A friend of mine got me thinking about how dramatically lobbying has shifted in Saskatchewan.
At issue was an inquiry he had received from the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation about becoming a CTF member for its annual fee of $150. As a small businessman, he had been a member of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and supported his local Chamber of Commerce. Essentially, he was asking if there was any reason to join another lobbying group that seemed to share a similar right-of-centre perspective.
Admittedly, the CTF would take umbrage at any accusation that it is partisans in its work. Of the three, it certainly seems less directly connected to the Saskatchewan Party government. That said, it also seems that the CTF has been less critical of the Sask. Party administration (even when its been raising debt, spending big and handing out hefty wage settlements to unions like the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses) than it was of the former NDP administration.
Of course, both the CFIB and Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce also insist they, too, are removed from the partisan fray. However, if you look at the principal messages from the CFIB _ and even the close connection between the organizations past and present principals - it would lead one to conclude it's been significantly more supportive of the Sask. Party than critical. The same can be said at the chamber, whose recent "On Track" advertising campaign that nicely buttresses the Sask. Party's own messaging in the run up to the Nov. 7 vote.
But the point here isn't that lobbying organizations aren't quite as critical of governments they generally support (hardly news) or that they're already right-of-centre viewpoint may have shifted even further right. (Again, this is something less than shocking.)
My conversation with my business friend that had been solicited by the CTF morphed into a discussion about the roll of such lobby groups when he asked an intriguing question: "What's happened to government lobbyists on the left?"
It's an intriguing question and one that actually pre-dates current political situation so favourable to Premier Brad Wall's administration. Long before the arrival of the Sask. Party in 2007, the strongest voices of the left had fallen silent or morphed into something else.
Consider the changes. Where the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was less than two decades ago the strongest voice in Saskatchewan advocating a co-operative view and even using its publication the Western Producer to occasional do so, we now see Viterra that hardly shares the agenda. That leaves the highly marginalized National Farmers' Union as the left voice of agriculture - a group that has never been especially influential here.
It wasn't so long that the Wheat Pool view was buttressed by that of the Federated Co-ops, the co-operative movement and - to a lesser extent - the Credit Unions. But these days the Co-ops that are busy selling their Darian Durant Darios and Weston Dressler All-Dressler chips are too busy quietly making money these days to be politically active.
Gone is that co-operative view _ or it's at least you're less likely to hear it. Adding to the voice of the right-wing lobbyist is the rise in private talk radio in the last decade or so. While its news remains relatively unbiased, the same can't be said for its personalities who rail against the left and promote the government even more aggressively than the government does.
Of course, Saskatchewan labour remains loudly and aggressively opposed to this government. But because labour has taken on the role of the Sask. Party's political adversary, it's hardly even attempting to influence public opinion these days.
Any balance between right and left lobbyists has clearly shifted to the right.
Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics for over 15 years.
