Saskatchewan NDP touts no-new-taxes pledge on eve of election call

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP is touting its economic proposals on the eve of Tuesday’s expected election call, promising to ease the burden on taxpayers if elected.

“Here is the thing: we do not have a revenue problem in Saskatchewan; we have a management problem,” party leader Carla Beck said in prepared remarks to the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce last week.

“This government has jacked up taxes and fees, but where has the money gone?”

Beck said in a Q&A with Chamber of Commerce CEO Prabha Ramaswamy that an NDP government would cancel an increase to the province’s small business tax set for next year.

The NDP has also said it will suspend Premier Scott Moe’s 15-cent-per-litre gas tax on its first day in office, taking a page from Manitoba’s NDP Premier Wab Kinew, who rolled out a popular fuel tax holiday at the start of the year.

Beck signed a placard at an August pre-campaign event promising not to raise taxes on individuals or businesses, and has said that an NDP government would pay for the spending measures in its platform by growing the province’s economy and finding efficiencies in governance.

The Opposition leader’s tax pledge was applauded by the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Beck has also called for the federal carbon tax to be scrapped.

Saskatchewan NDP campaign director Cheryl Oates told the National Post that the party’s taxpayer-friendly platform reflects Beck’s collaborative style of leadership.

“(Beck) has been listening to people and putting forth solutions that are not just based in ideology,” Oates said in an interview.

Oates, who previously served as an adviser to then Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, noted that provincial New Democrat parties in the Prairies have tended to be practical rather than ideological.

“The approach of (the NDP) in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is very pragmatic,” said Oates.

Shannon Phillips, an ex-Alberta NDP MLA and strategist, said that prairie pragmatism could be a winning formula for federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

“It’s not at all clear to me why the path that’s now resonating (with voters) in Western Canada can’t resonate with the rest of the country,” Phillips said on Monday.

Phillips added that Singh has the advantage of talking about affordability “from a New Democrat lens that guards against cuts to public services.”

Health care and education will both be major issues in Saskatchewan’s election, according to recent polls. Beck has notably promised to inject $2 billion of new spending into K-12 education if elected premier.

A disturbing attack at a Saskatoon high school earlier this month, in which a 15-year-old girl was set on fire by a classmate, raised concerns about a lack of adult supervision in the province’s school system.

Premier Moe said in a video message on Monday evening that he’d issue the writ on Tuesday to officially start the campaign.

Moe, first elected in 2011, has been premier since 2018 and led the Saskatchewan Party to a fourth consecutive majority in 2020.

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