We’re going to have lots of reasons to look forward to 2020.
One of them is going to be a double dose of election fever. Or maybe it’s a reason to not look forward to 2020. I guess it depends on your perspective.
The provincial election will be Oct. 26. Two weeks later, on Nov. 9, the civic election will take place.
I’ve questioned why the provincial government forced Saskatchewan municipalities and school boards to reschedule their elections. Saskatchewan civic elections have been happening in late October since before I moved to Saskatchewan in 2000. (Ironically, just in time for the civic election that year. Good times).
Think of it this way: there will be 61 ridings in the provincial elect; there will be many more municipalities having elections. And there will be a lot more candidates in the municipal election than the provincial election.
The province should have buckled, and allowed the municipalities and the school boards to retain their October voting date. There is a precedence for this; in 2003, the provincial election was held two weeks after the civic election, and nobody complained.
Regardless, if you’re a political junkie or a numbers geek or an election aficionado, then this fall will be right up your alley.
If you’re apathetic towards politics, then you might want to look for somewhere else to be this fall. Just don’t complain about the governments if you don’t vote.
Hopefully you’ll see good fields locally for both elections. I’ve often lamented the calibre of competition in the southeast in federal and provincial elections. We’ll typically have one good candidate to oppose the Conservatives federally and the Saskatchewan Party provincially, but the others on the ballot will be token and/or parachute candidates who bring nothing to the campaigns.
In the last provincial election, we had Paul Carroll represent the Progressive Conservative Party, and he worked really hard to try to become Estevan’s MLA. He finished third, which was one of the best results for the PCs in the province. Frankly, I was surprised he didn’t finish second.
While there has been some dissatisfaction locally with current MLA Lori Carr this term, it would be one of the biggest political upsets in this province’s history if she didn’t win a second term as MLA.
It will also be interesting to see if Daryl Harrison, the Sask. Party candidate in the Cannington constituency, can come close to the support that long-time MLA Dan D’Autremont had in his electoral victories. (He eclipsed 70 per cent each time since 1999).
As for the civic election, municipal politics are the bedrock of our democracy. Regardless of whether it’s an urban or a rural municipality, this is the level of government where we have the greatest control, where we have the greatest contact with our elected officials.
Federally, the MP for Souris-Moose Mountain covers a vast territory. The MLA for Estevan covers an area that encompasses communities other than the Energy City. But with a city council, we have a mayor and six councillors. Many town in southeast Saskatchewan have a similar number of representatives.
Hopefully there will be lots of interest. We hope that incumbents will seek another term, since you need that continuity, that experience and that knowledge of issues facing a community.
But we also want to see some fresh faces on council. While I roll my eyes at some of the comments certain keyboard warriors make on Facebook and other social media platforms when it comes to city council, there are some people who make comments that are articulate, well-informed and lucid. They would be excellent additions to council.
And yes, I would like to see a couple of the CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) crowd run for council, not only so they get soundly defeated, but so they actually get a glimpse of the work and the challenges that a municipal government faces.
There’s one more election sandwiched between provincial and civic votes: a U.S. presidential election Nov. 3. Again, it depends on your perspective. Is it something that we should be looking forward to?
If you’re a supporter of the current U.S. president, and you think you’ll be re-elected, then you’re excited. If you’re a detractor of President Donald Trump, and you think he’ll be turfed, then you’re excited.
If you loathe Trump and you think he’ll win, you’re concerned. And if you’re a Trump supporter and you think he’ll lose, then you’re really worried.
I know what I’m not looking forward to: nine months of U.S. election ads. You thought the Canadian election advertising last year was bad, with Andrew Scheer bobbleheads and Justin Trudeau “Never Ready” campaigns that screamed “Someone actually paid money for this garbage?”
Well, it’s worse in the U.S. Many of the ads make our election advertising look tame. Each time a U.S. election ad comes on, I’m going to be reaching for the remote. And possibly some Tylenol.
So yes, there will be some instances in which I will be sick of election fever by the time the fall rolls around.
