One door opened while another door closed last week for Ryan Bater and his Liberal campaign.
The door that opened was the one to his 101st Street campaign office in the old Craig's building Friday evening, as a good turnout of local Liberals gathered for the grand opening.
The door that closed was the one to the provincial televised leaders' debate set for Oct. 25. The broadcast consortium of CBC, CTV and Global opted to invite Premier Brad Wall of the Saskatchewan Party and opposition leader Dwain Lingenfelter from the NDP - and no one else from any of the other parties.
The news was not a surprise to Bater.
"The fix has been in for quite some time," said the Liberal leader. "The other parties have been lobbying to exclude us from the debate for the better part of nine months."
He believes part of the reason for the exclusion might be because he hasn't "played the Regina game" as he put it, moving his party's office to North Battleford.
"The biggest disappointment is for the public. It's the public that really loses out here," said Bater.
This would have been an opportunity for people to hear other points of view and find out what their alternatives are, he said.
As to whether the decision to exclude the Liberals could be changed, Bater said, "it's not really up to me, it's up to the public if there is a reversal of the decision."
The news was possibly a blow to a Liberal campaign that appears to be waving the white flag everywhere except the Battlefords.
Only six Liberal candidates were confirmed in the province's 58 ridings as of early this week, compared to full slates already in place for the Saskatchewan Party, the NDP and the Green Party. While more Liberal candidates are still expected, Bater has confirmed the provincial party will not run a full slate.
Last week did begin on a more promising note for Bater, though, as he unveiled both his platform and his slate of five Saskatoon candidates during a leaders' speech in Saskatoon Oct. 11.
The platform unveiled includes the most eye-catching policy of their campaign so far - a commitment to lower the provincial sales tax to three per cent.
"We heard loud and clear from small business that the provincial sales tax is a deterrent. We have a lot of leakage to Alberta because of our close proximity," said Bater. "Reducing the PST was a big issue for us."
The Liberal platform released calls for the province's debt to be paid off, followed by the lowering of the PST to three per cent as well as 50 per cent of all non-renewable resource revenues to be put into the Saskatchewan Future Fund, a new sovereign wealth fund idea.
The platform also calls for making mental health and addictions a priority including "an actual investment in Saskatchewan Hospital," according to Bater, the creation of a senior and elder caregiver benefit, a stepped up commitment to education, the reform of Enterprise Saskatchewan to a more grassroots-based approach and a reduction in student debt burdens.
The party is also proposing a feed-in tariff that will allow rural residents to invest in renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and contribute to provincial energy production.
Bater touts the Liberal platform as having its roots in the Battlefords.
"Every idea in the platform came from this community, and that's the advantage of electing a leader," said Bater.
When the Liberals were not busy pitching their own policy ideas, they were also busy taking aim at policies of the other parties. Bater took direct shots at the NDP for policy announcements that party made during their Battlefords leaders' tour visit last week.
In a party news release issued Wednesday, Bater blasted the NDP on the issue of mental health care and dismissed the NDP's Battlefords campaign office opening event as a "pep-rally." He suggested NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter and MLA Len Taylor "go down to the Saskatchewan Hospital and talk to the staff and patients. After having spent years in cabinet and having done nothing to improve the conditions there, they certainly have some explaining to do."
The Liberals also derided the NDP for a policy announcement made Thursday at Red Pheasant First Nation, where Lingenfelter expressed the NDP's commitment to sharing resource royalty revenues with First Nations. Bater dismissed the plan as a "last ditch effort to buy votes" and "pandering."
"They want to bribe taxpayers with their own money," said Bater of the other party platforms. "We're not playing that game - we're doing things differently. We're doing things honestly."
He notes the Liberals were the only party committed to reducing spending, with their plan calling for an $880 million reduction, while increasing spending in important areas like mental health care and education.
Bater spent part of last Friday at a forum put on by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation in Saskatoon where he talked about issues relating to education. He then made his way to his campaign office grand opening in North Battleford. There, he greeted party faithful and delivered a speech touching on the familiar Liberal themes and policies of the campaign, including his continuing pitch that the Battlefords has an opportunity to send a leader to the legislature and "change the political dynamic in Saskatchewan."
"Today is about getting the ground work going," Bater said Friday to the News-Optimist.
"From now on its about continuing the door knocking, which I have been doing for the last two years, continuing to reach out to voters here and spreading our message throughout the Battlefords."
The campaign event was held just before many of those in attendance made their way to the United Way's Comedy Night fundraiser, which Bater also attended.
He planned to keep hitting the streets directly this week and gave the impression he was not going to let the Liberals' exclusion from the TV debate deter him in getting his message out.
"The real debate is on the doorstep and that where we're going to be taking it in the Battlefords," said Bater.
