Sep 08, 2024 - 12:23
By cbc.ca

Sask. NDP's election promises borrow from Wab Kinew's winning Manitoba campaign

The NDP in Saskatchewan, if elected this fall, say they will temporarily ditch the provincial gas tax, launch a school nutrition program, provide rebates for households to buy security equipment and go after the «unexplained wealth» of organized criminals.

That's on top of promises the Opposition party has made to be tough-on-crime and hold the line on taxes.

If those pledges sound familiar to Manitobans, that's because all of them could be found in the playbook the Manitoba NDP successfully deployed last year, when the party wrested power from the Progressive Conservatives in a convincing election victory.

Christopher Adams, a political scientist in Manitoba, said the Saskatchewan NDP, under leader Carla Beck, is looking to emulate its neighbour's success.

«I mean, it'd be foolish if they didn't look at the Manitoba NDP for some examples of how to run a good campaign,» he said.

«The NDP in October last year … ran, I would say, one of the most successful campaigns I've seen in Manitoba in decades.»

The New Democrats sailed to victory last fall, winning 34 of the province's 57 seats — nearly doubling the party's pre-election count and almost wiping the governing Progressive Conservatives off the electoral map in Winnipeg. The NDP added another seat in a June byelection, taking the riding that had been held by former Manitoba PC leader Heather Stefanson.

Nearly a year after the election, Premier Wab Kinew has made progress on a number of election promises, while enjoying the approval of nearly two-thirds of Manitobans, according to recent polling — the highest tally of any premier in the country.