Phil Tank: Hiking deposit for candidates hinders democracy in Sask. (2024)

At first glance, it might seem that a proposal to increase the deposit for provincial election candidates five-fold was hatched by a governing party flush with cash to discourage competition.

But the increase of the candidate deposit from $100 to $500 stems from an Elections Saskatchewan recommendation after a rise in the number of candidates who failed to file expense returns after the 2020 provincial election.

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The fee — which is refundable if a candidate follows the rules, including filing a return — was passed rather quietly among other revisions to the elections act in December by the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP.

How such a big change to democracy passed with little resistance can likely be traced to the fundraising prowess of Saskatchewan’s two largest parties.

The Saskatchewan Party raised more than $3 million in 2022 and the NDP raised $1.3 million. The deposit increase means fielding candidates to run in all 61 constituencies will cost a party $30,500 — chump change for the only two parties with elected MLAs.

Plus, the well-oiled party machinery of both will ensure all the rules are followed and the refunds are returned.

Now compare that to the five smaller registered political parties. Only one of them, the Progressive Conservatives, raised more than enough money last year to cover the cost of fielding an entire slate of candidates, which last happened for the PCs in 1995.

The PCs raised $116,442.50 last year, all but $4,573 coming from its trusty trust fund. No wonder the PCs are accusing the new Saskatchewan United Party of attempting to take them over. United, which is less than a year old, raised $8,742 last year.

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The Liberal Party, which is changing its name, raised $29,500; the Buffalo Party raised $28,030 and the Green Party managed $11,238.90.

The Liberals, Greens and PCs have voiced opposition to the hike in fees and are reportedly contemplating a lawsuit that appears to stand a good chance of success.

An Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench judge struck down a federal rule requiring a $1,000 deposit for candidates in 2017, ruling that it violated the guarantee of equal participation in the electoral process as protected by the Charter.

Saskatchewan Green Party Leader Naomi Hunter told news outlets last month she believes the increase in the deposit in this province will hurt democracy by discouraging independent candidates.

Hunter added it will not impede the Green Party from running candidates, but it’s not insignificant for a party that only raised about a third of the amount to field a full slate last year, even if it is refundable.

And only the Green Party, other than the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP, ran candidates in virtually every seat for the last three elections.

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In those last three elections, only nine independent candidates contested a seat, but one of them appears to have had a significant impact. In 2020, former NDP leader Ryan Meili refused to endorse former cabinet minister Sandra Morin to run in Regina Walsh Acres, where she had won the party’s nomination.

Morin opted to run as an independent and garnered 797 votes, more than the margin of victory for the Saskatchewan Party candidate. This example suggests why the NDP might not want such candidates splitting the vote, but that could be just as true for the Saskatchewan Party in a tight race.

Smaller parties and any independents now face an extra impediment in three looming byelections.

Concerns about constitutionality and democracy aside, this move may actually motivate supporters of the smaller parties and galvanize them into prioritizing fundraising — clearly the key to politics in this province.

You might also provoke a change in tactics by those seeking political change, who could shift to trying to take over an existing party instead of nursing a new one through its formative period.

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In Alberta, the former leader of an upstart right-wing party was just elected premier as leader of the successor to the mainstream party she once challenged.

Currently, the smaller parties in Saskatchewan qualify as political pipsqueaks, but the candidate deposit hike provides some righteous motivation.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

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