Shasko quits as Sask. Green Party leader, will support NDP’s Pedersen

By James Wood
The StarPhoenix
September 6, 2011

Larissa Shasko
Photograph by: Richard Marjan

Larissa Shasko has resigned as leader of Saskatchewan’s Green Party — and seemingly abandoned the party in the process.

The announcement Tuesday at the provincial legislature was a major surprise as it came just two months ahead of the provincial election. In a further twist, Shasko announced she would support NDP candidate Yens Pedersen — best known as a candidate in the NDP’s last leadership race — as he ran in the constituency of Regina South this fall.

“I joined the Green Party because I honestly believed that it was the best way to work toward creating a sustainable, ecological future for the people of Saskatchewan. I still want that future ... but I simply no longer feel that the Green Party offers the best way to achieve that goal,” Shasko said in a news release.

Shasko, a political science student from Moose Jaw, became leader of the provincial Greens in April 2009. She was a candidate in the 2007 provincial election and ran for the federal party in the last two national elections.

Shasko was slated to be the Green Party candidate in Moose Jaw North this fall.

In Regina South, Pedersen is running in a rematch with the Saskatchewan Party’s Bill Hutchinson. He lost by 255 votes in 2007.