An election has been called, and it seems that most people are trying to ignore it. Friends are demanding that I vote for the NDP, arguing that the Sask Party will be even worse. But I can’t vote for the NDP for a lot of reasons, a few of which are as follows:

(1) Resource policy. Accepting the policies of Grant Devine, they finished privatizing all the Crowns in the resource sector, and then they lowered the royalties even more, so that they are the lowest in the world. They subsidized Weyerhaeuser and supported clear cut logging.
    (2) Privatization. They privatized the natural gas industry, guaranteeing that this resource flows out to the United States while we now have no control over this resource on which we all depend, especially in winter. They started the privatization of Sask Power by contracting out new generating  facilities to private corporations based in Alberta.
    (3) Taxes. They followed the tax policies of Grant Devine and Ralph Klein and cut taxes on corporations and smaller businesses. The also cut income taxes for those in the highest brackets. They slashed grants to municipalities and school boards requiring increases in property taxes, which are regressive and fall heaviest on those least able to pay.
    (4) Agriculture. They have consistently backed agribusiness against farmers. They supported closing profitable grain elevators and abandoning railway branch lines. They backed the decision to transform the Wheat Pool into a private corporation, denying members a vote on the issue. They unilaterally abolished the hog marketing board and now subsidize corporate pig factories and feed lots. They have backed and supported the introduction of genetically engineered crops and told organic farmers to buzz off.
    (5) Climate change. They led the attack on the Kyoto Accord and strongly opposed any mandated limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Under the NDP government Saskatchewan had the highest increase in GHG emissions of any province in Canada.
    So if we believe the mass media, the only alternative we have is to vote for the Sask Party. But how can I do that when they stood shoulder to shoulder with the NDP on all the above policies? The NDP is the party of the Transnational Corporations, and the Sask Party is the party of small business.
    Well, there is the Liberal Party. The Weyburn-Big Muddy by-election indicated that many traditional NDP supporters are willing to vote Liberal out of disgust for the Calvert government. But the Liberals are floundering around. They used to be our party of business, but this role has been stolen by the NDP and the Sask Party. But at least David Karwacki is relatively harmless.

Stay home and not vote?
    The alternative is to stay home and not vote. That is becoming more popular than ever, in  the last two elections in Saskatchewan over 40% of eligible voters. It was 47% in the recent Ontario election. But for those of us who really believe in democracy, that is not an answer. It is the U.S. model, a return to the old liberal days when only white men with property could vote or run for office.
    So I will vote for the Green candidate. At least the Greens have a platform that T.C. Douglas could support, you know, “Humanity First” and “People before Profits.”
    The best outcome would be if not a single NDP or Sask Party candidate were elected. Think of the Legislative Assembly. No shouting insults back and forth. No sitting there reading the newspaper. No going to the bar while people are giving speeches. No throwing paper back and forth. We could take our kids to the place to show them how representative democracy could work. The Greens want to democratize the electoral and legislative process, and I am pretty sure the Liberals would agree. As the organized homeless street people in Seattle say, “Real Change! That’s what we need!”

John W. Warnock is a Regina political economist and long time political activist. He was on the provincial steering committee of the Saskatchewan Coalition for Social Justice during the Grant Devine years. He is not participating in this provincial election.

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