Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan election campaign to begin Tuesday

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says the federal government has been “absent” and failing to live up to commitments to First Nations on housing and clean water issues, and his government would step in and then send Ottawa the bill.

Rustad says if his party wins the Oct. 19 provincial election, B.C. would partner with First Nations and “unleash the potential” for prosperity through mining, forestry and other resource projects.

The B.C. Conservative Leader has previously pledged to repeal B.C. legislation adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and his party says in a release it would instead honour the declaration “as it was intended,” with laws advancing economic reconciliation and Indigenous autonomy.

Rustad, speaking in Cultus Lake, B.C., on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, says his government would create a loan guarantee program for First Nations to allow full participation in large projects.

He says he’s committed to returning 20 per cent of the province’s forestry volume to First Nations, who would be “landlords of that land” and reap the benefits rather than governments getting stumpage fees with only a fraction going to First Nations.

Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau meanwhile says B.C. has been a leader recognizing Indigenous rights, warning that some want to “undo that progress and go back to a paternalistic relationship” with First Nations.

She said in Victoria on Monday that governments need to abandon the past of “transactional approaches” to First Nations that she says have been “used to dispossess Indigenous peoples of land, culture and language, and move to relationships that are rooted in recognition of Aboriginal rights and title.”

The party leaders in B.C. all acknowledged Indigenous issues on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as the province’s election campaign entered its second week.

Furstenau said the Green party wants “ubiquitous” First Nations leadership in the province.

NDP Leader David Eby was attending a ceremony at the University of British Columbia marking the day.

Rustad, wearing an orange shirt pin on his lapel, was accompanied at Cultus Lake by Sq’ewlets First Nation Chief Joseph Chapman and Indigenous candidates Chris Sankey and A’aliya Warbus,

Rustad, a former minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, said provincial legislation had created “friction” with the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and his government would remove and replace laws that get in the way of full economic reconciliation.

Nominations for the election officially closed on Saturday, and with their teams of candidates in place, leaders are looking ahead to their upcoming televised debate.

The Oct. 8 debate will be one of the few occasions B.C. voters will see the leaders of the New Democrats, B.C. Conservatives and the Greens face each other during the campaign.

Eby and Rustad spent the first week of the campaign taking verbal personal swings at each other and criticizing their policies.

Eby said Rustad’s “conspiracy theory” anti-vaccine position could end up hurting people and the health care system, while Rustad said the NDP leader was damaging the province with weak leadership and left-wing viewpoints.

Elections BC said its final list of nominated candidates for the vote includes 93 from the NDP, 93 from the B.C. Conservatives, 69 from the Greens and 40 Independents.

The list from Elections BC does not contain any official Opposition BC United candidates but does include five Freedom Party of B.C. hopefuls, four Libertarians, three representing the Communist Party of B.C. and two candidates from the Christian Heritage Party of B.C.

— With files from Brenna Owen

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the leaders’ debate would take place on Oct. 9. In fact, it is scheduled to take place on Oct. 8.

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REGINA – With the writs expected to drop this week for the Saskatchewan general election, political experts say Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party is on track for a fifth majority government but will lose seats to Carla Beck’s NDP.

Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina, said recently Moe’s strength in the rural ridings should help him keep his job as premier when voters go to the polls on or before Oct. 28.

He said Beck could pick up seats in the province’s four largest cities — Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw — to significantly grow her Opposition ranks, but it will be an uphill battle to win a majority.

“It’s an odd election where I think everybody is pretty certain of the outcome. It’s just the exact nature of the seat split that is still a bit uncertain,” McIntosh said.

It takes 31 seats to win a majority government in Saskatchewan’s 61-seat legislature. There are 29 rural seats, 30 urban and two northern constituencies.

The NDP hold 14 seats and the Saskatchewan Party has 42. There are four independents and one seat is vacant.

This is Beck’s first attempt at the premier’s job, while Moe has held that position since 2018. The Saskatchewan Party has won four large consecutive majority governments since 2007.

