REGINA - As August comes to an end there is increasing speculation on when Saskatchewan will officially be in a provincial election campaign.
According to the province’s fixed election law, Oct. 28 is when the election will be held. What is not known is when Premier Scott Moe will go to Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty and officially call an election, which would launch the official campaign period.
At a media event Wednesday in Regina Premier Moe was coy when asked twice by reporters when the election would be called.
“Pretty soon,” he said.
While the official campaign is not under way yet, the “unofficial” pre-election announcements are already under way, with a flurry of announcements this past weekend by the Saskatchewan government and by Official Opposition.
Provincial ministers have also been making announcements this week elsewhere including in Saskatoon. On Monday, Premier Moe along with ministers Colleen Young and Terry Jenson were on hand for the groundbreaking of a new Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus in Saskatoon.
On Tuesday, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill and Minister for Tourism Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison were also in Saskatoon for an announcement on opportunities for students to learn about careers in tourism. Harrison was also on hand in Saskatoon for the announcement of $1.92 million to both the Regina and Saskatoon Trades and Skills Centre.
Moe’s Wednesday media event in Regina marked the 80 percent completion of the Regina General Hospital parkade. The event sounded like a campaign event as the construction milestone was touted by officials, but Moe insisted it was not.
“This is not about campaigning, this is our record. This is our record of investing, of creating and doing what we can to work with industry partners across this province to ensure that we have a strong and vibrant economy so that we can make investments just like this,” Moe told reporters.
Moe seemed to slip back into campaign mode when he added: “if you let that strong and vibrant economy slip, and I would suggest that’s what a federal Liberal and NDP government are doing from time to time and what an NDP government would do in this province, (they) would let that economy slip and these investments will no longer be available.”
Not to be outdone, the opposition New Democrat caucus held their own events this week. On Tuesday, Health Critic Vicki Mowat denounced overcrowding and wait times at St. Paul’s Hospital with 41 patients waiting to be admitted.
On Wednesday, NDP leader Carla Beck along with Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon stood alongside steelworkers outside the Evraz steel plant in Regina, expressing support for the steel industry in the province and calling for jobs to be protected.
Thursday, the provincial NDP held their first “official” campaign launch announcement in Saskatoon. There, Beck announced the party's major campaign pledge: a No Tax Hike Guarantee, as well as suspending the 15 cent a litre gas tax for six months.
On Friday in Saskatoon and Prince Albert, Beck announced the party's plans to get tough on crime, including a pledge to scrap the Marshals service and instead hire more local police officers.
Beck expressed confidence to reporters in Regina on Wednesday that her party was ready for an election.
“We’re ready, ready for change. People of Saskatchewan are ready for change, absolutely,” said Beck.
“We’ve got a team that’s working full-out and has been really two years. We’re ready for this, and we’re ready for change. When we expect it to be called? Any time now. The government of course gets to decide when the election will be. The Saskatchewan NDP are ready, we’re ready to be that change that people in this province are looking for."
In preparation for that election, the NDP also added more candidates this week. On Tuesday, Jay Kimball was nominated to be the NDP candidate in Swift Current, while on Wednesday Chris Ball was nominated in Moosomin-Montmartre.
As for other parties, Sask United Party leader Jon Hromek met what the party described on Facebook as a “standing room only” audience Monday night at a town hall meeting in Grasswood, near Saskatoon.
Sask United has already come out with some policy announcements. They have pledged to cut the PST from six to three per cent and remove the gas tax completely. They have also pledged a 65 per cent property tax discount to seniors 65 and older on their primary residence.
The party also has nominated two additional candidates this week: Carrie Ann Hradecki in Humboldt-Watrous and Jason Zbeeshko in Kindersley-Biggar.
