Saskatchewan political parties duel it out for votes in a slew of ads

REGINA – Since the election began, voters have probably noticed an abundance of political commercials.

By law, each party can spend a maximum of $1.06 million on the campaign.

A large chunk of that is expected to go toward political advertising with aims of targeting voters.

The province’s two largest parties haven’t shied away from using negative attack ads.

The Sask Party has been running an advertisement, “The NDP Record of Decline” questioning the years of NDP governments before the Sask Party formed government in 2007.

“It really plays to the Sask Party’s base. In rural Saskatchewan in particular, it was hit hardest by the NDP government and hospital closures and all the things spoken in the ads,” Leader-Post political columinst Murray Mandryk said.

However, the NDP has been running ads such as “They Flew It away” and “Our healthcare is just not their priority” questioning what the Sask Party did with the province’s resource wealth and lamenting the Sask Party’s handling of the province’s finances during an economic boom and record commodity prices.

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“It does fit in well with an NDP theme that you just made too much of a mess of things when you had all these resources and wasted too much money,” Mandryk added.

It hasn’t been all negative. Both parties have recently launched ads featuring their leaders in a positive light.

And then there’s the other parties such as the Green Party of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Liberals and the PC Party of Saskatchewan who have less money to compete on the airwaves.

“I think they’re trying to do their best in terms of working with that they have,” Mandryk said.

The most recent poll shows the NDP has made some ground, but the Sask Party still has a large lead especially in rural Saskatchewan.

For voters, it means expect more ads as parties fight for votes right up until election day on April 4.