Sask. Party MLAs spending $100,000 a year for public’s views on ‘important issues’

Saskatchewan Party MLAs combined to spend more than $100,000 each year on a customer intelligence service, using money from their constituency budgets to do so.

From 2012-13 to 2015-16, Sask. Party MLAs spent a total of $512,025 for a service called Vision Critical.

The members’ accountability statements of each MLA show three or four payments each year for the service, which, according to the premier’s office, is split evenly among them and used for “a quarterly issues-related polling report.”

Despite MLAs lowering their caucus allowances this year, there will, according to the premier’s office, be no reduction in the cost paid for this service.

The board of internal economy, made up of mostly Sask. Party MLAs, sets caucus allowances. Each year MLAs can spend up to $58,893 of taxpayer money. The directives set out by the board says MLAs can seek reimbursement or direct payment for services for duties as an MLA, “being the representative of all constituents,” and not in respect for an MLA’s “role as a member of a political party.”

Vision Critical Communications, according to its website, provides a “cloud-based customer intelligence platform that allows companies to build engaged, secure communities of customers they can use continuously, across the enterprise, for ongoing, realtime feedback and insight.”

It doesn’t describe itself as a polling company, but says it offers “customer intelligence for citizen consultation and engagement” and allows governments to “help you connect in a two-way dialogue with stakeholders — the public — for the feedback you need to make datadriven policy decisions, strengthen the impact of public-facing campaigns and improve lives.”

The premier’s office says it’s used for polling on “various issues of public policy” and it is done “to provide MLAs with information about the public’s views on important issues. It’s just one of the ways we gather information about what Saskatchewan people are thinking about various issues.”

Examples of questions provided are: “What is the most important issue facing Saskatchewan today?” and “Do you approve or disapprove of the provincial government’s handling of various issues (health care, the economy, highways, etc.).”

Results of polls conducted through Vision Critical aren’t made public and are “done for the internal use of our MLAs and caucus.”

The Sask. Party doesn’t dictate what’s being polled, according to the premier’s office, and voter preference polling is “paid for by the party.”

The provincial auditor’s office says, “The Office has not identified problems in this area in recent years. The Office is aware that, from time to time, MLAs may share the costs of certain initiatives.”

NDP MLA David Forbes says “this seems to be pretty expensive, what they’re using” and says the big concern with Vision Critical is whether or not Sask. Party MLAs are responding to constituent opinions and hopes, or “are they trying to shape them?”

NDP MLAs each had an expense in 2015-16 of $3775.63 for Winnipeg-based Viewpoints Research.

That, according to Forbes, was used for “getting a sense of what people were talking about” in Saskatchewan. He says NDP MLAs often use polling, but that it’s “independent of the party.”

Forbes says the amount of money the Sask. Party MLAs are using demonstrates they are “clearly out of touch.”

“For that kind of money and the kind of work they’re presenting, clearly they’re out of touch and we’re surprised at that,” he said.