Bronwyn Eyre is Saskatchewan’s former Minister of Justice and Attorney General

I write this in the spirit of admiration, respect and constructive criticism for a government I served in for eight years, for my colleagues and because we must now begin the work of rebuilding the Sask Party brand in the urban centres.

Make no mistake: the provincial election three weeks ago was a historic victory and crucial buffer from the destructive policies of a would-be NDP government.

But.

Clearly worthy of analysis is that we were eradicated in the cities, but for one squeaker victory. So what went wrong?

Boundaries

The boundary changes, negotiated on behalf of the Sask Party by the late Joe Donlevy, former chief of staff to Brad Wall, and former Minister of Justice Frank Quennell for the NDP, were a serious game changer. Gone, now, is any natural blend between rural and urban. Sadly, in a province where we all have one foot in both, the 2023 border changes now exacerbate and entrench an artificial divide.

One example is Casa Rio, south of Saskatoon, part of my former constituency. While those who live in this acreage community work in and are connected to the city, they are now part of the massive, north-stretching Humboldt-Watrous constituency and represented from Humboldt. Corman Park, another Saskatoon-connected area, is now bizarrely part of Rosetown-Delisle, which extends almost to Swift Current. While attempts to challenge the commission’s boundaries were discouraged, I regret not having questioned more and fought harder.

Part of those boundary changes saw former Biggar-Sask Valley MLA Randy Weekes lose his entire constituency, which set in motion a destructive cycle of resentment with (for us) harmful consequences.

Health and education

While we framed the ballot question around the economy, at the doors urban candidates fielded questions almost exclusively on health and education. On health, I must have said a thousand times that we’ve attracted 1,100 more doctors, 6,400 more nurses, expanded training seats, developed two Urgent Care Centres, are empowering nurse practitioners, revamping the ICU at the Royal University Hospital, and opened the $286 million Children’s Hospital.

These points had traction, and there was widespread acknowledgment that jurisdictions across Canada face similar challenges in health, particularly coming out of COVID. In Saskatoon, some asked why we couldn’t re-open City Hospital’s ER, as the NDP was promising to. Keep in mind, I would tell them, that the NDP closed it (along with the Plains Hospital in Regina and 51 other hospitals) and logistically, you can’t just snap your fingers and put it back.

It was challenging for voters to find information. One nurse told me that she and her doctor husband wanted to vote for us, but “couldn’t find” our health platform. I quickly learned that it was on page 50 — but telling people that sounded like Kamala Harris directing people to the Democrat website.

Our record of opening, revamping and repairing ought to have been framed like a promise, a bond that would continue and grow. Policy, policy, policy should have been on every piece of campaign literature that went out, right down to the get-out-the-vote end. We also had to flood the airwaves with specific, urban-centric information — including, in Saskatoon alone, our investment of $700 million dollars in municipal revenue sharing.

In education, we were blamed for — and wore — education-establishment-led decisions. These have evolved over decades and directly led to integrated complexity in classrooms and teachers having to carry out quasi-medical activities, which no union should ever have allowed.

We also wore what should be operational decisions by school boards, who have the authority to establish catchment areas to avoid school overcrowding. A former principal and supporter texted a friend: “Class size is not a provincial bargaining item. [The government]…needed to obtain the full support of the local school boards, which did not call the teachers out on the issue of class size, which is a local board decision and should be, as it differs from community to community. I fear the same will happen in health unless [they] have learned something from the STF negotiations.”

Unions

At the door, there were unionized workers, including many teachers and nurses, who told me that they hid any hint of Sask Party support from their peers, for fear of professional repercussion. One asked if he was being audio-taped when he saw the phone in my campaign manager’s hand. They told how union reps had shown up at their homes with two signs and matter-of-factly announced that they’d be putting them up. Some said they felt intimidated and even bullied by such tactics. But in the end, union group-think — the Sask Party is to blame for everything — largely worked.

