In a year dominated by a global pandemic, it鈥檚 almost as if we鈥檝e forgotten that we had a historic election.
Yes, the Saskatchewan Party win on October 26 was historic 鈥� although it may not have seemed that way because everyone expected this history to be made.
No other political party in Saskatchewan has won four consecutive majority governments since the Tommy Douglas Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (the CCF, which would later become the NDP) accomplished that feat in 1956. Douglas鈥檚 CCF would go on to win a fifth term in 1960, resulting in 20 years of rule.
By the end of this term in 2024, the Brad Wall-Scott Moe-led Sask. Party will have ruled for 17 consecutive years, surpassing the string of 16 consecutive years for the Roy Romanow-Lorne Calvert-led NDP.
It鈥檚 noteworthy, however, that one of the NDP鈥檚 four terms from 1999 until 2003 was actually a coalition government propped by Liberals who eventually defected to the NDP, so it wasn鈥檛 exactly a true majority.
What we witnessed on Oct. 26 is the creation of the third-longest serving government in the history of a province. By the end of this term, only the Douglas CCF government from 1944 until 1964 and the original Liberal government from 1905 to 1929 will have served the province longer.
But the historic nature of Scott Moe鈥檚 48-13 majority win (exactly where the Saskatchewan legislature was at when all its seats were last occupied prior to the 2019 federal election) wasn鈥檛 only about the longevity of the Sask. Party government.
The history in the making was also about the magnitude of both the win the popularity of this party that has supplanted the NDP as the province鈥檚 natural-governing party.
For the third consecutive Saskatchewan election, the Sask. Party swept every rural seat 鈥� something no other party had ever previously done.
But what has made the Sask. Party more than just the 鈥渞ural party鈥� that couldn鈥檛 form governments in its first two elections under Elwin Hermanson is its broad-based appeal.
Also for the third consecutive election, the Sask. Party received more than 60 per cent of the popular vote 鈥� something that simply cannot be overlooked or downplayed.
Yes, the Sask. Party won 29 鈥渞ural seats鈥� (those outside the four largest cities and including the two northern seats that have always gone NDP) with huge numbers that pumped up its overall popular vote. These strong seats were why the election was never in doubt.
Let us not forget that this election occurred in the middle of a pandemic. The Sask. Party had to run on a 2020-21 budget with a record $2.1-billion deficit, record public debt and the biggest drop in employment since the federal government began accurately recording the statistics in the mid-1970s.
If there was an election where the Sask. Party might have suffered a major fall, one might have thought it would be this one.
But the simple reality is that the Sask. Party has never really experienced a major setback.
This supposed 鈥渞ural party鈥� swept Moose Jaw and Prince Albert and took away seats in long-time NDP strongholds in north Regina and even Saskatoon Riversdale, which was occupied for decades by Romanow and Calvert.
The big political story this year was a dominant Sask. Party election night win.
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