The Saskatchewan Liberals will focus their provincial election campaign on the Battlefords in an all-out effort to regain a presence in the legislature.
That is the word from Ryan Bater, Liberal leader, who spoke to the News Optimist Tuesday.
"The Liberal Party is targeting the Battlefords, there's no question about that," said Bater.
Bater said he will focusing his own personal efforts on winning a seat in the riding where he ran last time. Unlike past elections where the Liberal leader would run a full-fledged campaign across the province, Bater says he will be spending most of the fall provincial campaign at home in the Battlefords.
He'll be trying to win back a riding that former Liberal MLA Jack Hillson represented from 1996 until the 2003 election, the year the Liberals were wiped off the political map in the province.
Bater noted the challenges the party faced with no seat in the legislature, and says it is vital for the party for that to change.
"It is very important that we walk away in this election with a seat," said Bater.
But beyond what it will mean for the Liberal party, Bater said "it is important for the whole province to have a third party in the debate."
"It doesn't serve the public good very well to have only two points of view in the legislature," said Bater, who expressed the view that policies should have the utmost scrutiny before they are implemented.
"More opposition, more debate is a good thing for Saskatchewan."
The Liberal leader also plans to make the pitch this fall to Battlefords voters that they should send a party leader to the legislature.
"It's the first time in history a leader of any party has run here," said Bater, who said the election represents an opportunity for the Battlefords. "We've never had that chance before."
Bater said that unlike other parties who would take their party's platform and sell them to the community, as leader he can take the community and sell it to the party.
"The Liberal party platform will be a direct result of my experiences here," said Bater.
He adds that having just one Liberal in the legislature will mean influence in the legislature and pointed for inspiration to the experiences of two previous Liberal leaders, Ralph Goodale and Lynda Haverstock, for having "a tremendous impact" in Saskatchewan.
"One person can make a difference if that person's in a leadership position," said Bater, "because when something comes up on an issue of importance the provincial media will go to party leaders for comment."
"I'm guaranteeing the Battlefords a seat in every single debate that goes on in Saskatchewan," said Bater.
It seems increasingly likely, though, that Bater will be one lonely Liberal if he is elected.
Polls have put the party at under 5 percent support in the province and nominations for Liberal candidates have lagged well behind the Saskatchewan Party, NDP and even the Greens.
Bater all but confirmed that in several ridings the Liberals would likely not have a name on the ballot - a major departure from past elections.
"It's not likely we would have a full slate of candidates," said Bater.
He said it is not a priority of the party to go out and find 58 candidates to run in every riding, and the party will not be running "parachute" or "paper" candidates to fill the gaps. The priority is to focus on where the leader is running, said Bater, which is why his time has been spent in the Battlefords.
The Liberal leader expects candidates to start being nominated soon and said he plans to be in Saskatoon to "sign nomination papers" next week. As well, Bater expects to line up a slate of candidates in the Northwest region as well.
Bater himself is not yet officially nominated, but that is a mere "formality" in his case and he says the Liberals will be holding a kickoff event for his campaign in the Battlefords. That will likely take place sometime closer to the date when the writ is dropped.
The other candidates in place are NDP incumbent Len Taylor, Saskatchewan Party challenger Herb Cox and Green Party candidate Owen Swiderski.
As far as their own efforts this summer to get out their party's message, Bater has taken to putting signs up outside the Liberals' North Battleford office on 100th Street with inspirational messages. He calls the sign messages "low-tech Twitter."
Bater also has focused on social media, which includes a real Twitter account and Facebook page, to get his message across.
One of the things Bater has been doing through this year is producing videos on YouTube, which have focused on various issues of importance to the Liberals.
"Last spring, we were sort of brainstorming," said Bater. "When you are a party without a seat in the legislature it's sort of difficult to get the same kind of media attention that the other parties would do on a provincial scale."
"How can we get our message to people?" said Bater.
Bater said it struck him one night when he turned on the computer that he gets pretty much all his information online. While surfing YouTube videos one night he thought "wait a minute, we should be on YouTube."
Some video equipment was purchased, and the videos were put together relatively quickly. Bater said they were produced right in North Battleford.
Given the tight financial resources at the Liberals' disposal, YouTube has proven a novel way for the Liberals to get their message out, according to Bater.
"Aside from the initial cost of the equipment, it's free," said Bater, who said the videos give the Liberals an opportunity to explain their policies in more detail. The Liberal leader also noted the videos had an "interactive" element because people could post comments about them.
The videos have proven to be well received, says the party leader.
"It's been a very successful experiment," said Bater, who noted the party plans to produce more YouTube videos in the coming weeks.
"It'll be a big part of our campaign here."
Part of the reason for the focus on social media is necessity. The Liberals do not have the kind of TV budgets the NDP and Saskatchewan Party have, and also don't have access to public funds, said Bater.
"Everything we do is volunteer driven," said Bater.
Despite the challenges the party has faced, the fixed election date of Nov. 7 has proven to be one thing that has made it "a lot easier" when it comes to election planning, said Bater.
"With a fixed election date, there's no guessing," said Bater, who said there is still a good month of pre-writ activity ahead in advance of what is expected to be a competitive election for his party in the Battlefords.
