The recent provincial debate had two men on stage, Brad Wall and Cam Broten. This does reflect what was the makeup of recently dissolved legislature, which contained only Wall’s Sask Party and Broten’s NDP, so some might suggest that this is fair enough and an accurate representation of who people will actually be voting for in April. However, looking at who is on the ballots, we should open it up more.
In this election there are three parties running a full slate of candidates, the Liberal Party being the one omitted from the leadership debate. The Green Party got close to that number, and had a full slate of candidates lined up before three had to drop out of the race due to nomination problems. It can be argued that it’s very unlikely that either party will get a seat in the legislature this April, but that’s a given, they’re not given the same amount of attention as the big two in the province.
But why not give time to the other parties? They went through the effort of getting names on the ballot everywhere, people can vote for them. Federally, we’ve given debate positions to the Bloc Quebecois, and the majority of Canadians can’t vote for that party, as it will never leave Quebec. Everyone in the province has a chance to vote Liberal, even if most of us won’t, shouldn’t they be given a place on the stage to convince the electorate that’s a good idea?
It’s a question of fairness, rather than expression of support. Here in Yorkton, we have four names on the ballot. The recent All Candidates Forum only saw two of the men in question actually show up, but all four were invited. That makes sense, all four are putting their name forward, and as a result all four should be given an equal chance to speak about the issues important to people in the region. If they don’t want to take that chance, that’s not a very smart move on their part, but the Chamber of Commerce, who was the host, does the right thing by extending an invitation to everyone running.
An invitation refused is very different from an invitation that was never actually given, and that is part of the problem with the absent parties at the leadership debate. Unlike the absent local candidates, they didn’t get an invite. Broten and Wall are naturally going to be the main focus, representing the parties in the legislature, but they are not the only provincial leaders. Everyone in Saskatchewan can vote for Darrin Lamoureux’s Liberal Party, why not put him on stage as well? While Victor Lau’s Green Party wasn’t able to get all of their nominees on the ballot, they did get close, why not consider putting him in the mix? If everyone can vote for them, everyone should be able to hear what they have to say, and decide if they actually want to vote for them.
Which is not an endorsement of either party, it’s an endorsement for the agency of us, the people who are making decision about who gets a seat in the legislature. Giving the chance for everyone to get their message out means that the voters know who they like, who they agree with, and who they think would make the best person to represent them in the legislature. Voters deserve the chance to see what candidates have to offer them, so why not add any party with a full slate of candidates to a leadership debate? This year, it would be a field of three or four, depending on how you decide who gets an invite, which is hardly an unmanageable number of voices. There is no good reason to omit the leaders of these smaller parties.
So how do we decide who gets an invite? Most voters have no real interest in hearing from people they can’t actually vote for, after all. To keep it relevant, it should be limited to party leaders who the vast majority of the province will see on their ballot, somewhere over 75 per cent of the population I would argue. Keeping it limited to parties that the majority of the province can vote for also keeps the fringe parties off of the slate, since they rarely can hit a full slate, but still allows for mistakes that inevitably occur in the nomination process.
There are 268 people in Saskatchewan running for office, breaking a record set in 1982. Each of them deserve the chance to make their case to voters of their respective ridings. You can’t force them to take that chance, as has been proven in Yorkton, but they still deserve the option. When a party puts a name forth in every riding in the province, they should have the chance to put their leader before every person who could theoretically support them. No matter who people decide to support this April, it’s only fair they get all the information they need to make up their mind and support the best candidate for them. If one rejects a small party, it should be because they do not agree with their policies, their leaders or their local candidate. It should not be because they didn’t have the chance to hear their message in the first place.
