Potential peril awaits NDP in its election platform

It's up to leader Beck not to blow it with a policy or two some may view as loopy

Any chance the Saskatchewan NDP had of winning the 2020 election may have evaporated with two words: Wealth tax.

Former leader Ryan Meili began the campaign to drastically alter the party's fortunes by announcing his plan to levy a tax on the wealthiest residents — one per cent on those with a net worth of $15 million or more, which was purported to raise an extra $120 million a year.

The proposed wealth tax would have been the first of its kind in Canada, although the federal NDP is still advocating for one.

The proposal was greeted by expected criticism from the governing Saskatchewan Party, but also from economists who questioned the policy's viability and the revenue that would be raised.

Taxing the rich may indeed have issues when it comes to implementing a policy, but it's a popular rallying cry since many feel the wealthy fail to pay their fair share of tax.

Yet the problem extended beyond the outside criticism to the NDP barely mentioning it in the rest of the campaign. That led to the perception the party lacked faith in its own policies and the NDP failed to gain much traction against a governing party that had been in power for 13 years.

The Saskatchewan Party delivered essentially the same beating on the NDP in 2020 that it had in 2016 with the exception that Meili won his seat after two straight NDP leaders had been defeated.

The wealth tax fed into the perceptions about the NDP as an economically shaky tax-and-spend party — which is ironic in a province where the NDP slashed the provincial sales tax when last in power in 2007 and the Saskatchewan Party increased it in 2007 and has expanded it since.

More recently, many feel last year's Alberta election turned on a proposal by that province's NDP to increase the tax on corporations from eight per cent to 11 per cent, which would still leave the province's corporate tax rate the lowest in Canada, although just one point lower than Saskatchewan's.

At the same time, Alberta's NDP under Rachel Notley pledged to eliminate the tax for small businesses, which tend to create most jobs. Like the Saskatchewan NDP'S wealth tax, the corporate tax increase was criticized by the governing United Conservative Party and by economists, who questioned revenue assumptions.

The proposal likely fuelled negative perceptions about the NDP, and Notley's party lost an election she was expected to win against the unconventional Danielle Smith.

That brings us to Carla Beck's Saskatchewan NDP, which should be heeding the lessons of the past when it crafts its policies and election platform for this year's campaign.

Beck, who handily won her Regina Lakeview seat in 2020 running with Meili and his wealth tax platform, faces a different dilemma than her predecessor did.

Meili needed to make an impact that turned the party's fortunes around; Beck, however, is leading a party that appears to be on the rise into what looks like the first competitive Saskatchewan election since 2007.

It seems likely that voters have tired of the government more than they are inspired by the opposition — as is almost always the case — so it's up to Beck not to blow it with a policy or two that some might regard as loopy.

That might well be the difference in a close election where the NDP'S main job will be to earn the trust of voters.

Polls suggest the NDP could pummel the Saskatchewan Party in the larger cities, particularly Regina and Saskatoon, but will struggle to get enough votes in the smaller cities and towns and rural areas to gain power. The electoral map remains paradoxically stacked against the cities where all the growth is happening.

So a proposal like a wealth tax could really harm the party.

Or, conversely, such a policy that is communicated clearly and defended vigorously could help the NDP.

Regardless, the NDP'S election platform could be the difference between a return to relevance or remaining in the political wilderness.