Could it be that the recent surge in public interest marks a genuine societal shift toward an altogether more politically active and engaged form of citizenship? Unfortunately, no.
Having flexed their sagging muscles of accountability, the less than two in three eligible Canadian voters who bother to turn up are then free to return to the more pressing matters in their life, like microwaving a burrito and updating their Twitter feed.
They say that in politics, a year is a lifetime. This certainly seems true every four years when the United States goes through a presidential election.
Although the year has just begun, and the election isn’t until Nov. 6, Democrats and Republicans have been eyeing the 2012 election almost since Barack Obama took the last one. As a result of this perpetual campaigning, politicians in both major parties shirk actually making hard choices and governing their country, focusing instead on short-term rhetorical victories and getting the best talking points on TV.
The day after the Nov. 7 election was a day of rest for many people, but for a University of Saskatchewan research team, the work was just beginning. That day, the first calls went out from the newly established Social Responsibility Research Laboratory to ask over a thousand Saskatchewan residents why they had voted the way they did.
Both the Green Party of Saskatchewan the Saskatchewan Liberal Party failed to capture a seat on Nov. 7.
This election seemed to mark the death throes of the once-mighty provincial Liberals. Six of the first nine premiers of Saskatchewan were Liberals but the party has been in long-term decline since the 1970s and only ran nine candidates this year. Much of the party’s support now rests with the centre-right Sask. Party.
In an election that delivered precisely what was expected, the Saskatchewan Party handily won a second majority on Nov. 7.
The Sask. Party picked up 64 per cent of the popular vote across the province, breaking the previous record for a single party’s share of the vote. That record was set in the 1912 election, when Walter Scott led the Liberal Party to a victory with just under 60 per cent of the vote.
With Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Gene Makowsky currently seeking a berth in Saskatchewan’s legislature, and former ‘Rider Chris Szarka’s city council election victory in 2009, it appears as if the province’s political landscape is getting a bit “greener.”
Predicting the results of provincial elections has never been easier, thanks to a new application available online and for smartphones.
The election predictor, created by public relations company Hill and Knowlton Canada, allows individuals to make predictions by either splitting or swinging votes between different parties.
With less than two weeks to go before the provincial election, the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union released a document outlining its demands of the provincial political parties.
The timing was unusual for a document of its type, which groups usually use to extract promises from campaigning politicians desperate to curry favour with the electorate. USSU President Scott Hitchings acknowledged as much, saying the external affairs board he chairs got off to a late start this year.
About a dozen university students are balancing their studies with the demands of being candidates in the provincial election. The NDP has five student candidates, the Greens have four and the Sask. Party has one.
Alex Mortensen, a University of Regina student running for the NDP in Cypress Hills, says the key is organization.
To prepare for the upcoming Nov. 7 provincial election, the Sheaf interviewed the four official candidates for the Saskatoon Sutherland riding.
The constituency encompasses the University of Saskatchewan and the neighbourhoods of Varsity View, Greystone Heights, Grosvenor Park, College Park, College Park East and Sutherland.
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