My Government is Trying to Kill Me
The story of Saskatchewan Politics and how it came to the dangerously inefficient system it is today.
I received a call yesterday from the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, a social-democratic political party I hold membership to. They asked if I was interested in running as a candidate in my riding, and I said yes enthusiastically. I had no idea how to process the information; it has been a daydream of mine since high school to be involved in politics in some capacity. Receiving this call meant I would skip all the steps I’ve seen other politicians take; no university or college, no familial prestige.
After all the excitement died down and I began to think seriously about this opportunity, I remembered something vital; even the dumpiest politicians have money to spend on their campaigns. I have nothing. $0. During the next call from the NDP, they’ll expect me to give them information so they can begin the vetting process. It won’t even get that far because I don’t have any money at all. I’m on income support, I have $2500 in debt and -$13 in my chequing account.
My main reason for having a strong desire to run is a very specific daydream I keep having. I’m standing up in the local legion hall, and I’m asked about how I would deal with the carbon tax. I point directly at the incumbent Saskatchewan Party representative, and I state simply with a smirk on my lips, “I certainly won’t just throw a pathetic tantrum at the drama teacher in Ottawa.”
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party has a long history, dating back as far as 1902 with the formation of the Territorial Grain Growers’ Association. After a long period of forming and breaking away from coalitions with other parties in the province, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was created for the 1934 Saskatchewan general election, winning 5 seats to become the official opposition to the Liberals. The CCF leader at the time, M.J. Coldwell, lost his own seat in the election but remained as leader and president. Coldwell eventually ran in the 1935 federal election and won, leaving the leadership and presidency to George Williams. Williams was a strong supporter of the Canadian efforts in World War 2, but this made dipshit pacifists within the party upset. One of those pacifists challenged Williams for presidency of the party and lost like the little bitch he was.
Then out of nowhere Tommy Douglas shows up, rips the presidency from Williams’ hands in 1941, then takes leadership of the party a year later. In the next Saskatchewan general election, Tommy Douglas whips the province into a frenzy and completely embarrasses the Liberal party. Tommy led the CCF into the first socialist government in Saskatchewan’s history, all while handing the Liberal party its second-worst defeat in its history. Since the ’44 election, the CCF party (which would eventually be renamed the NDP) has won 12 out of 19 elections it participated in. Tommy started the fight for the first publicly-funded single-payer health care system in North America. There was extreme opposition from doctors who used racist caricatures to drum up the conspiracy theory that Tommy would import foreign doctors to make his plan work. The doctors also claimed the government would interfere in medical care decisions and that the doctors would be paid less under the system, despite Tommy’s promise that salaries would stay the same. Tommy would eventually resign from his position as CCF leader to lead the newly-created federal NDP party, but Tommy’s successor, Woodrow Lloyd, would finish the job in 1962. The federal government took notice and, in 1966, the federal and provincial governments of Canada worked together to create healthcare plans similar to Saskatchewan’s, with the feds paying 50% of the cost of implementation and the provinces paying the other half.
It’s now 2020. The last time the NDP was in control of the legislative building was during the 2003–2007 term.
The Liberal and Progressive Conservative party was continuously getting their shit kicked in by the NDP. Eventually they had enough, and in 1997 formed a coalition imaginatively called the Saskatchewan Party. I don’t have any evidence to back the following statement up, but I’ll say it anyway:
They called themselves the Saskatchewan Party because the dumb fucks couldn’t even agree on a good name to call their coalition.
Their first full-time leader Elwin Hermanson was a complete dud, and resigned in 2003 after a surprise close victory by Lorne Calvert and the NDP. Brad Wall was the main to take Elwin’s place, and since his takeover of the party he remains the man whose name is now etched into my mind as the architect of the destruction of the glory that once was Saskatchewan socialism. In the 2007 Saskatchewan general election, Brad Wall pushed the Saskatchewan Party — nicknamed derisively “The Saska-tories” at this point — from right-wing to centre-right, and crushed the NDP. The NDP had promised to build new housing for 10,000 post-secondary students and lower tuition costs by $1,000, but the Sask Party countered with a promise of up to $20,000 on tuition rebates after graduation.
Keep in mind that not all graduating students were eligible for the full $20,000 rebate, and the money would come to the students over a period of seven years.
The Saskatchewan Party annihilated the NDP and formed a majority government. From this point forward, the Saskatchewan Party has maintained full majority control of the Saskatchewan legislative assembly. The province is now in complete shambles, and the 2020 Saskatchewan general election is happening last year. Quite frankly, I’m fucking astonished by the sheer amount of success the Sask Party has found in the general elections despite being the worst economic managers this province has ever seen in the entire fucking history of this godforsaken province.
The most frustrating thing about the Saskatchewan Party during its reign of terror has been its voters. Many people who vote for this party blindly do so out of the assumption that the party’s platitudes are more than paper-thin. When it comes down to real action in the legislative building, however, the Saskatchewan Party squabbles and quarrels within its own ranks as the liberal and conservative wings of the party clash and force compromises into their legislation. This has resulted in huge gaps and blind spots in their actions, which often result in budget mismanagement. At that point, the only thing left to do is the only thing liberals and conservatives alike can agree on; austerity measures.
