Mid-sized cities could play out-sized role in Sask. election, experts say

Both major parties in the Saskatchewan election campaign seem to be paying a lot of attention to the province's mid-sized cities.

NDP Leader Carla Beck headed to Prince Albert to say she'd scrap the gas tax. Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe told a North Battleford audience he'd increase tax credits for people living with disabilities. Both criss-crossed the streets of Moose Jaw campaigning on the same day.

"You'd expect parties to campaign where they're more competitive," said Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan. "That absolutely makes sense that would they would be campaigning there."

Westlake noted the Sask. Party has "locked up" the purely rural seats in recent elections, and that appears unlikely to change. The NDP's base of support lies in northern Saskatchewan and in the central constituencies of Saskatoon and Regina, with polls suggesting possible gains in other areas of those cities.

That means much of the fight could be for the two seats in Prince Albert, the two seats in Moose Jaw and even single seats in communities like North Battleford. 

"All those kinds of places become much more important to the campaigns because they really do become kind of battlegrounds," said University of Regina political science professor Tom McIntosh.

Beck and Moe both downplayed any special focus on those seats.

When asked about it during a campaign stop this week, Beck said every riding and every voter is equally important.

"I want to be the premier for all people in this province. If we have that honour after Oct. 28, regardless if people voted for us or not, our goal will be to work with all people in this province and deliver better government, better health care, better opportunity for every area of this province," Beck said. "We're working hard in every constituency across this province."

Moe said all 61 constituencies "are of vital importance to this party and the 61 candidates we have running." As for a possible rural-urban split in the province, Moe said, "I'll have none of that." Moe said many people who work on resource projects in rural areas, for example, live in urban areas.

"The way we'll create wealth is that rural and urban synergy," he said.

But McIntosh said if either party sweeps the mid-sized communities on its way to victory, and maintains its base in other parts of the province, it could exacerbate the rural-urban divide.

"It changes the composition of the caucus. It changes the ability of certain places to have a voice or feel like they have a voice in the government," McIntosh said.

"The government then has a choice. Do we reach out to these places and try to rebuild support or do we double down inside our fortress and those are the only voices we listen to? It's got real implications for how the province is governed in the coming years."