SASK. PARTY’S WAKE-UP CALL

It is a headline that many thought would never come: “New poll shows NDP, not Sask. Party, with most support in Saskatchewan.”

The Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix broke the news of a Postmedia/ Mainstreet poll that shows 49 per cent of decided and leaning voters would vote for the NDP, putting them nine points ahead of the 40 per cent support for the Saskatchewan Party. Perhaps this result should not be a total surprise, considering post-budget polling in April showed the NDP gaining ground, with 42 per cent support.

For years, however, Premier Brad Wall’s support seemed bulletproof. His no-nonsense talk that often came to the defence of the average citizen seemed to be just what the voters wanted. Polls showed his popularity reached through the country to other parts of Canada.

But even Wall’s personal clout can’t overcome the political damage done by the most recent provincial budget.

The public may have been willing to accept austerity measures on big-ticket items — like the abolishment of Saskatchewan Transportation Company bus service and a rise in the PST — if other cuts had not seemed to hit people in such personal, vulnerable places.

Think of Saskatoon’s Friendship Inn and other charity organizations losing the ability to staff through the fine-options program.

Think of the parents worried about how to come up with funds for their child’s hearing aids.

Think of the students who may slip through the cracks because teachers, aides and aboriginal support workers have been cut due to education funding issues.

Just how upset the people of Saskatchewan are with the cuts is made especially clear when one looks at the loss of support outside the cities of Saskatoon and Regina. The Sask. Party has always been able to count on people who live in more rural areas, but Thursday’s poll showed the NDP are up 10 points in what David Valentin, executive vice-president of Mainstreet Research, calls “the rest of Saskatchewan.” The two parties are even when it comes to voters outside of the province’s two biggest cities, with both polling at 46 per cent.

Coming back from this will be a huge challenge for Wall and the Sask. Party, a task made more difficult by the energy building around Ryan Meili and the NDP leadership campaign race that is just getting started.

The times are changing for the Sask. Party and provincial politics.

It will be interesting to see if the current government can heal from the damage of a thousand cuts.