Sask. Party leadership hopefuls weigh in on Bill Boyd's resignation

The race to replace Brad Wall as premier is barely out of the starting gates and those hoping to take over are faced with questionsabout their former colleague Bill Boyd.

On Monday, Wall asked for Boyd's resignation from the Saskatchewan Party caucus following a report by the province's conflict of interest commissioner. It found that Boyd misused his position as a MLA to benefit himself.

CBC News asked the five candidates who have so far announced they are running for the party leadership fortheir reaction.

Ken Cheveldayoff

Ken Cheveldayoff was announcing his leadership bid at an event in Saskatoon when the commissioner's report came out.

"We take the direction and findings of the conflict of interest commissioner very seriously as MLAs. I'm sure the premier and others will take the appropriate steps," he said when reached by phone as the event was going on.

GordWyant

Beforeannouncinghis intentions,GordWyantwas the minister of justice and the province's attorney general.

"I was a bit disappointed in the fact that conduct ofone of our members has fallenbelow the standards which are expected of them," he said.

"I think itdoes send a signal to all members of the legislature on both sides of the house that we've got effective legislation, effective processes in place to deal with these kinds of things and that's a good thing."

Wyant added that he agreed with Wall's decision to ask for Boyd's immediate resignation.

Tina Beaudry-Mellor

Tina Beaudry-Mellor's campaign staff said she is taking time to read through the conflict of interest commissioner's report and plans to address this issue when she announces her policy platform in relation to transparency and ethics.

They did not provide a timeline on the release of said policy.

Jeremy Harrison

On Thursday, Jeremy Harrison told the media if he were premier he would have fired Boyd given the allegations against him.

He also laid out a 10-point plan to strengthen the province's ethics and transparency laws.

His spokesperson said Harrison's position on the matter has not changed.

Alanna Koch

AlannaKoch, who announced her candidacy on Monday morning, did not have a comment on the commissioner's findings or Boyd's resignation.