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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Home News Sask Liberals look to rebrand party starting with a name change

Sask Liberals look to rebrand party starting with a name change

Sask Liberals look to rebrand party starting with a name change
Saskatchewan Liberals

During their recent 2023 AGM on Saturday, members of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party voted in favor of changing their name, with a public name search to be organized by the party within the next several weeks.

“Ultimately, if we are to realistically fulfill our duty to help bring the greatest good to the greatest number of people then a reimagining of how to do exactly this is essential,” Sask Liberal Leader Jeff Walters said. “I look forward to the next step in the process, to find a new name that best reflects the values and beliefs of this reimagining.”

Over the past two decades, the party suffered through some “lean years”, according to a media release.

“In this moment, there is a singular opportunity for not just Sask Liberals but other individuals and groups as well to come together in common cause,” continued Walters. “To take our province back, it will require not just one party or group, but many to create a true movement. Such a display of unity of purpose is essential for the future of Saskatchewan.”

The motion to initiate a name change was submitted by a member to be discussed at the meeting in Saskatoon. It passed by a wide margin, with 88 per cent voting in favour.

In an interview with the Herald, Walters said the name change is an honest effort at rebranding and that the party has been pondering the idea for quite some time.

“Our last sitting MLA was in 1999 and we formally detached from the federal party in 2009. So essentially, since 2009 when we detached from the feds, there was the question of how far do we want to go? Do we want to go the whole hog and rebrand or whatever the case may be,” said Walters. “Ever since then, every time we’ve had an AGM, this has also been a consideration one way or another.”

With the election coming up in 2024, the party is looking to get the ball rolling on finding a new name quickly as “time is of the essence”. Walters hopes that the search will give the 50 per cent of individuals that don’t vote a vehicle to sculpt the party that best suites them.

“Within the next couple of weeks we’ll have a public name search and the whole point is to have the public at large engage and stay engaged in the whole process,” said Walters. “After a couple of weeks, we’ll probably nail it down to about 10 or 15 solid ones and have membership vote on a final one.”

Following the decision, the party will hold a leadership convention so the new face of the party is best represented according to what membership would like it to be, said Walters.

“After that, we’ll have a policy convention where our ideas will be modernized and challenged and expanded, depending on who our members are at the time,” he added.

The entire process is expected to take the party until the end of 2023.