#skndpldr Roundup

With official forums on hold until January but the holiday lull not quite yet here, Saskatchewan's NDP leadership candidates have been fairly active over the last little while. So let's take a look at the latest developments.

- The latest fund-raising numbers are available here, and charted by Alice below:

What looks most noteworthy from November is a push by Ryan Meili in both fund-raising and expenditures. While his campaign has trumpeted its continued lead in donations, Meili also outspent his competitors substantially for the latest month, leaving him as the only candidate to end November with less cash on hand than at the start.

As with Trent Wotherspoon's early expenses that put his campaign into a deficit position, it will be worth watching whether Meili's spending produces measurable results. And if it doesn't, then Cam Broten may be in the best financial position for the second half of the campaign based on his lead in net revenue along with his large amount of spending room.

- Meanwhile, Meili also received a poetic endorsement from Lon Borgerson. But I do have to wonder whether it's too late in the campaign to move beyond poetry slams into the realm of epic rap battles.

- On the policy front, Meili unveiled his policy proposals on the environment, which notably goes beyond relying on SaskPower as driver of power conservation, and includes the observation that industrial users should be included in conservation efforts by being required to pay their fair share for power use. And Erin Weir's pension proposal includes a move at the provincial level to reverse the federal Cons' attacks on Old Age Security.

- Finally, Weir also offered another timely suggestion, responding to CNOOC's takeover of Nexen by noting that our royalty regulations should avoid allowing businesses to reduce Saskatchewan's royalty share by manipulating prices.

Sunday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to end your weekend.

- Nick Falvo discusses the unfortunate theory that any talk of improving standards of living for the neediest Canadians is either fruitless or extreme politically:

In reference to the Put Food In The Budget campaign, NDP Member of Provincial Parliament Michael Prue is quoted as saying: “I have asked hundreds of questions in the last 10 years on this topic [at Queen's Park] and have never once been quoted in the newspaper. Nobody has been interested. The NDP is standing back and asking, ‘Do we run on a platform when there is no public interest?”

I’m struck by what appears to be deep-seated pessimism on this important public policy issue. Even serious policy wonks are bending over backwards to conceal their proposals with smoke and mirrors, lest anyone realize that they’re advocating for a very low-income individual to live on more than $7,501 a year.

When did it become ’common sense’ for swing voters to believe that there is a job for every resident of Ontario? And when did it become acceptable to believe that $625/month is a sufficient amount of money to live on in Ontario?

- John Geddes uses the U.S. debt ceiling showdown as an example of the conundrum facing reporters trying to write fairly about issues where one side simply doesn't have a reasonable argument to make. But it's worth noting the flip side: the Republicans in manufacturing the debt crisis, like the Cons in demolishing the long-form census, obviously felt they could get away with such insane actions precisely because they could count on most sources repeating their nonsensical spin as if it had some basis in reality.

- Suddenly Stephen Harper's refusal to allow 24 Sussex Drive to be renovated makes a lot more sense, as the last thing Harper figures to be willing to countenance is to echo and legitimize environmental concerns about waste and inefficiency.

- Finally, Doug Allan points out that the Hudak PCs are predictably looking to stifle any public speech by unions - while failing to apply the same standard to corporations who spend far more money shaping public perceptions for their own benefit.

[Edit: fixed wording.]