Sask.’s fixed election law is in need of fixing

Premier Scott Moe is probably prepared to defend the record of his Saskatchewan Party in the next provincial election.

But is he ready to face the wrath of all the voters who might be upset with their municipal government, too, especially if they’re served up another year of mayors and councillors, courtesy of Moe?

Under the plan being floated by the Sask. Party government, the municipal elections set for late October of 2020 would move to October of 2021 to avoid overlap with the early November provincial election in 2020.

In Saskatoon, that means an extra year of the city council that is bringing you backyard fire restrictions, downtown bike lanes and user fees for garbage pickup.

In this municipality and about 570 others, many residents likely cannot wait for the next municipal vote and have no stomach for an extended term.

Instead of looking to the municipal level to solve this conflict, perhaps the provincial braintrust should be taking a second look at its fixed election legislation.

Surely, though, the fixed election law setting the vote permanently on the first Monday in November came about as the result of careful consideration and consultation.

Actually, it was announced by Brad Wall as the first order of business the day after he led the Sask. Party to its historic victory on Nov. 7, 2007.

Wall, yet to be sworn in as premier, proclaimed the next election would be held on Nov. 7, 2011, exactly four years after the 2007 election. Nov. 7, 2011, fell on the first Monday in November.

Enough thought went into selecting the November date to include a clause anticipating a possible conflict with a federal election. That clause is responsible for bumping the scheduled November 2015 provincial election to April of 2016 to avoid conflict with the October 2015 federal vote.

But moving the 2015 election created the collision course in 2020. In addition to the provincial-municipal conflict, the provincial election is scheduled a day before the next U.S. presidential election and stands to be swamped by saturation media coverage.

Leaving the fixed Saskatchewan election in its current cycle will mean perpetual overlap with the U.S. presidential election, the mostwatched exercise in democracy on the planet.

What those who crafted the province’s fixed election law somehow neglected to consider was the inevitable conflict with municipal votes, which have always been held in the fall.

And why November? It’s telling that no other province set its fixed election date in November and it seems odd that a province with one of the coldest climates would choose a winter month.

Most provinces with fixed election dates — only Nova Scotia lacks such a law — have chosen the first week of October for their date. Quebec and Manitoba, like Saskatchewan, have clauses that push the vote to the following spring if there’s a provincial-federal campaign overlap.

Quebec’s legislation also includes a similar clause for municipal elections, which shows foresight that would have helped Saskatchewan avoid this election mess.

Ontario changed its law in 2016 to move the election from October to June, thereby avoiding the federal fixed election date that was set in 2007, but only adhered to once due to a string of minority governments.

Alberta set a range for its fixed election from March 1 to May 31, so elections can be scheduled to avoid conflicts. As it stands, both Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island have elections scheduled for early October of 2019 that will overlap with the federal campaign.

Newfoundland has adopted an intriguing rule, given that Moe took over as premier from Wall mid-term, forcing an election within a year of a premier leaving office.

Saskatchewan had held two elections in November in its history before the Wall government decided all elections would be held in November. Fourteen of Saskatchewan’s 28 provincial elections have been held in June, which dates back to a time when scheduling tried to avoid both seeding and harvest. Not only is Saskatchewan mainly urban now, advance polls make the actual date less relevant.

There’s lots of other months and lots of evidence that a much better fixed election law is possible.