Mandryk: Beck, Moe open 2024 election campaign rather cautiously

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It appears the 2024 Saskatchewan election campaign has unofficially started … politely, cautiously, conservatively and even somewhat comically.

That comical element might stick around for the next two months, but don’t anticipate either the Saskatchewan Party or the NDP to remain polite. Nor will they likely be cautious or conservative.

This initial dipping of the big toe in 2024 election waters is largely about both major parties first addressing perceived shortcomings. One or both are likely to make a much bigger splash before the Oct. 28 votes are counted.

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On Thursday, NDP Leader Carla Beck kicked off her campaign in Saskatoon by promising that, if elected, an NDP government would not increase any taxes and would not proceed with the increase of the small business tax that the Sask. Party government proposes for next July.

“It’s needed. It’s a way to both offer some assurances and create some excitement that we are serious about delivering on these issues,” Beck said in a recent interview.

It’s not exactly the kind of news that causes a hardboiled newsman to holler “Stop the press!”

“No tax increase, period”? It’s really a bit chuckle-worthy. Has any party ever said at the start of a campaign that it was going to raise your taxes?

Then again, it’s probably wise for the NDP to offer signals of fiscal and political prudence.

The biggest reason then-leader Ryan Meili and the NDP couldn’t get traction in the 2020 election had to do with the NDP presenting a big-spending platform that would have added $2.14 billion to government costs without doing much for the average Joe.

In fact, the biggest problem for Beck — who is strangely losing popularity and trust, especially in rural Saskatchewan, according to the Angus Reid Institute’s latest poll — may be distrust in areas like taxes.

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Beck said her first campaign choice arose out of carefully listening to what voters have been telling her on the doorsteps and then weighing her options against what is affordable and responsible.

“There will be a platform and it will be fully costed. Our numbers have been checked and double-checked,” she said. “We looked at this from many angles. We can actually deliver on this. It’s what’s needed.”

She has shunned more eye-catching initiatives like a provincial sales tax cut, a provincial gas tax cut (the NDP already proposed a six-month lift) or even a reassessment of unfair potash royalties proposed by not only former NDP finance minister Eric Cline but even Saskatchewan United Party Leader Jon Hromek.

But Beck is betting on fiscal responsibility paying dividends.

“I don’t want to just grab attention,” she said. “It means a lot to me that what we say is what are actually going to be able to do.”

At least she offered a full campaign announcement, rather than 80 per cent of one.

On Wednesday, Premier Scott Moe held a news conference to announce the Regina General Hospital parkade was 80-per-cent complete. Stay tuned for updates, folks. We may one day hit 85 per cent completion. Or even higher.

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Moe’s something-less-than-news conference quickly became a social media gag (especially among NDP supporters oblivious to the fact that Regina has been in dire need of this parking facility for 30 years, since the government’s 1993 closure of the Plains Health Centre on the outskirts of the city).

But the reality is that this campaign announcement (yes, officially it was a government announcement, but even government announcements usually aren’t this dopey) was to cautiously address a couple of Sask. Party problems.

Again, according that Angus Reid poll, the collapse of the urban vote (especially in Regina) and failure to address the health system are the Sask. Party’s biggest problems.

But, like Beck, Moe has plenty of time to make bigger campaign splashes after the election is called.

After all, campaigns have to start somewhere. Sometimes, that somewhere is a safe, cautious place.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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