The by-election in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River is has the potential to turn into a ugly farce.

Two months ago, Joan Beatty won a seat in the Saskatchewan legislature for the NDP, but the NDP failed to form the provincial government.  So, figuring power is better than policy, she's dumped the NDP to join the federal Liberals to run as a candidate in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.  She didn't have to fight a nomination battle against Stephane Dion supporter David Orchard.  Stephane Dion appointed her as the Liberal Party candidate.

As a result, we've got a lot of local NDP supporters angry at Beatty for spending thousands of dollars of party funds to win a seat mere weeks ago, just to spit on them and go Liberal. 

We also have a lot of local Liberals angry that the nomination process that was underway was just chucked aside:

Irate supporters of David Orchard are warning that Liberals will lose a coming byelection in Saskatchewan now that Leader Stephane Dion has chosen to appoint an NDP defector as the party's candidate.

And even though Dion's chosen candidate, Joan Beatty, is an aboriginal woman, some native leaders are suggesting it's racist to bypass the democratic nomination contest in the heavily aboriginal riding.

"There is an Indian Affairs mindset and this is it to the core, the old Indian agent mentality we all know too much about," Metis leader Jim Durocher says in an angry letter to Dion.

And the farce?  There is the notion that Liberals cheated in this riding during the 2006 election that saw the Liberals take the riding from the Conservatives by a mere 67 votes:

Conservative incumbent Jeremy Harrison and NDP Candidate Anita Jackson have accused the Liberals of misconduct in the election for the northern riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchhill River. Liberal Gary Merasty won the contested riding in one of the closest results of the election.

Mr. Harrison told CanWest reporters the election was “stolen,” alleging the Liberals bullied constituents into voting Liberal.

"We got reports of things like the Liberals driving around and threatening Natives that they wouldn't get their cheque if they didn't vote Liberal, reports we had from individuals of plans to stuff ballot boxes,“ Harrison said.

Mr. Merasty has denied the allegations. He said he hoped people would not dwell on Harrison’s accusations, in a press release Thursday.

There were also suggestions of illegal delays in release of the voting lists, and misdirection of voters who ended up at the wrong polls. There have been further allegations today of a TV-for-votes raffle held on the reserve to entice voters out, although reserve leaders say the raffle was not limited to Liberal voters.

The allegations were never proven.  According to Elections Canada, there was Liberal literature in some polling stations, which was "regrettable".  Other allegations about polling or voting irregularities were not supported by the evidence.  As for threats, well, those didn't happen at polling stations, so that issue remains unresolved.

They say where's there's smoke, there's fire.  There were a lot of allegations thrown around, by both the NDP and the Conservative candidates.  At least one of the allegations was supported by the facts.

Elections Canada determined there were no problems, so we have to accept that.  But what Elections Canada believes is not at issue.  It is what the people on the ground believe.  In particular, what of the NDP?  For the NDP, the question is one of survival.  If Joan Beatty jumps to the Liberal Party and wins a seat, the NDP might be perceived as a farm team for the Liberal Party.  The NDP needs to prevent this from happening.  For the NDP, this is not about a single seat. 

Would there be elements in the NDP willing to push the boundaries to beat the Liberal Party in this riding, especially given the allegations levelled at the Liberal Party during the last election?

This upcoming by-election, is shaping up to be even more emotionally charged than the last.  The NDP is out for revenge against Beatty, as well as sending a message to NDP members thinking of jumping ship.  Half the Liberals are bitter and angry on behalf of David Orchard.  Other Liberals not invested in David Orchard's campaign know Stephane Dion might not survive another by-election loss by a hand-picked candidate.  Dion supporters will try achieve a Beatty win at any cost.  Others fed up with Stephane Dion's tenure as party leader will try to achieve the exact opposite result with as much fervour.  The Conservative are just trying to win back the riding.

The by-election in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River could easily be the most nasty and most entertaining one in a long time, assuming Stephane Dion does not force an election before then.

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