Saskatchewan residents will be casting their votes in Monday’s election as they decide who will form the next provincial government.
Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party is seeking a fifth-straight majority after 17 years in office, while Carla Beck’s NDP is looking to take back government for the first time since 2007.
Political experts say Moe is favoured to win, given his party’s strength in rural areas, but polls suggest a closer race.
Moe has promised broad tax relief and to continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa.
Beck has pledged to spend more to fix health care and education, pause the gas tax, and remove the provincial sales tax on children’s clothes and some grocery items.
Residents can cast their votes at polling stations throughout the province between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday, with counting to begin after polls close.
On Sunday in Regina, Beck told supporters she’s ready to deliver the change people are asking for.
“It’s time for a government that’s going to work with you, not for themselves,” said Beck, who would be the province’s first woman premier if her party wins.
“It’s time to fix health care here in the birthplace of medicare, it’s time to make life more affordable starting on day one.
“It’s time to invest in our kids, our most important resource, and make sure that they have the education that they need.
“And it’s time to get the economy back on track.”
Moe did not have any public events scheduled for Sunday.
But in Saskatoon on Saturday, Moe said incumbent governments have had it tough, and that his party is seeing similar challenges.
“That being said, we have 61 of the finest candidates that I certainly have met,” he told reporters.
Blaine Higgs’ New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives were defeated last week to Susan Holt’s Liberals. Higgs, who lost his own seat, was in power for six years.
Moe said he plans to create a brighter future for everyone.
“What we are focused on is forming a majority government,” he said.
Saskatchewan’s campaign has largely focused on health care, affordability and crime, though Moe raised the issue of school change rooms later in the race.
In his pledge, Moe said his first order of business if re-elected would be to ban “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls.”
He made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeast Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls change room. The pledge was not previously included in his party’s platform document.
A parent of the two children subject to the complaint is an NDP candidate. Moe has said he didn’t know that when he made the promise.
Beck has said the ban would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable. She’s also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names and pronouns at school.
Beck has said voters want the next government to deal with more pressing issues, including classroom sizes, fixing health care and being able to afford gas and groceries.
Beck says her promises are to cost an additional $3.5 billion over four years, with plans to cut what she calls Saskatchewan Party waste and to balance the budget by the end of her term.
Moe’s platform is to cost an additional $1.2 billion over four years. He says his tax reduction plan would save a family of four $3,400 over four years. It also includes tax credits for those looking to grow their families or put their children in sports and arts.
Moe has promised deficits in the first two years, followed by a surplus in 2027.
Polls have suggested a tightening race between both parties, but the breakdown on constituencies means an uphill fight for the NDP.
To win a majority in the 61-seat legislature, the NDP would need to sweep the 28 seats in the three largest cities — Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert — and hope for help elsewhere.
At dissolution, the governing Saskatchewan Party had 42 seats, while the Opposition NDP had 14. There were four Independents and one seat was vacant.
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