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'Tried and trusted' or 'tired and rusted'?

Broadcast Date: April 24, 1982

"Tried and trusted" and "keep a good thing going." Those are the messages from the NDP during the 1982 election campaign as Premier Allan Blakeney seeks his fourth term in office. However, thanks to growing discontent amongst Saskatchewan voters, a Tory tide led by Conservative leader Grant Devine threatens to wash over the NDP. In this CBC Television clip, Devine attacks Blakeney's record in office, saying his party's motto should actually be "tired and rusted."

'Tried and trusted' or 'tired and rusted'?

• Considered the greatest election upset in Saskatchewan history, Grant Devine's Tories buried Allan Blakeney under a conservative landslide in the 1982 election. The Tories won 55 of the 64 seats in the Legislative Assembly and roughly 54 per cent of the popular vote. The NDP held onto nine seats, but a by-election in Feb. 1983 reduced them to eight.

• Grant Devine had experienced defeat before tasting victory. He lost in the 1978 general election before being elected Tory leader shortly thereafter. He then suffered a humiliating defeat in a 1980 by-election. Two years later he finally won his first seat in the Saskatchewan Legislature when he was elected premier.

• Devine's remarkable win in 1982 ushered in Saskatchewan's first Progressive Conservative government in 48 years. It was also the party's first victory at the polls in Saskatchewan electoral history. The Conservatives were in power in Saskatchewan from 1929 to 1934 but only after forming a coalition government with the Progressives.

• One of the bit players in the 1982 election was Ray Bailey and the Western Canada Concept (WCC) party of Saskatchewan. A western separatist movement, the WCC fizzled at the polls with all 40 of its candidates going down to defeat.

• During the 1982 campaign the NDP accused Grant Devine of handing out election promises like lollipops. Devine pledged to eliminate the province's 20 per cent road tax on gasoline and to subsidize mortgages at 13¼ per cent. He also promised low-interest loans to young farmers and lower provincial income taxes.

• Devine railed against what he called the big, intrusive government of the NDP. Devine pointed out that under Blakeney the Saskatchewan government funded 24 crown corporations (including power, transportation, telecommunications and government insurance). The government also owned the potash industry and was in the oil business.

• In response, Blakeney pointed to his record. In 1981 Saskatchewan had the highest growth rate in Canada and the lowest unemployment rate. He also promised universal dental care, grants to first-time homebuyers and relief from rising school property taxes.

• Blakeney's main campaign strategy was to commit his party to maintaining the Crow rate. The Crow was a federal transportation subsidy established in 1897 that allowed Saskatchewan farmers to move their grain to market more cheaply. Blakeney campaigned on maintaining the Crow in the hopes it would put Devine and the free-market Tories on their heels. Devine didn't take the bait, instead saying "keep the Crow, let Blakeney go."

• Trade unions, long a stronghold of support for the NDP in Saskatchewan, didn't back the party as they had in previous elections. The unions were upset with the Blakeney government for passing a law that banned public service strikes during campaign elections.

'Tried and trusted' or 'tired and rusted'?

Medium: Television

Program: Saturday Report

Broadcast Date: April 24, 1982

Guest(s): Allan Blakeney, Grant Devine, Ralph Goodale

Host: George McLean
Reporter: Larry Stout

Duration: 10:46

Last updated:
July 23, 2009