Communications

We needed to wake up, with fire in the belly, and counter the narrative. ‘Comms’ have moved on. Think Poilievre’s apples and Trump at McDonald’s.

“The future or the past” (Sask Party vs. NDP) narrative, once so effective, is now rather hackneyed. Instead of releasing daily, generic campaign videos of the boss, perhaps we could have shown him meeting more people and doing original things. How about, say, driving a semi down our amazing, rebuilt highways and passing lanes, doing media from the cab or a scrum at a truck stop, surrounded by highway workers? Or, since we invested $1 million earlier this summer in local food banks, why not go to one and serve meals with local MLAs?

The campaign platform also didn’t captivate. At the doors, it was challenging to pitch new add-ons and thresholds to programs (Active Families Benefit, Graduate Retention Program, etc.,) which people either aren’t very acquainted with or don’t have an emotional connection to — as they do, say, to the Crowns.

As I would remind voters, NDP governments ruin economies. In BC, it’s happening in real time. Many people intuitively know that, and I could even sense a sheepishness when they told me that it was “time for a change.”

“Saskatchewan cannot afford the NDP hard left” was one slogan that I always felt, and said, could have been impactful. After all, in its costing platform, the NDP mixed up expenses and revenue! Its social policies are also out of touch. It supports neighbourhood drug consumption sites, for example, which most urbanites do not want, as crime and safety have moved to top issues of concern.

During the 2022 NDP leadership campaign debate, Carla Beck apparently awkwardly laughed for about 20 seconds when she was asked what she would do for the economy. That always sounded like priceless political fodder. So why didn’t we use it?

In contrast, the Sask Party government has revolutionized the provincial economy. But somehow, billboards featuring ‘Strong Economy, Bright Future’ dared Saskatchewanians to disagree — and for those who are putting meat back on the shelf because they can’t afford it, ‘Protecting the Economy’ might have read the room better.

Media

Most media hate us. Everyone knows that. The most common manifestation of this is the omission of crucial facts and information, chopping or voicing-over comments made in media scrums. But when the media actually misstate or mislead, we must fight back on the basis of fact-checking: write a letter-to-the-editor, call the editor, demand a retraction, refuse to do any scrums until the information has been retracted, added or corrected.

We also cannot simply throw up our hands and passively accept that hard copy newspapers (generally read by older and engaged voters), for example, are beyond our reach and opt to get around them with social media posts alone. Hard copy newspapers post their content online, too. The NDP took out a full page ad in the StarPhoenix.

Change rooms

The mike-drop announcement on biological gender-specific change rooms, the day after a strong debate performance by the Premier and only four days before E-Day, was unexpected. Timing is everything. Framing it as the “number one priority” hurt us in the cities, where most people considered that to be education and health, and put us into prospective Notwithstanding Clause territory again.

The Premier walked the promise back — but not before unfortunate mini-conspiracies popped up that it had been a last-minute attempt to shore up on-the-edge, semi-rural seats, including in Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. The promise, walk-back, or both, further damaged the Premier’s image in the cities.

All of the above said, when voters are ready for change, they are — and they tune you out. Fair enough. My caution now, however, would be that the leadership not pull an Erin O’Toole and try to appease and please everyone. There are ways to stay clear, effective and on course, but still conservative.

One important way is to not edit out the past and past people. We ought to celebrate how much we all achieved and how damn hard we all fought in the cities to sell our superior message. I’ll never forget my amazing team, the efforts of the party, the young volunteers who knocked for me, and the hundreds of hours and thousands of doors we covered.

We also have to remember what Jean Charest said about Brian Mulroney: “He loved us…and wanted to hear what we thought.”

Before the election, we should have talked strategy more. Now, to rebuild, we have to be honest and inclusive about what went down in October, 2024. I hope, for the sake of the party and people I love, that those conversations are happening.

Bronwyn Eyre is Saskatchewan’s former Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

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