It’s just a few days before the federal election. The advance polls are finished. We’ve had the televised leaders’ debates and the local candidates’ forums.
Costed election platformers are now out, and the Canadians who didn’t vote in the advanced polls likely now know who they’ll be voting for.
We don’t know who will win the election or who will form the next government, but one trend has definitely emerged: there hasn’t been much attention paid to Saskatchewan by the main party leaders.
Three of them have stopped briefly in Saskatchewan: the Liberals’ Justin Trudeau, the New Democratic Party’s Jagmeet Singh and the Conservatives’ Andrew Scheer. All three went to Saskatoon.
None of them have yet to make a public appearance in Regina. Scheer might have been in Regina since the election was called, since his riding is Regina-Qu’Appelle. And he’ll be in the riding for election night, which he no doubt hopes will be a night of celebration.
But he has not made public appearances to meet with the people of his own riding, or to campaign with other southern Saskatchewan candidates.
You might have expected to see Trudeau in Regina at some point, since one of his most trusted MPs and cabinet ministers, Ralph Goodale, has been the MP for Regina-Wascana. But an appearance by Trudeau might do more to hurt Goodale than help him, and given the fact that Goodale is actually in a battle this election to long onto his seat, Trudeau might have decided to stay clear.
As for Singh, he’s constantly touting the impact of medicare, so it’s surprising he’d avoid Saskatchewan, since former Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas brought universal healthcare to Regina.
On the other hand, Singh’s decision to punt Regina’s Erin Weir from the NDP’s caucus was panned in Regina, so maybe he should avoid the Queen City, too.
The Green Party’s Elizabeth May and the People’s Party of Canada’s Maxime Bernier had yet to show their faces in Saskatchewan during the campaign, as of Wednesday morning. May’s a champion of a carbon tax, which is a hindrance for this province. She has been focusing her attention on Green-friendly areas of the country.
Bernier was in Saskatchewan, and even better, in Souris-Moose Mountain, earlier in the summer. It’s surprising that he hasn’t been anywhere in Saskatchewan in this campaign, because this is one of the most conservative provinces in the country.
He’s been dedicating a lot of his time campaigning in his home riding of Beauce, as he tries to maintain the party’s presence in Parliament.
It’s disappointing that we’ve been snubbed during this campaign, but maybe it’s not surprising.
We know that the Conservatives are heavy favourites to retain the rural seats in the province, as well as the urban seats they hold. The Liberals will be happy to retain Goodale’s seat, and are gunning for the northern riding as well. The NDP will likely lose the seat they won in Regina last time.
So why would a party leader dedicate a lot of time to campaigning in Saskatchewan, when there are bigger battleground ridings out there.
Yes, it’s frustrating to see that Regina has been completely snubbed. It’s likely the only provincial capital in the country that has yet to receive a visit from a party leader.
And obviously we’d like to see one of the leaders visit Souris-Moose Mountain, or another rural Saskatchewan riding.
But until these races become more competitive, the shunning of Saskatchewan by federal party leaders is likely going to continue.