Shortly after assuming power in 2007, the Sask Party gave huge tax cuts to fat corporations operating within the province during the Bakken oil boom. Much of Saskatchewan’s economy is in agriculture, but the biggest moneymaker is oil. The Bakken oil formation sits below the surface of Southeast Saskatchewan, and my city is right over it. Oil companies surged into the region as the oil boom began. I started seeing faces I didn’t recognize in the city. This is a good thing; more people means more money, more money means stronger economy for the city. Typically in a scenario of economic growth, increasing taxes on corporations is the best idea because corporations can afford to pay those taxes when growth is steady. That can bolster an already strong economy and turn it into a fucking freight train. Instead, Brad Wall gave companies like CNOOC a fuckhuge tax break.
Let me make an interesting tangent here.
CNOOC actually used to be called Wascana Energy Incorporated, which itself used to be named Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Corporation. SaskOil used to be a state-owned enterprise, created in 1973 by Saskatchewan Premier and NDP leader Allan Blakeney. SaskOil prospered under NDP leadership and continued to operate during the Progressive Conservative majority leadership. However, in 1986, PC premier Grant Devine privatized the corporation by selling off a majority of Saskatchewan’s shares. The corporation was then renamed to Wascana Energy Incorporated and, in 1987, the final nail in the coffin was hammered into place as the final shares in Saskatchewan’s ownership were sold off to Canadian Occidental. Ten years later, Wascana Energy was recognized as one of the top three oil and gas producers in the fucking entirety of Canada. That is also when Wascana Energy was entirely absorbed into CNOOC.
This privatization was a complete letdown for Saskatchewan. We had the opportunity to make our growth during the Bakken oil boom even bigger if we still owned majority shares in SaskOil. If we combined SaskOil ownership with fairly taxing corporations in our province, we damn well could’ve surged to become literally the most profitable, productive province in the entirety of Canada. We could’ve been so far in the black that Canada would be hailing Saskatchewan as the heroes who protected Canada from the 2008 economic crisis. Alas, that wasn’t in the cards because Conservatives are inherently incapable of managing our economy effectively. Rather than fix problems within SOEs or government services, they privatize those enterprises or services for megacorporations to exploit and profit from.
Years later, the Saskatchewan Party continues the history of fetishization of privatization in opposition to the NDP. Hospital laundry is now contracted out to private companies, many other SOEs Saskatchewan once owned have either been sold off or completely vaporized, and Public-Private Partnership contracts are common. Interesting note about PPP’s, by the way: due to the complex nature of these contracts, it’s nearly impossible to determine whether they are successful or not. So, rather than using a proven method of getting infrastructure like roads and schools built properly with easily understood results, the Sask Party has chosen once again to defy logic and use unproven methods to attempt to save money.
To make matters worse, the healthcare Canadians proudly brag about to Americans is being fucking sold by the Saskatchewan Party government. MRI scans now provide a “private option” to cut down on costs and wait times. Rather than sit down and write out a proper investment plan like a normal fucking politician would, the Sask Party has decided to act just like the Progressive Conservatives before him and make someone else find the solution. Saskatchewan created the first ever single-payer health care service in North America, but thanks to the Sask Party ineptitude we are coming closer to mirroring America’s extreme medical debt and health care quality problems.
This is just a big rant I needed to write at 5am on a Monday because I spiraled into a dissociative episode after realizing my dream of becoming a politician in any capacity would have to wait. I want nothing more than to unleash all of the fury pent up by more than a decade of Sask Party mismanagement. This government has effectively killed my city as local businesses continue to close their doors every month. The ‘17-’18 budget from the Sask Party handed heavy austerity measures down onto health care, education and social services. Post-secondary tuition has surged because institutions had their funding slashed. Over 50 million dollars were cut from K-12 education, meaning layoffs for many support staff and an increase in class sizes. The budget also killed coverage for hearing aids, podiatry, orthotics, parent mentoring, and travel immunization. The fucking list goes on and on and on and on and on.
Saskatchewan Party is taking a baseball bat directly at their voters’ knees with a home run swing, and their voters are responding with glee. The reason why is simple: French Drama Teacher Bad.
Just as the effects of Saskatchewan Party ineptitude started making their impact, Justin Trudeau began implementing a carbon pricing plan. Instead of sitting down and figuring out how to deal with the problems Saskatchewan is facing now, Scott Moe and the rest of the party basically threw a tantrum at Trudeau like a schoolyard bully being caught red-handed with his hand in someone else’s lunch. We got a cheaper carbon pricing plan out of it, but Saskatchewan is still crippled and my city is still struggling to exist. Just recently, 20 jobs were lost at a coal mine. My dad, a lifelong boilermaker, is getting called for contracts much less frequently. My mom, an education assistant and library technician, works fewer hours now. My brother, a yard operator for oilfield companies, finds himself twiddling his thumbs as oil extraction slows down. Saskatchewan Party has nothing left to offer but thoughts and prayers. Even so, according to the most recent poll by one of the most reliable national poll firm in Canada, Scott Moe’s Sask Party remains the most popular across the board.
At this point, informing myself about the political landscape in this province is akin to self-harm.
