What issues could emerge to help shape the outcome of the November 7 provincial election? It is very possible that the rising cost of living in Saskatchewan cities has the potential to become a major election issue. There have been many anecdotal stories in the past few years of sharp increases in rent in Regina and Saskatoon. Where individuals were paying $400 or $500 a month five years ago for a one bedroom suite, those same suites are now in the $800 to $900 per month range. This inflationary trend is being driven by two forces - surging demand for rental accommodations from new people flooding into the province for employment, and a massive switch in recent years of apartment buildings to condominium units.
There are very different positions being taken by the majority parties on this potentially hot button issue. The governing Saskatchewan Party favours solutions aimed at providing incentives for builders to build new rental units. The opposition New Democrats have come out in favour of some form of rent control. Therefore it will be interesting to see how voters respond to these options, if higher rents become an election issue. It may very well be that this issue becomes overshadowed by the likely mudslinging that is bound to break out as the election campaign gets rolling. But it may also be that rising rents is a sleeper issue, one that bounces into the public consciousness and into the open once we are into the writ period.
No suggestion will be made here to suggest that this issue will fundamentally change the outcome that most pundits forecast in this election. That said, maybe urban voters will make more of an effort to vote this time, and significantly raise voter turnout based solely on this issue. Also, rising rents could prove to be a decisive factor in close urban constituencies, where the outcome could be determined by a shifting of 200 votes in one direction or another. Once again, it will be very interesting to see if rising rents becomes a key election issue this fall.
There are very different positions being taken by the majority parties on this potentially hot button issue. The governing Saskatchewan Party favours solutions aimed at providing incentives for builders to build new rental units. The opposition New Democrats have come out in favour of some form of rent control. Therefore it will be interesting to see how voters respond to these options, if higher rents become an election issue. It may very well be that this issue becomes overshadowed by the likely mudslinging that is bound to break out as the election campaign gets rolling. But it may also be that rising rents is a sleeper issue, one that bounces into the public consciousness and into the open once we are into the writ period.
No suggestion will be made here to suggest that this issue will fundamentally change the outcome that most pundits forecast in this election. That said, maybe urban voters will make more of an effort to vote this time, and significantly raise voter turnout based solely on this issue. Also, rising rents could prove to be a decisive factor in close urban constituencies, where the outcome could be determined by a shifting of 200 votes in one direction or another. Once again, it will be very interesting to see if rising rents becomes a key election issue this fall.
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