What you need to know before casting your ballot
If you've not already voted by mail or in early polls, Postmedia Saskatchewan's Arthur White-crummey, Phil Tank, Nick Pearce, Evan Radford and Tim Switzer have compiled the promises of parties running candidates in at least a quarter of Saskatchewan constituencies in the Oct. 26 vote.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
The party's growth plan, unveiled last year, has 20 actions and 30 goals centred around export-driven growth intended to create 100,000 jobs by 2030. The plan occupies eight large-font pages of the party platform.
It is also pledging to balance the budget by 2024, spending just short of $850 million over its next term and relying on growth to boost revenues. Leader Scott Moe has not explained what he would do if that doesn't happen.
The party wants to continue with its $7.5-billion infrastructure and economic stimulus plan to build schools, hospitals, highways and municipal infrastructure.
The party's platform is premised on the idea that continued and increased spending will spur economic activity as opposed to reducing spending to eliminate the deficit.
The party proposes to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and support small businesses as they adjust to the higher labour costs.
Other key planks include a Saskatchewan-first procurement policy for the rewarding of government contracts and restoring the film employment tax credit.
The Green Party points to its shift toward green energy as a way to stimulate the economy.
As well, one of the Green Party's key proposals is to develop a Guaranteed Livable Income. The Greens would institute a Guaranteed Living Income Commission within 12 months of being elected to identify how this would work.
The Greens are also promising to reinstate the film tax credit, a number of incentives in cultural enterprises and to support more local food production.
The Tories hope to bring and keep more jobs in Saskatchewan by killing the New West Trade Partnership, focusing on the trades, construction and supply services.
They're also pitching a rebuild of the film sector: The party wants to reinstate the Film Tax Credit.
Other tax credits they want to bring back are for potash production and in-province manufacturing.
They say they'll pitch in cash for a heavy crude oil refinery in Estevan, too.
The Buffalo Party's plans for more autonomy hinge on its economic policy. Pledging to create “Saskatchewan First” contracting policy and to leave the New West Partnership, it's advocating to end the federal transfer payments and restrict imported goods from Quebec if the province stands in the way. The party similarly aims to pull out of the Canadian Pension Plan and create a Saskatchewan equivalent. Its other proposals range from supporting young farmers to shrinking government.
ENVIRONMENT
The platform itself contains no new environmental commitments. The Saskatchewan Party wants to stay the course with its Prairie Resilience climate change plan, which it says will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 12 million tonnes by 2030.
Much of the reductions come from shifting Saskpower's generation fleet towards renewables, with a target of “up to 50 per cent” by 2030. The Saskatchewan Party government opposes the federal carbon regime, which it calls expensive and ineffective, and has fought it in court.
The platform also points to the government's efforts to fight aquatic invasive species.
Most of the concrete proposals in the NDP'S platform relate to a more environmentally friendly approach to power generation.
The party aims to hit a target of half of all electricity generated from renewable and non-emitting sources by 2030 with emissions-free generation by 2050. A related focus is working with Saskpower to make the province a leader in geothermal power production.
The party also wants to improve energy efficiency and protect wetlands and grasslands.
Not surprisingly, the Green platform offers a wide range of promises to protect the environment including, largely, a focus on solar, wind and geothermal energy production. Part of the way to get there would be the introduction of a carbon fee that would increase every year and go toward stimulating alternative energies and enhancing public transportation.
The party would also expand home energy efficiency programs, reduce the use of clear-cutting and promote water conservation
The party is promising clean drinking water for all Saskatchewan communities.
It says it will remove extra policing duties of conservation officers, attempting to make it easier for them to focus on conservation enforcement.
The party wants to introduce a “Green Portfolio” for investors to choose when they're investing in the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. There are no details on what will make it green.
It's also advocating for so-called clean coal and “environmentally-friendly” oil pipelines.
Environmental policy is folded into the party's economic vision. It wants to scrap the federal carbon tax and make similar taxes illegal in Saskatchewan. It promises to maintain the three power plants between Estevan and Coronach while becoming “a global leader” in carbon capture storage, increasing the technology's efficiency in the province.
CHILDCARE & EDUCATION
The Saskatchewan Party is promising 750 more licensed childcare spaces, in homes and schools, largely by boosting grants and subsidies.
The party would increase the value of the needs-based Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship from $500 to $750 per year.
One of the NDP'S largest promises commits $150 million to hire 1,000 teachers, 700 educational assistants and 400 caretakers to reduce class sizes. Over four years, this would cost $535.3 million.
The party is also promising to eliminate interest from student loans, a promise worth $4.8 million.
The NDP is also pledging to introduce $25-a-day child care and to add 2,200 new spaces each year. That would cost more than $200 million over the term.
A free post-secondary education for all is the ultimate goal for the Green Party, but for now it would settle for reducing the cost of university or college classes. It would also forgive student loans for graduates working for a set period of time in a community service job.
In lower grades, the Greens are calling for the expansion of outdoor curricula, trades and arts programs and more nutritional skills education.
