Home · Politics · Provincial/Territorial Politics · Showdown on the Prairies: A History of Saskatchewan Elections
Topic spans: 1960 - 1999
Showdown on the Prairies: A History of Saskatchewan Elections
Saskatchewan is an enigma. The same province that elected North America's first socialist government also launched the career of Tory Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. In the past 40 years the winds of political change have swept through Saskatchewan as voters have elected leaders from four different parties into office. Tommy Douglas. Ross Thatcher. Grant Devine. Roy Romanow. These are the political gunslingers that have turned Saskatchewan's provincial elections into prairie showdowns.
8 television clips
6 radio clips
The Romanow Era begins
Broadcast Date: Oct. 21, 1991
It's a new era in Saskatchewan politics. Roy Romanow and the NDP sweep into power with a huge majority government in the 1991 election, burying Grant Devine and his Tories. "It will take a lot of hard work, a lot of tough decisions, and a little bit of luck," Romanow tells supporters in this CBC Television clip, "but I'm confident that we, the people of Saskatchewan, can do it. We shall do it, we shall overcome our obstacles and rebuild."The Romanow Era begins
• The 1991 elections results: NDP 55 seats (51 per cent of the popular vote), PC 10 (26 per cent), Liberal 1 (24 per cent). The NDP gained 30 seats compared to the 1986 election, while the Tories lost 28. The Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly also increased from 64 to 66 seats in the 1991 election.• Roy Romanow and the NDP campaigned on the platform of "The Saskatchewan Way" in the 1991 election. They promised to tackle tax reform and initiate a social democratic tax policy that would ensure corporations pay their fair share of taxes. The NDP attacked Grant Devine's record of cutting resource taxes and royalties, and promised to revoke the Provincial Sales Tax. Romanow also pledged to enhance farm insurance programs, introduce an Environmental Bill of Rights and balance the budget.
• Romanow was born Aug. 12, 1939 in Saskatoon and was first elected to the Saskatchewan legislature in 1967. He served as Saskatchewan's deputy premier and attorney general during the Blakeney administration from 1971 to 1982. After suffering defeat in the 1982 election, he won back his seat four years later and on Nov. 7, 1987 he became the leader of the Saskatchewan NDP party. He later won re-election as premier in 1995 and again in 1999.
• Grant Devine held onto his seat in the 1991 election and became the leader of the official opposition in Saskatchewan. He stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party on Oct. 8, 1992. Years later, news broke of corruption and fraud in Devine's government. As a result, 15 Tory cabinet ministers and members of the legislature were either charged or convicted and one committed suicide.
• Eric Berntson, Saskatchewan's former deputy premier under Devine, was found guilty in March 1999 of making thousands of dollars in false claims on government expense allowances during the 1980s. He was sentenced to a year in jail. As of 2003, Devine has never been charged in connection with the fraud in his caucus and he has publicly maintained he knew nothing about the misuse of taxpayers' money while in office.
The Romanow Era begins
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Oct. 21, 1991
Guest(s):
Reporter: Kelly Crowe
Duration: 1:48
Last updated:
July 23, 2009
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14 clips in this topic . page
Television
2:44
Feb. 24, 1986
Stephen Lewis eulogizes Tommy Clement Douglas, the father of medicare who died today at the age of 81.
Television
3:40
Nov. 1, 1984
A fringe candidate from Cape Breton livens up an otherwise uneventful provincial campaign.
The Romanow Era begins.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: July 23, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]