Ruthless use of election dates a very old game
Before we get into the zaniness of Premier
Scott Moe using the coronavirus as an excuse to break the province’s set election date law and call an early vote, there’s a few things we should review about the cutthroat nature of politics where promises, laws and even fair play don’t much matter.
As high-minded as the idea of set election dates every four years has been, it’s always been impractical in a particular parliamentary democracy where four-year terms are actually just tradition and the only true rule is that governments cannot exceed five years, whereby the “legislature” is dissolved.
The problem is, mandates can be much less than four years if governments lose (or even risk losing) through a non-confidence vote — something that occasionally happens in minority governments. And having to move your election because it clashes with other campaigns is a practical reality.
That said, reintroducing the political game of the premier calling an election whenever it best services his perceived purpose of ruthlessly annihilating a rival — in this case Ryan Meili and the NDP — is hypocritical, unprincipled and a sad step backward.
The problem, however, is Saskatchewan New Democrats have few grounds for complaint, given they did the same thing in government.
Former NDP premier Allan Blakeney was forever lengthening or shortening the traditional four-year term to find the most advantageous date to inflict the most damage on his opposition. His eventual successor, Roy Romanow, did the same thing. Romanow lengthened his last term in 1999 to not only avoid the consequences of a campaign during a potential strike but then called the election in the middle of
It’s as asinine to claim we need a provincial election because of rail blockades.
summer for a vote that came during harvest. That obviously and deliberately made it far more difficult for the Saskatchewan Party’s rural supporters to get out and vote.
Set election days have always been, as Mary Poppins described, “pie-crust promises” like better freedom of information laws or less wasteful cabinet minsters’ travel (or even balanced budgets and reduced deficits) that are easily made and easily broken.
The weird reality is that Moe is at the end of his four-year term (the last election, being April 4, 2016) and now would actually be the expected time for a provincial campaign.
So there remains a distinct possibility Moe will now drop an untested-by-debate March 18 budget with unrealistic promises and rush to the polls against a disorganized NDP that hasn’t nominated half its candidates. It’s nasty and unprincipled this business ... so unprincipled, that even politicians feel the need for asinine excuses to avoid owning up to this reality.
It’s as asinine to claim we need a provincial election because of rail blockades (which every party opposes anyway). Really, wouldn’t all the “political unrest” and need to be in communication with Ottawa be precisely a reason not to have the premier tied up campaigning?
But the rail blockade excuse is the height of sound reasoning compared with the wacky notion that we need to go to the polls now because of concerns over COVID-19 in Saskatchewan where there has so far not been one reported case.
Yep. The best way to stop a contagious virus is call an election where you door knock, shake hands, kiss babies and hold public rallies. That will stop the current public panic.
One can even see the Sask. Party campaign ads right now: “Ryan Meili. He coughs into his arm and fist bumps to stop the spread of germs. He’s not on our side.” (After criticism Monday, Moe told reporters he made a mistake last week by suggesting COVID-19 was a reason for an early election call.)
If anything, it was always so patently ridiculous to use the COVID-19 excuse to call an election that one suspects the Sask. Party isn’t looking for serious excuses to go early.
Then again, in the cutthroat world of politics, do they really need one?
Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-post and Saskatoon Starphoenix.