But don't vote for the parties of business
On September 16 people in Saskatchewan will be going to the polls in a provincial election. Five days later they will be followed by Manitoba.
It is entirely possible that the result will be two provincial NDP governments.
In Saskatchewan the two opposition parties remain weak and discredited. The election looks to be a shoe-in for Roy Romanow's NDP. The party stands at 48% in the polls as we go to press -- more or less the same popular support as they won in the last provincial election.
But this is not as good as it sounds.
The main opposition party is the Saskatchewan Party. It is a lash up of former provincial Liberal and Tory MLAs and is led by a former Reform MP.
The Tories and Liberals jumped ship from their sinking parties. The Tory party has even been retired as a party for the moment.
It was racked by fraud scandals which saw numerous members of the former Tory government of Grant Devine sent to jail for fraud charges.
That the Tory party -- thinly disguised under a new name -- and the incompetent and infighting Liberals can return to the political scene with a combined majority popular support is a condemnation of the Saskatchewan NDP government.
The Saskatchewan NDP under Roy Romanow has been more Blairite than Tony Blair.
For instance, NDP MP John Solomon from Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre in commenting on the hiring of Ed Tchorzewski as federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough's chief of staff had this to say:
"He [Tchorzewski] crings experience in delivering policy that is touted as "Tony Blair economics" and political policies that the New Labour Party [in Britain] talked about for a number of years. But in fact Roy Romanow and Ed Tchorzewski implemented those policies before anybody knew about Tony Blair."
What that has meant in policy terms has been very clear: capitulation to business and the right-wing all along the line.
Romanow has effectively eliminated collective bargaining rights in the public sector. When groups of public sector workers, such as nurses or SaskPower workers, have resisted the government's wage controls they have simply been legislated back to work.
Healthcare has a faced a devastating assault with more hospitals closed by Romanow than by either Ontario Tory Premier Mike Harris or Alberta Tory Premier Ralph Klein.
Small farmers have faced an assault on two fronts: from the federal Liberals with their elimination of agricultural subsidies and from the NDP in their home province.
Romanow has undermined producers co-ops and enthusiastically supported genetically modified foods -- even as Europe moves to ban them, public opinion opposes them and GM crop producers such as Monsanto have used their clout to destroy small farmers around the world.
Shamefully, the government has sought to deflect anger against their policies by scapegoating youth. The Saskatchewan NDP government has been one of the loudest in calling for reform of the Young Offenders Act because it is too "soft" on crime.
In this election the NDP has made its "tough on crime" policies a major platform item. Money will be spent to hire 200 more police and to harass and spy on young offenders.
Already, Saskatchewan has the highest incarceration rate for youth and native people.
It also has the lowest social assistance payments and lowest minimum wage in the country. And it has one of the highest child poverty rates -- not surprising given the NDP's obsession with eliminating the deficit on the backs of workers and the poor.
Saskatchewan is also one of only two provinces in the country without pay equity legislation.
If it wants to fight crime the Saskatchewan NDP should eliminate poverty not hire more cops.
It is no surprise that there has been talk in the labour movement of disaffiliation from the NDP, even if that prospect is still unlikely. Nor is it surprising that a number of activists quit the party to form a new more left wing party -- the New Green Alliance.
But as horrible as the NDP is, and will continue to be if re-elected, the other options are worse.
Likely the other parties would not implement any more right-wing policies -- a difficult feat in any case. But it will mean that working people have abandoned the NDP electorally for parties of big business.
Whoever wins workers will have to fight on the ground to win any gains. The experience of the Saskatchewan NDP demonstrates clearly what the "Third Way" -- or the "Canadian Way" as McDonough prefers to call it -- means on the ground.
It means attacks and cutbacks. It means bowing to the market and to big business.