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A year out from the next provincial vote, the Saskatchewan New Democrats often seem as lost as they were when they emerged from the calamity that was their 2016 election campaign.

This is not a positive sign for them.

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The upside is that — by the laws of averages — a larger NDP contingent in the Saskatchewan Legislature a year from now would seem probable. This might even be welcomed by the general electorate, that hasn’t had an effective opposition for some time.

Notwithstanding the bravado we heard from veteran Saskatchewan Party MLA Don Morgan this week, the odds are the NDP will likely pick up a few extra city seats — especially given that an aging Sask. Party government has made enough mistakes to afford the NDP some gains. Perhaps it will even win enough seats (20 seems the number floated out there) to stave off a challenge to Ryan Meili’s leadership.

That said, if governments get old, tired and lost, so do parties wandering the wilderness of opposition. Today’s NDP may have forgotten how to win. There is a high probability Meili will remain the NDP’s third consecutive leader who will not become Saskatchewan premier. This was once Saskatchewan’s natural governing party.