To say that Ryan Meili, leader of Saskatchewan’s New Democratic Party (NDP), has cranked up the intensity in his approach over the last few weeks would be an understatement.
With an election getting closer, Meili has turned up his efforts to get under the skin of Premier Scott Moe and the Sask. Party to a more than noticeable level. Meili has been calling on the province to fast-forward negotiations and get back to legislative business for weeks on end at this point.
His main call is to get the parties back in the legislature to table a formal budget, something that could not be done in mid-March due to the horrifying realities COVID-19 brought to the government’s revenue projections.
Moe and company have constantly said the estimates tabled on March 18 are what they are going off of in terms of special warrants. He has previously said the province will operate on those numbers and table a budget when possible for it to get the scrutiny every budget deserves.
It does seem like the Sask. Party is moving in Slow-Moe when it comes to getting back in the legislature to table a budget.
It is easy to understand why that is the case. With a provincial election coming up, the number of seats the Sask. Party can secure will have a lot determined with how they handle rebooting the economy and provincial spending.
Tabling a budget with bad revenue projections, while surely it could be understood by the public, will not look good heading into an election.
Again, most of the general public could understand why the revenue projections won’t look good. COVID-19 has ravaged much of the world’s economy. But, there are the many who sit on the fence in terms of political affiliation who may see the budget has a tell-all sign of where Saskatchewan may be headed.
No one could predict where we would find ourselves economically heading into an election. The NDP is seeing the impact this can have on voters, along with preaching the message of taking care of the overlooked, and driving full speed at the Sask. Party in hopes of ruffling feathers enough to get a full budget.
Meili said the Sask. Party has been “the least active in Canada” in terms of COVID-19 response. He also said they have done “less than the bare minimum” for the most vulnerable.
Meili has taken aim at the province’s $7 billion stimulus plan, saying no one knows where it is going, or who will do the work. He claims the Sask. Party is writing “blank cheques behind closed doors.”
He also took the bold stance of saying “if we get to any debate at all, it is only because we pushed. If it was up to Scott Moe, they would have done nothing this entire summer.”
A statement like the one above is an intense show of confidence for Meili and the NDP. One that could backfire, given Moe and company have the amount of spite one could assume is possible when dealing with the opposition.
While it is easy to believe Moe does want to table a budget, it would also be easy to believe that he would hold out on returning to the legislature even longer, just to assert dominance on his opponent.
At the end of the day, it might not be a bad bargaining chip for the Sask. Party to say “we can deal with the economic pitfalls once we return to office.”
Moe could easily point to the announcement of a new hospital for Prince Albert, the $7.5 billion stimulus plan and any of the other investments they have thrown out during the pandemic to show they care about the people of Saskatchewan.
While it may be posturing, people see numbers and react.
Meili does not have the luxury of heading into an election with numbers to show voters in the way Moe does. His main source of leverage would be directing voters to what he has been able to get Moe and company to do on the heels of his many calls to action.
Securing a victory in terms of returning to business for a budget would be huge for the NDP. Whether that pans out, or the Sask. Party takes their time remains to be seen.
Jordan Stricker is the Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Glacier Media in Saskatchewan.