And for those keeping their children at home, more resources for homeschooling.
The PCS say they'll give grants to schools that support landbased learning curriculums.
They say parents and guardians, not teachers, should teach their elementary-aged kids sex education and the anatomy and biology of humans' reproductive systems.
They want to give teachers a $500-per-year classroom supply budget; they hope to equip “all classrooms with smart board technology” to allow home-based students to participate.
The party promises a higher standard in reading, writing, history, math, and sciences, while pledging “less social programming” in education. It says the province's education system overemphasizes university, and promises more pathways focusing on the trades. It wants to offer courses on entrepreneurship, investment, money management and marketing while funding home economics and industrial arts. It also hopes to create an independent school association and says the Saskatchewan Teachers Federal holds too much power.
HEALTH
The party is promising to hire 300 more continuing care aides, including 180 for long-term care facilities and 120 in home care, with 58 of those targeted at rural and remote areas.
It would also cut ambulance charges by 50 per cent for seniors and eliminate them altogether for seniors' ambulance travel between hospitals.
The platform commits to expanding autism funding to cover children under the age of 12, with a benefit of $6,000 per year for those between ages six and 11. The age limit for coverage of insulin pumps would also be removed.
This is another big spending area for the NDP, including $150 million each year to hire more staff to provide long-term care and acute care and to provide enhanced home care for seniors.
The NDP proposes hiring 100 doctors, 150 registered nurses, 300 licensed practical nurses and 500 care assistants.
The party wants legislated minimum standards for longterm care homes to ensure set hours of one-on-one care for residents.
The Greens are promising an overhaul to the health system by expanding what is included in universal coverage including dental care and other practitioners.
The party is also promising financial incentives for professionals who choose to work in underserved areas of the province as well as create more multi-level care facilities for seniors so couples do not have to be split up based on their care needs.
The party is committing to buildings on the healthcare front: A budget and plan for a new Regina hospital, actually building a new hospital in Prince Albert and cash for a long-term care centre in Buffalo Narrows.
It wants to add 300 long-term care beds per year over five years.
The party hopes to bring and keep doctors in rural areas by allowing them to own public services like sleep labs and “minor emergency.”
Rural communities are a linchpin of the party's health proposals and account for the bulk of its plans. It promises that “rural health care will be available to all residents.” To do so, it's promising more doctors, nurses, beds and emergency responders. It wants to bolster private-public MRI programing. It promises to expand the program to include CT scans and further service rural areas. It also aims to fund rural emergency medical services.
Now more than ever, cuts to education and health care are downright dangerous — we're committed to making the smart investments that put people first.
RYAN MEI LI, ND P leader
We think it's a good balance between being financially responsible — trying to tackle the issues of debt and debt management — while at the same time trying to provide the services that matter.
KEN GREY, Progressive Conservative leader
The Saskatchewan Party has a plan for a strong Saskatchewan. It's a plan for a strong recovery, it's a plan to make life more affordable for everyone, and it's a plan for a growing Saskatchewan.
It's a plan for strong financial management and a balanced budget by 2024.
SCOT T MOE,
Saskatchewan Party leader
Only the Saskatchewan Green Party puts solving the climate crisis as our top priority. Our platform ensures a livable world for future generations, while looking after everyone with a Guaranteed Livable Income and expanded medicare to encompass universal dental care, pharmacare, and mental health care.
NAOMI HUNTER,
Green Party leader
The Buffalo Party has the only platform that is about rebuilding the economy first and getting a fair deal for Saskatchewan in Confederation. This means having the same rights as Quebec. WADE SIR a, interim Buffalo Party leader
QWhy is your platform best suited to meet the needs of Saskatchewan people?
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
Though there are no new commitments specifically for Indigenous people in the party's platform, the document notes $213 million of targeted investment in the 2020-21 budget “to meet the priorities of Saskatchewan's Indigenous communities, businesses and organizations.” It also notes that the government is spending $1.2 million this fiscal year through its Pillars for Life suicide prevention plan.
The party wants to spend
$10 million a year to implement the Calls to Action stemming from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.
The party's goals include greater equality for Indigenous people in the areas of health care, education, employment and justice.
The NDP also pledges to reform the child welfare system by working with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and First Nations.
A public education program to build knowledge about Indigenous histories and traditions is one of the first promises by the Green Party. It says it would also lobby the federal government to create First Nation language immersion programs across the province.
It would also work with the feds to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions calls to action and enact Jordan's Principle to ensure Indigenous children have the same access to service as others.
There's scant direct reference to Indigenous people in the party's platform, but there's a promise to build two northern “mental health hubs” by collaborating with First Nation and Metis communities.
There's also significant focus on northern communities: A northern business tax credit for new start-ups in the north; pushing for a second bridge to be built in Prince Albert; and arguing for a medical transportation system for northern communities.
The party says it should include First Nations on discussions surrounding immigration policy and building the economy. The party does not directly reference Indigenous issues in its platform.
