The first four months of the third term in power have not been kind to the Saskatchewan Party.
The economy continues to clunk along, thanks to the struggles of the oil and gas sector and the potash mining industry. Low resource revenues meant the government posted a deficit during the 2015-16 fiscal year, although any government would have had a deficit during that 12-month span.
Then they released a 2016-17 budget that had, what else, a deficit, but it also didn’t have any tax increases, which tempered the anger that the Sask. Party would have faced from the public. Deficits are bad; tax increases are worse.
The Husky Energy oil spill has also been problematic. Premier Brad Wall has been an articulate and convincing proponent for pipelines. But he’s been forced to react to an oil spill that poisoned water and inconvenienced the lives of tens of thousands of people.
The government has also had the controversy associated with the Global Transportation Hub land deal lingering in recent months.
The latest issue is the revelation that Don McMorris has been charged with impaired driving. McMorris, who was one of the Sask. Party’s top MLAs, promptly resigned from the caucus, and stepped down from his cabinet posts and his role as the deputy premier.
Wall and McMorris have both handled the impaired driving situation well. Wall has not held back in his criticism of McMorris, who is a friend. And McMorris has been quick to admit his blunder and seek help.
A lot of people are speculating that this could be Wall’s last term as premier, that he might step down sometime in 2017, leaving the party enough time to find a suitable premier before the 2020 provincial election.
Some hope, or fantasize, that Wall will take a run at federal politics, and dethrone Justin Trudeau as the prime minister. That’s not happening. A more likely situation is Wall eventually steps down, and reaps the benefits of being one of Canada’s top premiers in the last 25 years, by taking some prestigious corporate board appointments.
But he won’t leave the Sask. Party in a precarious position. If the Sask. Party’s struggles continue into next year or even 2018, then perhaps Wall will stick around through the end of this term, and lead them to another election victory. Certainly, Wall would like to leave politics when the party, and the province, are in good shape.
Every government is going to have blunders, scandals and problems to resolve. The Sask. Party has done a good job of navigating through those potential minefields. And the people have rewarded the party by handing them the two most convincing electoral majorities in the province’s history.
(The opposition New Democratic Party has certainly contributed to the Sask. Party’s landslide triumphs).
The good news for the Sask. Party is they have 3 1/2 years to recover from the last four months.
