Beyond everything else in the world right now, in Saskatchewan we’re gearing up for two elections, which will be held back-to-back, for the Government of Saskatchewan as well as various City and Town councils.
Having both the Province and the City go to the polls at roughly the same time could easily be overwhelming to voters, as they have to keep an entirely separate list of candidates and concerns in their mind as they head to the polls.
It could be interesting to see if the local and provincial concerns start to overlap as the election goes on. Will some municipal candidates use their platforms to try to call provincial candidates to account? After all, you can’t talk to a Saskatchewan mayor without them bringing up infrastructure funding, and with a larger platform coinciding with a different election, you might see more mayors bring up things that they want voters to talk to provincial candidates about. It will be interesting to see if there’s a major campaign overlap in issues because of the overlapping campaigns.
In each area of the province, it’s easy to imagine which issues are going to be given greater weight because they’re falling under both jurisdictions that are up for election, and how that interplay could affect voters.
In Yorkton, for example, there’s York Road. While there is currently ongoing construction on York Road, there is a definite feeling among regular users that it needs to have an extensive revamp. This is an issue that crosses over between jurisdictions, since the road is part of the Saskatchewan Urban Highway Connector program. The program itself is due for an update in 2021, according to the Government of Saskatchewan’s website. Given the sheer number of people who use York Road and the amount of semi traffic it sees, maintenance for York Road is definitely on the minds of people in the city. With the Minister of Highways and Infrastructure being the MLA for Yorkton, and Mayor and Council of Yorkton under constant pressure about the road, suddenly we have a situation where a very local concern - one road at the north of one city, albeit a very important road - will suddenly become one of provincial concern. Because of overlapping campaign concerns, it’s going to make upcoming plans and updates to the program take precedence for local voters, because it’s something everyone up for election has a stake in.
While there are definitely other provincial concerns, and other municipal concerns, few overlap to the same degree. Locally, talk of a new hospital is largely a provincial matter, while talk of a new ice surface is going to be focused on the municipality, while there are funding expectations on both sides they’re driven by one or the other. But when you have an issue that involves the interaction of the City and the Province, suddenly you have an issue that is going to be prominent just because of the overlap, amplified by two voices talking about it at the same time.
After all, other cities have their own York Roads, very local concerns that will, nonetheless, have knock-on effects for other jurisdictions - Yorkton isn’t the only city with an urban connector. With the two elections overlapping, it will be interesting to see just how many local issues become provincial ones.
