Political Donations & the Saskatchewan NDP
It's not as bad as the Sask Party's record on this issue, but that doesn't make it good.
My last post on Sask Party donations seems to have people buzzing, which is great. The information is important and really needs to be disseminated in our province.
Political donation laws in Saskatchewan, under the disgrace that has become Chief Electoral Officer Michael Boda, have transcended the realm of disturbing and entered that of full-blown, unmasked corruption.
I’ve heard some of you asking, “Where are the Saskatchewan NDP?”
Why isn’t the Saskatchewan NDP decrying Sask Party donations and demanding change to Saskatchewan political finance laws?
Well, the answer is pretty straightforward - the Sask NDP simply wouldn't exist today without unions backing them to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
It’s not pretty, but understanding the truth is more important than being comfortable:
Excluding the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan transferring its trust fund money to itself, as well as a rather troubling $700K worth of debt acquired by the Saskatchewan NDP in 2016, nine of the top ten highest donation amounts went from unions to the NDP.
I don’t understand how those unions can justify giving money stripped from their members’ paychecks to a political party that refuses to act in their members’ best interests, nevermind the best interests of the province. It’s no secret that I believe that today’s union members across Saskatchewan should demand more and better from their leaders…or decertify.
Saskatchewan workers bust their asses; donating a portion of their hard earned salary to the Sask NDP right now is the worst ROI ever. However it also isn’t reasonable, logical or believable for the Saskatchewan NDP to argue against third party, corporate or union donations because they’d cease to exist without them.
The NDP is in obvious financial straits and there’s no way that party can sustain running election campaigns while bogged down in that much debt. It also places the needs of those banks ahead of party operations and I suspect it’s another reason the NDP is such a shitshow right now, cause I’m assuming repaying those banks is a priority over, oh I don’t know… paying skilled people to work for them. Over advertising, polling and everything else.
Tell me - what happens if a provincial Official Opposition party goes bankrupt?
Someday, maybe mainstream media will actually talk about it but I’m so frustrated this morning with the extent to which they are letting you down. All of this information is crucial for voters and you’re still not getting it anywhere else. I’m drowning in issues to write about.
I’ve (uncomfortably) mentioned a few times that researching and writing this political donation series is proving expensive, as every one of the hundreds of documents from ISC’s corporate registry I need to write this series cost money.
If you would like to chip in on this research so I can keep it coming, you can etransfer me at tammyrobert0123@gmail.com.
Thank you so much to all of you again for your readership, subscriptions and support. I am so grateful. I have the best audience in Canada. T.
When it comes to political donations, the “right” loves to howl about how “unions do it” so corporations should be able to do the same. This dysfunctional cycle needs to be broken, but I see no way forward for democracy in Saskatchewan at the moment without it.
The reality is both the government and Opposition parties are beholden to outside interests, as opposed to that of the electorate and that’s a goddamn problem for you and I.
We, not the political parties, will be the force behind change to political donation laws in Saskatchewan.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
PS: Have you checked out my new Substack?
It’s quite a bit more personal, therefore you have to request approval to subscribe, but so far there’s just been a couple of psychos I’ve had to decline so don’t let that dissuade you! If I don’t recognize the email address or your handle, I will reach out to you.