In my column this week, I pointed out the need to combat poverty and inequality in order to achieve better outcomes in all kinds of areas even if we're not prepared to deal with them for their own sake. But let's follow up with a quick look at the choice facing Saskatchewan voters when it comes to addressing them.
On the part of Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party, the story is one of complete unwillingness to even see poverty or inequality as issues worth acknowledging. Looking for even the slightest mention of inequality on the Sask Party's caucus site? Tough luck. How about their party site? Ditto. The party site refers to poverty once - not as a matter of policy, but in the profile of a single volunteer. And most appropriately, the Sask Party's caucus site mentions poverty once as well - in a general article on the budget where an anti-poverty group slams the Wall government.
But what about documents from the provincial government, which might be a bit less focused on sticking to anti-social talking points? The best example looks to me to be Wall's government direction report. Which mentions poverty only as a subset of children and youth issues - and inequality not at all.
In contrast, the NDP's party site, caucus site and latest policy report all discuss poverty at length as an issue which demands action. And while there's ample room for improvement in the handling of inequality on the NDP's web presence, at least the issue doesn't draw a complete blank.
Now, there's a long way for the NDP to go both in developing its own priorities to address poverty and inequality, and in spreading the message among citizens. But there looks to be absolutely no room for doubt that Saskatchewan voters who care about the issues will find a willing partner in the NDP - compared to total neglect from the Wall Sask Party.
[Edit: fixed wording.]
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