Sask. Party celebrates 25 years since founding

They’re the dominant force in Saskatchewan politics, a party formed 25 years ago by Liberals and Conservatives coming together under a Saskatchewan Party banner.

Don Toth was a Conservative MLA during the late 1990’s and was one of the eight founding members of the Sask. Party.

“You know we used to sit and listen to these members speaking the house and we’d be saying amongst ourselves as Conservatives; ‘You know they think a lot like we do,’” Toth told CTV News.

It was a move to unite the right of centre vote into a united political force strong enough to take on Saskatchewan’s NDP government at the time.

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Speaking to media following the announcement of the Sask. Party back in the spring of 1997, Conservative MLA Bill Boyd outlined the thoughts behind the formation of the new provincial party.

“This is in my view the only option for setting forward the policies and the platform that we think the people of Saskatchewan want advanced to oppose the NDP,” he said in the archived interview.

It would takes 10 years and three elections for the Saskatchewan Party to achieve its goal. Today, over 800 Saskatchewan Party members gathered in Davidson to mark the anniversary of the party’s founding.

“For me the accomplishments of the Saskatchewan Party that I would be the most proud of being a part of, in any capacity, since I’ve been elected and even those folks who were here most certainly before are the pro-growth policies that have been put in place,” Premier Scott Moe said in his remarks.

“We are seeing those policies attract investment from around the world, provide jobs for people to move here or for our kids to stay here.”

While the Sask. Party has been criticized for shifting more toward conservative policies during its time in government; the alliance formed by the founding members has remained intact as the party continues a 15 year run in power.