Beck has said it’s time for change, promising to suspend the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax for six months and scrap the provincial sales tax from children’s clothes and ready-to-eat grocery items, while not raising other taxes.

Moe has touted his government’s record as one that has grown the economy, created jobs and increased the population.

Daniel Westlake, a political studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said the Saskatchewan Party is the favourite heading into the campaign. But he said there is still a path for the NDP.

He said if the NDP starts to campaign outside Saskatoon and Regina, that could show evidence of breakthroughs in Prince Albert and Moose Jaw.

“Can the NDP get out of Saskatoon and Regina? That’s the question,” he said.

Charles Smith, a professor of political studies at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, said it’s the first time in 17 years Saskatchewan has been in a competitive political environment.

He said support from the 29 rural seats gives the Saskatchewan Party better odds, but he’s also watching the right-of-centre Saskatchewan United Party, which could chip away at Moe’s support outside the cities.

He said the Saskatchewan United Party has already had some sway on the governing party. For example, the Saskatchewan United Party made pronoun use and sexual education at school an issue last year in a rural byelection en route to a second-place finish behind the Saskatchewan Party.

Soon after, Moe introduced rules requiring parental consent for children under 16 wanting to change their names or pronouns at school.

Moe has also warned about splitting the vote on the right.

“The concern on the right is you’ll get a 2015 repeat of what happened in Alberta,” Smith said.

That year, Rachel Notley’s NDP formed a majority as the then-Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties split the vote in multiple constituencies.

McIntosh said he isn’t sure the Saskatchewan United Party can pull enough support away from the Saskatchewan Party for the NDP to come up the middle.

“They would have to have a massive surge in support, which I’ve not seen any indication of in any of the polling,” he said.

He said if the Saskatchewan Party forms a smaller and mostly rural government caucus, divisions in the province will intensify.

“That just poses a host of challenges and issues for what the priorities are,” he said.

“Who gives a voice to the large cities in a government that has very little representation in those cities?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2024.

OTTAWA – The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight a rise in hate crimes targeting multiple communities.

Diversity Minister Kamal Khera released the Action Plan on Combatting Hate last week, which aims to co-ordinate how various departments promote diversity and prevent violent incidents and speech online targeting minorities.

Khera said the funding is needed because Statistics Canada is reporting an increase in hate crimes involving Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ+ people and other communities.

“Whether it is online or on our streets, hateful words (and) actions are having a devastating impact on our communities and our entire country, whether it is our mosques being attacked, communities being divided or even losing loved ones,” she said outside a mosque in Brampton, Ont.

She noted the arrest last week of a London, Ont. man whom police say had verbally harassed a woman wearing an Islamic headscarf and brandished a knife. A self-described white nationalist in that same southwestern Ontario city murdered four members of a Muslim family in 2021 in what a judge ruled to be an act of terrorism.

“We cannot allow hate to go unchecked; the cost of inaction is far too great,” Khera said.

The action plan released last Tuesday details how Ottawa intends to spend the $273.6 million the Liberals allocated in this April’s budget for various programs, over the course of six years.

Khera said that allocation includes a $65 million top-up to a fund that helps community institutions and religious centres cover the cost of installing cameras or hiring security guards. She noted Ottawa has increased the annual amount of cash institutions can apply for, such as those who feel it’s necessary to get round-the-clock security.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the extra cash for security is “very welcome as many institutions have been stretched beyond capacity,” noting Jewish schools have been shot at, synagogues have been vandalized and Jewish businesses have been set ablaze.

Tuesday’s action plan largely reiterates work that federal departments and agencies are already doing, with the idea of creating consultation panels that can spot gaps in laws and programs or address barriers to implementing an existing Anti-Racism Strategy.

It listed various programs helping anti-racism organizations to monitor and combat online hatred, as well as training for Crown prosecutors on “the unique dynamics of hate crimes.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2024

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