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Saskatchewan general election, 2003
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Seating Plan After the Election
The Saskatchewan general election of 2003 was the twenty-fifth provincial election held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on November 5, 2003, to elect the 58 members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (MLAs). The election was called on October 8 by Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan Lynda Haverstock, on the advice of Premier Lorne Calvert.
Campaign
Going into the election, the popularity of the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan (NDP) had declined because of controversy on a number of issues. Voters in this agrarian province were disgruntled because of a mediocre harvest, a disastrous summer for cattle producers - the American border had been closed to Canadian beef due to fears of mad cow disease, and the actions of a member of the NDP Cabinet who was found to have misled the people of the province on the nature of the SPUDCO, a publicly owned potato company that was innappropriately characterized as a public-private partnershipcitation needed.
Election issues included emigration (the province's population is falling because young people leave the province to look for work), honesty and integrity, privatization of public transit and energy supplies, and utility rates.
During the campaign, the NDP was attacked for an internal cartoon that had been leaked to the media. It depicted Saskatchewan Party leader Elwin Hermanson loading NDP sympathizers onto rail cars. The cartoon referred to speculation that, if elected, Hermanson would replace civil servants who were NDP supporters with Saskatchewan Party supporters. However, many associated it with the Holocaust, in particular Nazi Germany's deportation of Jews to concentration camps.[1]
The campaign as a whole was seen as being quite negative, as the NDP constantly claimed that the Saskatchewan Party had a 'secret agenda' to privatize crown corporations to finance large tax cuts for business; the Saskatchewan Party had a difficult time refuting these claims, as several members made comments that seemed consistent with this view.
Unlike many of the other provincial elections held in 2003, the election was widely regarded as too close to call up until a large proportion of the polls had reported. The NDP's fourth straight win, with a majority government no less, surprised observers, who believed the NDP would be affected by the poor pre-election conditions. All of its cabinet ministers were re-elected, except for two who had defected to the party from the Liberals.
After Elwin Hermanson proved unable to lead his party to power, he resigned as leader on November 18, 2003.
Although speculation was high that they could form the balance of power in the case of a minority government, the Liberals lost their one seat.
Results
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in previous election.
Riding-by-riding results
People in bold represent party leaders and the Speaker
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The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008) |
Northwest Saskatchewan
Northeast Saskatchewan
West Central Saskatchewan
Southwest Saskatchewan
Southeast Saskatchewan
Saskatoon
Regina
Notes
- ^ Sask. NDP distances itself from 'Holocaust' cartoon
- ^ a b One of two members elected as Liberals and joined into coalition with the NDP. Refused to leave the coalition after David Karwacki become Liberal leader and ordered all members to do so. Subsequently sat as an Independent. Ran for the NDP in this election.
- ^ Suspended from the NDP caucus after being charged with fraud. After he was acquitted, he was offered reinstatement, but refused in the face of a difficult re-nomination fight in his constituency. He ran in the election as an Independent.
Source: Elections Saskatchewan
See also
External links
General resources
Parties
Parties with seats in the house prior to dissolution
Other parties
Other Saskatchewan political links
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