is now occasionally called upon to defend it