A little late, and might be old news for some folks, but I can’t believe that I almost missed this one.
Dwain Lingenfelter, Vice-President of Government Relations for Calgary-based Nexen Inc, is running for the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP. A Sask NDP MLA from 1978-86 and 1988-2000, Lingenfelter joined Nexen in Calgary after leaving politics in 2000. Interestingly, in the 1990s, under its former name of ‘Canadian Occidental Petroleum,’ Nexen purchased Saskatchewan’s former crown energy company, Wascana Energy (formerly SaskOil), which was created by Allan Blakeney and later privatized by Grant Devine in 1986.
High level daveberta.ca informants deep in Calgary’s energy sector have heard that Nexen has given Lingenfelter a year-off to contest the NDP leadership, leaving an opening for him to return if his bid is unsuccessful. Having served in high level corporate positions in the energy sector and in the cabinets of Blakeney and Roy Romanow, Lingenfelter would definitely be an unconventional pick for the Sask NDP leadership.
