And they’re off.
The 2011 Saskatchewan election race is expected to begin Oct. 10 when premier and Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall has said he will ask Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart to dissolve the Legislature.
NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter jumped the starting gun a bit, choosing Friday, Oct. 7 to kick off his campaign to the Nov. 7 finish line.
Before candidates and supporters at Tommy Douglas House in Regina he said health care is the top priority for voters in both rural and urban ridings.
“Twenty-two rural hospitals close on a regular basis on weekends,” he said.
Lingenfelter also said rent control and affordable housing are key issues in all 58 ridings.
The party will release its full election platform, including costs, early in the campaign, he said.
But it will include a Bright Futures Fund to retain more resource revenue for the province and it will include a promise that by 2025 half of the province’s power will come from renewable energy sources.
The NDP is far behind the ruling Saskatchewan Party, according to a recent poll conducted by the province’s two daily newspapers, but Lingenfelter said the team will work hard to overcome that.
He noted that Tommy Douglas faced similar hurdles.
“The only poll that matters is Nov. 7,” he said. “We are in this to win.”
The race is really between the two main parties. At dissolution, the Sask. Party had 38 seats to the NDP’s 20.
The Green Party intends to run candidates in all constituencies, while the Liberal Party and Progressive Conservatives will not run full slates.
Wall was set to kick off his campaign late Oct. 10, after Western Producer deadlines for this issue.
The government has already made some significant announcements such as replacing the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford and the Moose Jaw hospital.
Wall told reporters Oct. 7 that his party would put forward an affordable plan.
“This is a very volatile world economy and what we need in our province is, I believe, to continue to steadily move forward economically on the strength of balanced budgets,” he said. “You won’t see from us any participation in a bidding war for the votes of Saskatchewan people.”
He added he takes nothing for granted and will campaign on his record.