NATURAL RESOURCES
The Saskatchewan Party says it will continue to advocate against Bill C-69, federal environmental assessment legislation it calls “the no more pipelines bill,” and Bill C-48, which affects tanker traffic of the west coast.
It is also gung-ho on nuclear energy, or small-modular nuclear reactors to be precise, as a way of generating emissions-free baseload power while promoting Saskatchewan's uranium industry.
The party has cast itself as a champion of oil and gas, and presents its support for pipelines and opposition as the proof.
The NDP claims the Saskatchewan Party has focused too much on resource development at the expense of addressing climate change.
The NDP'S platform stresses underdeveloped sources of energy generation with lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass.
The Greens would immediately reduce the province's reliance on coal as an energy source and end all exploration of oil and gas in Saskatchewan.
Noting that jobs in those industry will disappear, the Greens are also promising income protection and retraining and resettlement programs for displaced workers.
The party will support the oil and the potash industries, promising to fund a heavy crude oil refinery in Estevan and reinstating the Potash Production Tax Credit.
It will support oil pipelines for moving the black stuff to market.
The platform talks of of “clean coal,” promising to push Ottawa to exclude so-called clean coal facilities from an industry shutdown.
The party wants to introduce nuclear-power-usage in the future.
The party platform wants to lighten the load on natural resources. It aims to start taxing junior producers at 10 per cent in their first year, 15 per cent in their second year, 25 per cent in year three, 50 per cent in year four and 75 per cent in year five. It also promises to ease natural resource industries access by simplifying the application process and by partnering with municipalities. It demands national pipelines be completed.
TAXATION & UTILITIES
The party is proposing a series of tax cuts, benefits, credits and utility rebates it says will save families money and keep dollars flowing through the economy.
That includes reducing the small-business tax to zero for two years, then hiking it back to one per cent, before returning to the current two per cent rate in July 2023.
The platform pledges to reduce Saskpower bills by
10 per cent for a year, using taxpayer dollars to funnel an average of $215 back to ratepayers. It also includes a Home Renovation Tax Credit.
The party promises to boost the Seniors Income Plan benefit by $90 to $360 per month and resurrect the Active Families Benefit it ended as of 2016.
The NDP is proposing Canada's first wealth tax: one per cent on the net worth of anyone worth more than $15 million to raise $120 million a year.
The party also wants to eliminate the provincial sales tax on construction labour ($200 million a year), lower SGI rates by about $85 a vehicle ($70 million a year) and offer a $100 rebate for SGI policy holders ($120 million).
The platform includes resurrecting the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.
The party says it would increase the basic personal income tax exemption for Saskatchewan.
It would also reinstate the Solar Net Metering program to its former level and include the cost of retrofitting or installation of solar panels. The Greens say this would mean most households will “receive more than they will pay for energy costs.”
The party says any goods hit with the federal carbon tax will be exempted from PST; ditto for items the party says have been double-taxed, like used cars and used clothing.
If there's “population consensus” for Crown corporation decisions, the party says it would consider them as part of “citizen-initiated referendum legislation.”
The idea is dramatic reform. For one, the party aims to manage the federal taxes applied to Saskatchewan. It also wants to end income tax and replace it with a flat tax of 10 per cent. It similarly plans to replace the PST and GST with a consumption tax at 11 per cent. PST wouldn't apply on municipal construction, used auto sales and restaurant bills. Residents aged 70 years or older wouldn't be taxed.
ACCOUNTABILITY
The Saskatchewan Party is offering nothing new on accountability measures, though it did lower the threshold for in-house lobbyist registration from 100 hours to 30 hours last year.
Leader Scott Moe has opposed a public inquiry into the controversial Global Transportation Hub land deals, saying they have already been subject to scrutiny through the RCMP and the provincial auditor.
The party wants to ban union and corporate donations and stop campaign contributions from outside of Saskatchewan.
Public inquiries into the Global Transportation Hub and the Regina Bypass are included in the party's agenda as are enhanced conflict of interest rules for MLAS.
The party also wants all lobbying to be made public and for the province's auditor to report on finances prior to elections.
Proportional representation would be introduced to the Saskatchewan electoral system under the Green Party and the voting age would be lowered to 16.
Elections would also be publicly funded with strict limits on donations.
The Greens would also bring other public institutions under FOIP laws and create “the most stringent” conflict on interest laws in the country.
The Tories promise to trim down the Legislature in terms of people and cash: They'll reduce the number of MLAS from 61 to 58; ban party advertising paid for with caucus communication funds; allow donations to parties only from people, not corporations or unions; and cancel out-of-province political donations.
They'll allow the public to “directly address” the legislative chamber, cabinet ministers and MLAS on certain days, while introducing citizen-initiated referendum legislation.
The platform wants elected officials on a tighter leash.
Its proposals include holding elections for lieutenant-governor, senators, and judges. It also promises steeper fines, jail sentences, and loss of seats and pensions for officials who breach trust, fraud and corruption regulations. A key measure is a provincial petition website that allows residents to recall elections for any elected post in the province. The party also wants to replace RCMP with a provincial equivalent.