Article content continued

Photo by Don Healy/Postmedia/File

Among the signatories are former MPs Dennis Gruending, Lorne Nystrom, Bill Knight and Dick Proctor. Knight and Proctor are also former national directors of the party.

Weir was one of three New Democrats elected in Saskatchewan in 2015, ending a 15-year drought for the federal party in the province. Atkinson predicted Singh’s unilateral decision to oust Weir will jeopardize that hard-won comeback.

“I think what it means is that there’ll be less people willing to donate, there’ll be less people willing to step up to door knock. I think it has a very serious impact on the federal party in our province,” she said in an interview.

The former Saskatchewan legislators first wrote to Singh in May when he expelled Weir from caucus following an independent investigation into allegations of harassment. Atkinson said they have tried to work with the leader to remedy the situation, but “there was no listening, no accepting; he just had his mind made up, obviously.”

Since Singh took the helm of the party last fall, there has been grumbling among some long-time New Democrats that the former Ontario MPP was not taking advice from those with experience at the federal level. Atkinson said the Weir decision is a demonstration of that problem.

“Successful leaders listen to people in the field, they listen to former politicians, they listen to party members, they listen. You just can’t have a little enclave of people,” she said.

In the Weir case, she added: “You sure should take into consideration what New Democrats in Saskatchewan are thinking.”