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No, it's fiscally conservative and socially progressive in Saskatoon and Regina and socially conservative and fiscally insane in some of the rural areas. Most of the province is somewhere in between though, and there's this really odd mix that you really can't understand until you've travelled the province extensively.

By the way, at least two seats there went Conservative in the last federal election because people who would have normally voted NDP were so scared of Stephen Harper that they voted Liberal. Even the Conservatives have admitted that.

   

Basically, but it's much more complicated than that, especially in the last election. A lot of the conservatives are cattlemen, but after Harper screwed them on the Cargill thing and then turned up in Saskatoon and refuse to answer questions on agriculture, they really hated him. The thing is that they didn;t have another conservative to vote for. This new pig thing could very well turn them completely against any politician perceived to be pro-US.

The natives support the Liberals because of the good work that Jean Chretien did when he was Minister of Indian Affairs. That has little or nothing to do with recent or current Liberal policies, and it would make more sense for them to support the NDP based on that, but the loyalty runs deep.

The same goes for a lot of older people who are first or second generation Canadians...especially Ukrainian/Polish/Hungarian people. They still vote Liberal, but it's more out of loyalty than policy.

Their children tend to vote either Conservative or NDP.

During the last election a lot of people who would have voted NDP switched back to the party of their parents because they were terrified of or angry at Stephen Harper. It was silly and self-defeating because Liberals don;t win seats in Saskatchewan but they were sending a message.



That's why the barmaid in the Punnichy pub keeps that cue stick under the bar. It's always the Conservatives that start the violence around election time though.

   

I'd like to give everyone a quick glimpse of this province from the inside. I've lived her my entire life. The NDP under Roy Romano did a great job of running the province and it was his economic policies etc. that brought Sask up. Roy Romano was a liberal in my humble view. Calvert is just plain George Bush stupid. He means well, he is a good person and he is trying hard for the people of this province, but he's slowing managing to screw everything up. Currently, a battle is being fought over 'additional hours of work legislation'. A brief description of that is:

The NDP wants to force employers with over 50 employees at one location to first offer any additional hours that become available to each and every part-time employee in order of seniority. One of the problems that will evince is when a full time person quits, his/her hours will be divided up to every part-timer (anyone under 40 hours a week) before a new full timer can be hired. The result will be one less full time job in the province. My father lost his job twice in 5 years in this province due to layoffs, I understand our desperate need for employment oppotunity here. This legislation will be nearly unenforceable, so hopefully that will prevent it from doing much harm.

I do have some moderatly socialist values, but I believe in a limit and that a need for employment supersedes laws that will deter corparations to invest in the province.

Sorry for going off on such a tangent; that was just a small example of the problems the Calvert government is causing my home.


The reason the Cons came out dominant in Sask is because people sincerly believed they had a good chance at a minority (which they did); the feeling I got was a lot of people wanted a voice in government, but a voice that more clearly reflected their views and the Cons were the best way to get that.

   

Your only alternative is an opposition that's pushing the same policies that almost bankrupted the province under Grant Devine though, Jade. Even forgetting about the criminality of the Devine government you have to keep in mind that their policies were disastrous. If you go and look at the overall policies of the PC's in the eighties, those are the same basic things that the Saskatchewan Party is pushing now. I lived through that mess, I don't want my nieces and nephews to have to do the same.

   

I agree with the bulk of what you said, but there is an alternative, albeit a nearly insignificant one. They are the moderates and I hope in the next election they will finally get a little territory. Sask Liberals, we have a party thats getting to far left and a party thats desperatly trying to prove its not to far right. I think the liberals would be a great moderate choice for the province but unfortunatly to many people see things in black and white. Either way, good post rev_blair.

   

How come when a conservative screws up us on the right can admit it but when a NDP screws up aka Bob Rea.The left does nothing but makes excuses and say it is open to debate

   

Can you even find Saskatchewan on a map, Dan?

That's the real damage that the Devine government did, Jade. Our first past the post form of government requires strong opposition and a change of government every two terms if it is to work properly. When a government screws up really badly like the PCs did in Saskatchewan (or Mulroney did federally) it destroys that balance. In the end things become very polarised.

I don't think you'll ever have a Liberal government in Saskatchewan though. The hatred for the name runs very deep, especially in rural areas. Just like the PCs had to change their name to the Saskatchewan Party, Liberals should be running under a new name if they want to be viable.

Have you tried pushing proportional representation and direct democracy initiatives within the province, Jade? Have a look at the system BC is considering. The NDP is supposed to be pushing for something similar federally, so making it an issue in Saskatchewan would cause a but of a stir. The reason it isn't an issue right now is because neither the provincial NDP nor the SP want it, but with things as even as they are there some public pressure would go a long way.

   

Gettin a lil testy ain't ya rev.
Just cause not everybody has the faith and blinders to the NDP that you and your buddies share does not mean you have to get mean.Hell I saw you tell somebody you hope they catch a bullet on another thread.Agnes Macphail would not be proud.

   

This thread is about Saskatchewan, Dan. I doubt you have even the slightest grasp of the political situation there. Trying to derail a thread you have no business in because of your lack of knowledge and unfounded biasses is both rude and stupid.

   

You are right I don't follow Saskatchewan politics.It was disrespectful to interrupt and I am sorry.
See I can admit my mistakes.Howcome leftwingers can't?

   

Dan, just be quiet. Don't be one of those assholes who just goes into attack mode everytime they see something that possibly disagrees with their poltical affiliation.

Rev_Blair, while the SP was techinically a merger of the PC and a number of liberals, they did end up too right wing. You're definatly right about the liberals needing a name change and a detatchment from the federal liberals. Its too bad that the people here don't want to vote liberal, Ralph Goodale has done a lot for our province and he's the only liberal mp. I will definately look into B.C.'s new propotional representation, I still don't have a great understanding of it in general and it might be a good idea for this province that has become so divided.

   

It looks like a pretty good system they've come up with, Jade.

What part(s) of Saskatchewan are you from by the way?

   

I came to s'toon from moose jaw when I was 3, been here ever since. I'm acctually on the U of S campus right now, yourself??

I took a quick look at their PR plans and a few different other plans. I think its enevitable within the country and the province; it seems like a good way to keep the tyranny of the majority in check.

   

I grew up in (mostly) Regina with farms about an hour and half to the north and north-east (Highway 15).

I came to Winnipeg about twenty years ago to go to school and ended up married with a house etc, so I never moved back as planned. I still have many friends and relatives in Saskatchewan and talk to one or another of them almost daily. Of course I go back at least once a year.

You know how it is...once you're from Saskatchewan, you're always from Saskatchewan.

   

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