Premier Brad Wall, Canada’s longest-serving and, until recently, most popular premier, has seen better days. His approval rating has plummeted to a low of 46% from 71% in December 2011 – the first time Wall has been assessed negative numbers during his decade in office, according to a Mainstreet/Postmedia poll in May.

In fact, Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government, which was first elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011 and 2016, is trailing the opposition New Democratic Party, which had the support of 49% of poll participants vs 40% for Wall’s party. If an election was held today, the Wall government, which won last year’s election with a whopping 64% of the popular vote, could well go down to defeat.

So, what has happened to turn off so many Saskatchewan voters? For starters, the spring budget, which jacked up sales taxes by almost $1 billion, slashed program spending and axed the province’s 70-year-old bus company, has been a major drag on the government’s popularity.

That budget cut funding for local governments, libraries, education and social services. It has reduced salaries for 40,000 civil servants (by 3.5%) and laid off 574 government employees, trimming almost $200 million in annual expenses for the province.

The budget also hiked the provincial sales tax to 5% from 6%, and expanded it to include restaurant meals, construction labour and overhead costs, children’s clothing and farmers’ bulk gasoline purchases, among other things.

At least there was some rationale for the bloodletting: Wall’s government has been aggressively combating the province’s deficit, which hit a record $1.3 billion in 2016-17. The deficit is projected to be $685 million in 2017-18 and eliminated by 2019-20.

But, paradoxically, the “austerity” budget also lowered tax rates for personal and corporate income by one percentage point over the next two years, making corporate tax rates the lowest in the country.

The budget’s mixed messages have been further muddled by the government’s backtracking on a number of cuts, including a $5-million reduction in library grants, $600,000 in cuts to funerals for social assistance recipients, and by partially restoring a scrapped $3-million hearing aid plan.

The government also partially reversed its decision to apply the 6% provincial sales tax to construction projects by removing the PST from some construction materials.

These reversals of budget decisions suggest that the budget itself was poorly planned and executed, and also indicate the government’s less than wholehearted commitment to spending restraint.

Wall also has seriously undermined his own credibility by engaging in protracted, partisan and personal battles with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over carbon pricing and with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley over which province offers the best royalty and tax regime for oil and gas producers.

Wall and company aren’t facing the voters for another three years, which gives them plenty of time to right the ship and get back on course. Failing that, the next provincial election, expected in 2020, could prove to be their Waterloo.

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