聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 About the last thing either the province or the Saskatchewan Party need right now is more division.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 While one might think tough economic times bring people together, they sometimes really don鈥檛.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Tough economic times mean tough choices for a provincial government that鈥檚 already talking about 鈥渢ransformational change.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Exactly what the government means by 鈥渢ransformational change鈥� is anyone鈥檚 guess at this point, but most will recognize it likely means more bickering over keeping what we already enjoy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This takes us to the latest indication of division, which is a poll done by Mainstreet Research for Postmedia (the owner of two major daily newspapers).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The survey shows that the Saskatchewan Party still has a commanding 53 per cent of the popular vote provincewide, which is the kind of public support that most other governing parties can only dream of. Remember: This is the beginning of the third term of a government that achieved the near impossible of getting that third term. Only Co-operative Commonwealth Federation or NDP governments had accomplished that in the past century.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What the survey shows, however, is that Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 government is now running behind the NDP in Regina where New Democrats have 52 per cent support among divided votes, compared with 39 per cent for the Saskatchewan Party.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Again, there is obviously no need for Wall and the Saskatchewan Party to hit the panic button yet.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Regina only represents a mere 11 of the province鈥檚 61 seats. At 39 per cent, were an election held today, the Saskatchewan Party would still likely win between three to five of those Regina seats (depending on how the vote split worked).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, the Saskatchewan Party is still running ahead in Saskatoon, which has 14 seats, and far, far ahead in 30 rural seats.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Still, it鈥檚 hard to ignore both the Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 overall provincewide support is down from the 60 per cent it received in the April 4 vote or the even more dramatic drop in Regina.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even harder to ignore is the likely reasons behind it, or those deepening divisions we have seen in Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This has been a summer of discontent for Wall鈥檚 forces that really began with the Provincial Auditor鈥檚 report on both the Regina by-pass and Global Transportation Hub that illustrated highly questionable management practices of both former highways minister Nancy Heppner and former GTH/economy minister Bill Boyd (but it should be noted that by no small coincidence, both have now left Wall鈥檚 cabinet.)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Added to the mix is the party鈥檚 handling of the Husky pipeline spill into the North Saskatchewan River and the racial tensions with First Nations that, sometimes unfairly, are blamed on the government of the day.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now, throw in the talk of privatizing SaskTel, which is something Wall said he would consider if he received an offer that was large enough to eliminate the operating debt that鈥檚 now pegged at $4.1 billion.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This cuts closer in Regina, where SaskTel鈥檚 head office and most of its jobs are located.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 also another thing that has brought home the fiscal reality for a lot more people鈥� and perhaps a sense that Wall and his Saskatchewan Party government weren鈥檛 nearly as clear with the public about what they had in mind as they should have been.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Finally, another social issue in play seems to be Don McMorris鈥檚 recent charge for drunk driving.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 With a Mainstreet poll stating that 80 per cent of people have likely driven drunk, this isn鈥檛 as divisive an issue as perhaps it should be.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What鈥檚 more troubling for the Saskatchewan Party in this poll is that 68 per cent of people suggested McMorris shouldn鈥檛 run again.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The survey results also showed that one in every five people in this province still feel that it鈥檚 okay to drive drunk if it鈥檚 only for a short distance.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This would seem to suggest another clear division between urban and rural people.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It may be one more divide in a province that鈥檚 showing a lot of signs of division鈥� which is never a good thing for a government.
