Sask Party promises volunteer firefighter tax credit, while NDP vows to reduce number of MLAs and build a bridge
Promises from Saskatchewan’s two main parties took a backseat to candidates’ social media activity and criminal records during the first week of the election campaign.
It began at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention March 9, where Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall told 1,000 rural delegates that a Saskatoon NDP candidate had referred to farmers against single-desk grain marketing as “stupid” in social media posts.
It went on to involve three more NDP candidates whose posts made light of violence against women, said Wall’s mother should have taken the abortion pill and even more egregious statements.
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NDP leader Cam Broten dismissed all four along with the campaign manager, former MLA Frank Quennell.
All WP Saskatchewan election coverage is collected here.
It ended with Wall defending three of his candidates, who have criminal records after driving drunk.
Amid all that, voters were given some hints of what the Saskatchewan Party or NDP would do if they formed the next government.
At SARM, Wall announced a $330 non-refundable tax credit for volunteer firefighters and emergency first responders. It would cost about $1 million a year and be implemented once the province’s finances allow.
He highlighted the economic importance of rural Saskatchewan and said a Saskatchewan Party government would best guide the province through the current economic downturn.
He reminded delegates the government kept its promise to reduce the education tax on property.
“If we happen to get re-elected on April 4 you should expect more of the same,” he said.
Wall said he wouldn’t make big spending announcements during the campaign but that the most significant infrastructure announcement would be in rural Saskatchewan.
Last week he announced a three-year, $70-million plan for more highway repair and maintenance, a tax incentive for innovation, and a First Home Plan that would allow post-secondary students who participate in the graduate retention program to use unused program benefits toward a down payment on a home.
Broten also addressed SARM delegates, where he admitted previous NDP governments had made mistakes.
“I’m a new leader and I’m 100 percent committed to listening to you and working with you to strengthen rural Saskatchewan,” he said.
He said he gets angry when he hears about the thousands of dollars rural residents pay for ambulance fees and promised to cap them at an affordable rate.
Other NDP promises during the first week included ending the controversial management efficiency program called Lean, cutting the number of MLAs to 55 from 61, and a second bridge for Prince Albert.
Meanwhile, Broten replaced candidates Clayton Wilson in Saskatoon Northwest with Dennel Pickering, Terry Bell in Regina Walsh Acres with Gloria Patrick, Cameron Robock in Estevan with Tina Vuckovic, and Mark Jeworski in Weyburn-Big Muddy with Karen Wormsbecker.
The Sask. Party said candidates Terry Dennis in Canora-Pelly, Scott Moe in Rosthern-Shellbrook and Eric Olauson in Saskatoon-University had all been convicted of impaired driving. The dates of the convictions ranged from 1979 to 2001.
Wall told reporters he was comfortable having their names on ballots.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
