Thursday night in Swift Current, five candidates vying for the premiership squared off in their first debate as candidates. The topics ran the gamut from PST to marijuana, with some candidates taking stances against standing policies and others appearing to want to follow in Premier Brad Wall’s footsteps.
Political columnist Murray Mandryk said the candidates were largely in agreeance with each other, due probably to the format and the fact that they were on Brad Wall’s home turf.
“But this is the problem in the party debate overall. No one really wants to sway too far from Brad Wall policy, even though there’s probably even party members, as there is in the general public, that sit back and say ‘why do we have such a mess with the debt? With budgets that aren’t balanced? With the resource shortfall? Why are we having such a mess with the bypass and the GTH in Regina? What about the social programs?’” Mandryk said Friday.
As for the importance of this first debate, Mandryk said it’s not vital in the grand scheme.
“I don’t think this is a race on policy. I really don’t. I think it’s going to be a race a bit on personality and a bit on gut instinct as to who’s going to carry out the best legacy of the Sask. Party,” he said.
Here’s a look at what the candidates said about various topics Thursday night.
PST
Tina Beaudry-Mellor said she was the first candidate to reinstate PST exemptions, while Ken Cheveldayoff and Alanna Koch both said they would look at reinstating the exemptions. Koch said more analysis needs to be done. Scott Moe talked about reinstating the exemptions on crop and life insurance and Gordon Wyant said he’s prepared to reinstate the exemptions and make it retroactive.
Budget and deficit
The candidates all agreed that the budget must be balanced. Moe, Cheveldayoff and Wyant are keen on sticking to Wall’s three-year plan to balance the budget, while Koch wants four years and Beaudry-Mellor says no more than five.
Impaired driving
Scott Moe admitted he was a statistic around 25 years ago, when he was convicted of impaired driving and said we need tougher laws and that the culture around drinking and driving in Saskatchewan needs to change.
Beaudry-Mellor took a hard stance and called for zero tolerance, “not two, three drinks.” She said that last fall’s measures were an important step and likes a credit system.
Cheveldayoff and Wyant both agreed that education was a key piece in the discussion.
Koch praised Brad Wall, saying he has brought in a lot of change and congratulated Joe Hargrave for his efforts as minister of SGI. She too agreed that more must be done.
Marijuana legalization
Candidates were concerned about the timing of the federal legislation coming down. Cheveldayoff said he dislikes the federal government “hoisting” the responsibilities onto the province and said he’s concerned about pot in schools and workplaces. He wants the legal age to be as high as possible. Moe doesn’t agree with the proposed sharing of taxation and that the province needs more time.
Koch said that premiers have asked for a delay, but the federal government just keeps pushing ahead, leaving provinces to scramble to put something together. She doesn’t think they’ll have the best system in place but says that she’ll take advice from the consultation.
Wyant echoed his colleagues, saying there isn’t enough time to do it right.
Beaudry-Mellor was hopeful that by legalizing marijuana, people would not be exposed to as many hard drugs. She proposed having the same legal age as alcohol and again, zero tolerance for driving under its influence.
The next Sask. Party debate will be on October 26 in Melfort.
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