For the longest time, rural Saskatchewan was far ahead of the rest of province when it came to political trends.
The shift began in the mid-1990s when we first began to see the expansion of the oil sector and talk of new potash mines.
But mostly, it was driven by a change in the mindset of agriculture.
With the demise of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as a true co-operative, farming become agri-business. Farming operations expanded as country elevators disappeared.
It was also about this time that we saw the last of the great farm rallies and protests demanding more government subsidization. Meanwhile, challenges to the Canadian Wheat Board's authority as a single-desk seller moved beyond the radical fringe of the right, trying to deliberately defy the law by driving their trucks over the U.S. border.
Coupled with the greater impact of farm implement manufacturing and the influence of the oil and gas sector, rural voters began to take on a more free-enterprise outlook. Even traditional areas of NDP support around Yorkton, the rural seats once known as red square, abandoned the NDP for political alternatives.
The demand for better roads and Internet service to meet new economic needs was often not answered by urban-dominated NDP governments. And as NDP MLAs failed to satisfy rural voters' needs, support for the right-wing alternative Saskatchewan Party only solidified.
Really, this was the dawning of what is often referred today as the "new Saskatchewan."
Fast-forward to today and you are likely hearing a lot about that new Saskatchewan, especially in the context of several recent Sask. Party policy changes.
Those would include simplifying the labour laws to the liking of private employers, the privatization of Information Services Corp. (ISC), private liquor stores in the cities and, most recently, changes to the liquor regulations that treat drinking as more of a business opportunity than something in need of policing through massive restrictions.
But it is the latter liquor law changes where the new Saskatchewan may be on a collision course with the old Saskatchewan that still tends to be rather conservative in its values. For this reason, it will be worth watching rural Saskatchewan's reaction to these changes.
For starters, it can be argued that all too many of the SLGA changes are aimed at the urban audiences. These would likely include things like serving alcohol in spas (most of which are the cities) and the ability to bring your own wine to restaurants (which would also seem to cater to urban clientele).
Admittedly, other SLGA changes will be more applicable to the smaller towns and cities.
The Sask. Party government is doing away with restrictions requiring establishments to also provide sleeping accommodations. It is for this reason that rural pubs have been located in hotels, rather than function as stand-alone bars you see just across the border in Montana and North Dakota.
While this change that will be applauded by many, some rural hoteliers will likely be less pleased. In the cases of smaller communities, it may mean the demise of the local hotel, which would be the demise of a business critical to many communities.
Another liquor board change worth monitoring is the one that will allow limited stripping in bars. Many rural hotel/bar owners might see this as a great way to create traffic for their establishments.
But with rural Saskatchewan generally older and more socially conservative, it will also challenge what's been considered acceptable in many rural communities.
In fairness, it might be wrong to suggest that rural residents, who have become very good at adapting to change and have often led change, will be any less willing to adapt that city residents.
Nevertheless, it may be a good measure of exactly how much Saskatchewan has changed.
