With the 2020 provincial election underway, Moose Jaw Today will be keeping track of all of the promises made along the campaign trail from each of the political parties running this year and compiling them together to help voters hit the polls feeling informed.
There are six registered political parties in this year’s election: Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party, opposition leader Ryan Meili and the New Democratic Party, Interim leader Wade Sira and the Buffalo Party, Naomi Hunter and the Saskatchewan Green Party, interim leader Robert Rudachyk and the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, and Ken Grey and the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan.
All party platforms can be found on respective websites
These are the local candidates currently running for the Moose Jaw-North constituency:
- Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan Party
- Kyle Lichtenwald, NDP
- North Hunter, Saskatchewan Green Party
These are the local candidates currently running for the Moose Jaw-Wakamow constituency:
- incumbent Greg Lawrence, Saskatchewan Party
- Melissa Patterson, NDP
- Abby Firlotte, Saskatchewan Green Party
Check back weekly for a summary of all announcements made by party leaders as the campaign continues, leading up to the provincial election on Oct. 26.
Saskatchewan Party:
Sept. 30: The Sask. Party promised to introduce a new Saskatchewan Home Renovation Tax Credit, for homeowners to claim 10.5 per cent on up to $20,000 of eligible renovations. The program would run from Oct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2022 and would cost an estimated $124 million over two years.
Oct. 1: The Sask. Party said it would reduce all customers’ SaskPower bills by 10 per cent for one year beginning in December. Residential customers would see an average return of $215 and farm customers would see an average return of $845. The rebate will cost $87.2 million in 2020-21 and $174.4 million in 2021-22 and the cost to SaskPower will be covered by the General Revenue Fund.
Oct. 2: The Sask Party has said it will increase the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship by 50 per cent beginning next year, from $500 to $750 for a total increase of $1,000 over four years, to help eligible Saskatchewan students. This increase would cost an estimated $2 million per year, or $8 million over four years, and benefit approximately 8,000 students.
Oct. 3: The Sask Party will reduce the small business tax rate for the next three years by reducing it from two per cent to zero beginning Oct. 1, 2020, then to one per cent by July 1, 2022 and then back to two per cent by July 1, 2023. The amount that small business can earn at the small business tax rate will remain at $600,000.
Saskatchewan NDP:
Sept. 4: The NDP’s first pre-election promise is to bring in $25 a day child care, 2,200 new childcare spaces every year, and a panel of experts to review the early learning and child care system. The party did not specify what this program would cost.
Sept. 10: The NDP promised to lower SGI insurance premiums for Saskatchewan drivers by 7 per cent, or about $85 a year, and provide all drivers with a $100 rebate. Funds for this would be provided by SGI’s $1 billion reserve fund. The party also promised that SGI would not be sold and would remain a public insurance company.
Sept. 16: Ryan Meili said that the NDP would introduce legislation to stop the privatization of health care and reverse the steps already taken towards a two-tiered health care system. The new Saskatchewan Medicare Protection Act would stop the offering of patient pay services and double-billing.
Sept. 17: The NDP announced it is committed to reaching 50 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, as well as a legislated target of 100 per cent emissions-free electricity by 2050. They have also committed to working with SaskPower to explore a major expansion of baseload geothermal power capacity.
Sept. 21: The party announced that an NDP government would invest $5 million to hire 50 mental health nurses for schools in the province, and provide another $5 million to help school divisions in reversing cuts and hiring child educational psychologists, counsellors, speech-language pathologists and other mental health supports.
Sept. 23: Ryan Meili has said he will stop allowing corporate and union donations to political parties and implement a cap on contributions that will bring Saskatchewan in line with other policies in Canada and ensure that only Saskatchewan residents can donate to political campaigns in the province.
Sept. 25: The NDP has committed to reopening rural emergency rooms closed by the Sask Party and keeping all existing rural acute care centres open. The party has also said it will invest $10 million to address chronic short staffing and recruitment challenges in rural healthcare and also invest in infrastructure to fix crumbling rural health care facilities.
The NDP are also promising to consult with rural municipal, healthcare, First Nations and Métis leaders to advise on improving access to healthcare in rural areas and develop an aggressive rural training program to recruit and retain young people from rural Saskatchewan in health-care careers.
Sept. 30: The day after Scott Moe announced the election, Ryan Meili announced a proposed wealth tax of one per cent on anyone in the province with a net worth of over $15 million, which the party said would bring in an additional $120 million annually to be used for health care, education and long-term senior care spending.
Oct. 1: The NDP promised to cut classroom sizes by providing $125 million to address overcrowding in classrooms, which could provide funding to support 1,000 teachers, 750 educational assistants and 400 caretakers.
Oct. 2: Ryan Meili and the NDP have pledged to increase government transparency and accountability, including a promise to call a public inquiry into the Global Transportation Hub and Regina Bypass. He also said he would implement stronger conflict of interest rules for MLAs, and require lobbying to be made public.
Also on this date, Meili announced an additional $3 million in educational funding investments for rural education, above the $125 million previously announced to address overcrowding in classrooms.
Buffalo Party:
There have been no election announcements at the time of publishing. The party's platform will be revealed on Oct. 5.
Saskatchewan Green Party:
The Green Party says it will establish a guranteed provincial income.
Saskatchewan Liberal Party:
There have been no election announcements at the time of publishing.
PC Party of Saskatchewan:
Sept. 18: Party leader Ken Grey has said that a PC government would motion to cancel the provincial state of emergency enacted on March 18 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
