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Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Ryan Bater (Photo: Saskatchewan Liberal Party)

 

 

Campaigning is in full force across the province as parties work hard to secure your vote in the 2011 provincial election on November 7th, but perhaps no party is working harder than the Liberals.

They have suffered in the last decade. No Liberal candidate has won his or her seat since 1998, and since then they have finished third in many ridings they had candidates in.
 
Up until the election was officially called last week, they only had one candidate for this election, their leader Ryan Bater, who is running in the Battlefords.


Bater says the Liberal Party is nothing like it used to be. He explains that since 2007 the party has separated from the federal Liberals, revamped their policies and are basically treating the organization as a new party with a very old name.

However, the party is struggling for candidates.  So far there are only six candidates and none are running in any ridings outside of North Battleford or Saskatoon. Bater says a lot of parties like to run a full slate of candidates and do so by finding "paper candidates", who are usually party supporters who let the organizations place their name on the ballot for a riding they don't live in. Bater adds he doesn't think voters are fooled, and believes it's more appropriate to seek good representation by nominating candidates who are local and who want to represent their communities.
 
Meanwhile, on the campaign trail Saturday, NDP Leader Dwain Lingefelter announced a plan he says will help make Saskatchewan communities safer if his party forms government. He promised 40 new community policing positions, extra money for fire fighters, and a pledge for $350,000 used to prevent online child exploitation.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall criticised what he called a wild spending spree by Lingenfelter, saying the NDP's pledges made over the last week would cost over $1.7 billion.

Wall was back in Swift Current Saturday for some campaigning, and to attend the open house of his campaign office at the Swift Current Mall.