Dear Editor
I've heard people say they don't vote because all politicians are the same. Wrong! Even if that means they are all bad, it's only common sense to admit some must be worse than others. I tend to veer in the opposite direction, assuming the vast majority of politicians are decent people trying to do the right thing as they see it. But there's the rub. Not everyone has the same idea of what the “right thing” is.
And that is where political parties come into play. Some are more ideological than others, but they each have a history that can help predict their priorities — the priorities that can determine how they will govern. I believe the Saskatchewan Party to be the most ideology-driven party in this election, and therefore the most predictable as to their priorities.
The Sask. Party is a relatively old party with a new name, with its roots in the former PC Party of Grant Devine, with a little addition from the Thatcher Liberal government of yore, both of very conservative beliefs, both which left government with a budget deficit. In the case of the Devine government, they left a deficit and total debt that greatly lowered the provincial credit rating and nearly put the Saskatchewan government into bankruptcy. Hence, the pressing need for those of that conservative bent to give their party a new name after the Devine era.
Boiled down to its essential elements, current ultra-conservative ideology has a very low opinion of government intervention in the economy, believing the less government involvement, the better, and that includes any government regulation of business. The belief is that if business is left to sort out things according to their own best interests, the economy will somehow prosper, with benefits even trickling down to workers and ordinary folk, eventually. For that reason, they are at war with labour unions, and will, as quietly as possible, try to undermine their ability to affect business. Social welfare ideas like government-funded medicare just don't fit in, so if faced with public medicare already in effect, private medicare should be introduced incrementally whenever possible.
Does that sound familiar? Now that our federal Conservative Harper government has fortunately become a memory, many commentators have pointed out we now have only one really ultra-conservative provincial government — the Wall government of Saskatchewan. It's time for a change here, too.
Russell Lahti
Battleford
