Joan Beatty - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Joan Beatty is a Canadian politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. She was the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party

The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s...

(NDP) member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

The 25th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan was in power from 2003 until November 20, 2007. It was controlled by the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party under premier Lorne Calvert.-Members:-By-elections:...

for the constituency of Cumberland. On January 3, 2008 she was appointed the Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

's candidate for the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.-Demographics:...

for the March 17, 2008 by-election.

However, she lost the federal by-election to Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

candidate Rob Clarke

Rob Clarke

Robert G. "Rob" Clarke is a politician and career Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. He was the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River for the March 17, 2008 federal by-election in which he defeated Liberal candidate Joan Beatty.A member of the Muskeg...

Provincial career

A former CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

journalist, Beatty became the first Aboriginal woman and first First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

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

Provincial Secretary

The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...

. Beatty was re-elected in the 2007 general election

Saskatchewan general election, 2007

The 26th Saskatchewan general election was held on November 7, 2007; the writ was dropped on October 10, 2007. The election determined the composition of the 26th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan....

that defeated the NDP government and sat as Opposition Critic for Women’s Issues and Northern Affairs.

Federal politics

In 2007 she was approached by both the federal NDP

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

and the federal Liberal party

Liberal Party of Canada

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. 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

Stéphane Dion

Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...

on January 3.

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." 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

Lorne Calvert

Lorne Albert Calvert, MLA was the 13th Premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert, was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.In 1975, Calvert married Betty Sluzalo of Perdue, Saskatchewan. After attending...

-led Saskatchewan NDP government would be returned to office.

Beatty's appointment as the Liberal candidate angered supporters of anti-free trade

Free trade

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

activist David Orchard

David Orchard

David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...

who had earlier announced his candidacy for the Liberal nomination. Metis

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

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."

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."

Beatty ultimately lost the ensuing byelection by a substantial margin. Nonetheless, she sought the Liberal nomination again for the forthcoming 40th Canadian federal election

40th Canadian federal election

The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...

, this time in an open vote of the Liberal riding association with Orchard also a candidate. Orchard won the nomination.

Electoral record

|-

|Rob Clarke
Rob Clarke
Robert G. "Rob" Clarke is a politician and career Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. He was the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River for the March 17, 2008 federal by-election in which he defeated Liberal candidate Joan Beatty.A member of the Muskeg...

|align=right|4,996
|align=right|47.75%
|align=right|+6.66%
|-

|Joan Beatty
|align=right|3,287
|align=right|31.42%
|align=right|-9.95%
|-

|Brian Morin
|align=right|1,839
|align=right|17.58%
|align=right|+2.21%
|-

|Robin Orr
|align=right|340
|align=right|3.25%
|align=right|+1.09%
|-
|-

|NDP
|Joan Beatty
|align="right"|3,124
|align="right"|65.96%
|align="right"|-3.04%

| style="width: 130px" |Saskatchewan Party

Saskatchewan Party

The Saskatchewan Party is a conservative liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was established in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal party members and supporters who sought to remove the Saskatchewan New Democratic...

Green Party of Saskatchewan

The Green Party of Saskatchewan is a left-leaning Green political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.It was founded in 1998 as the New Green Alliance by environmental and social justice activists frustrated by the social democratic Saskatchewan New Democratic Party's move to the right...

Saskatchewan Party

Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan

The Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan is a right-of-centre political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to 1942, it was known as the Conservative Party of Saskatchewan. Members are commonly known as Tories....

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