Fix Saskatchewan's Referenda Rules

Fix Saskatchewan's Referenda Rules

With the federal election now behind us, a lot of people are having discussions about Saskatchewan’s future. 

Issues like separation are getting the most attention - but people are talking about all kinds of issues that directly impact them, from taxes and government spending to local policies and beyond. 

Many feel it’s time for the people to have a bigger say in those decisions.

And one of the best ways for people to have their say in those decisions is through a citizen-initiated plebiscite or referendum.

Unfortunately, the Saskatchewan NDP believe the opposite.

They introduced a bill that would raise the number of signatures required to be collected in order for citizens to successfully petition to hold a referendum.

Right now, the province requires 15% of eligible voters - about 125,000 people - to sign a petition in order to trigger a plebiscite.

The NDP’s proposal would double the threshold to 30% of eligible voters - that’s around 250,000.

This means it would become even harder for citizens to get a direct vote on anything that matters to them. 

The truth is - even at the existing 15% threshold, the bar is far too high.

Saskatchewan hasn’t had a referendum in almost 30 years, because it’s simply impossible to collect that large a number of signatures in the short time allowed, no matter the popularity of an issue.

Even the province’s Chief Electoral Officer agreed in a report in 2019:

The notion that citizens would be able to collect the names, addresses and signatures of 15 percent of the eligible voter population of the province to force the government to hold a non-binding plebiscite vote on a policy issue seems highly unlikely. In fact, these rules have never been used.

The NDP’s plan to make it even tougher for citizens to have a voice is a step in the wrong direction.

Saskatchewan doesn’t need to raise the threshold; it needs to lower it.

We should be making it easier for people to get involved and have their say. 

To provide some context, we thought we’d do some comparisons:

In California, where referendums are common, the threshold is 3% of eligible voters for legislative initiatives and 5% for constitutional initiatives.

Meanwhile, Alberta just lowered their threshold to 10% of those who actually voted in the last election.

(And given their turnout of about 60% at their last election, that works out to about 6% of eligible voters.)

In Alberta, that means about 177,000 signatures are needed.

If we applied the same rule to Saskatchewan, a petition drive would require the collection of 47,109 signatures to successfully obtain a referendum.

That’s a much more reasonable and achievable figure, and Saskatchewan should follow Alberta’s lead and adopt this threshold of 10% of those who voted at the last election.

This would give people a much bigger voice in shaping the future of our province, no matter what issues are on the table. 

It’s time to make democracy more accessible and truly reflective of what the people want.

Thankfully, the NDP’s antidemocratic plan to raise the threshold failed.

But the Saskatchewan government shouldn’t just reject the NDP’s idea; they should take a page from Alberta’s book and lower it to 10%. 

If you agree, please sign our petition calling on the government to Fix Saskatchewan’s Referenda Rules: