Democratic
Renewal

The Problem

People don't believe in democracy as much as they used to because of shady backroom deals, and an electoral system that divides city and rural voters against each other.

The Promise

The NCP will restore the foundations of democracy within this province, and ensure that everyone's voice is heard.

The Plan

The NCP will introduce The Saskatchewan Democratic Renewal Act. This Act will be split into the following four sections:

• Electoral Reform (MMP)
• Lobbying Reform (The Sunshine Initiative)
• Campaign Finance Reform (No Outside Influence)
• Transparency (CodeShare Civics)

Given the scope of democratic renewal, implementation will be phased:

• Year 1: Campaign finance reforms and lobbying reforms take effect immediately
• Year 2: CodeShare Civics Phase 1 launches
• Years 2-3: Electoral reform preparation (boundary review, voter education)
• Year 4 or 8 (next election): MMP takes effect
• Years 3-5: CodeShare Civics full implementation

Electoral Reform:

Saskatchewan will adopt a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system. Implementation will require a minimum 24-month preparation period. If the Act passes more than 24 months before the next scheduled election, MMP will apply to that election. Otherwise, it will apply to the election following. Elections Saskatchewan will publish quarterly readiness reports.

In doing so, the total number of seats in the Saskatchewan Legislature will increase to 100.

• 55 of those seats will be for Local MLAs.
• 45 of those seats will be for Regional MLAs.

Regional seats will be allocated proportionally among registered political parties and registered regional citizen lists. Independent constituency candidates may continue to run for local seats without joining any list. Votes cast for local independent candidates will not be pooled automatically for regional-seat purposes.

Any non-party group seeking regional seats must register as a regional citizen list, submit an ordered slate of candidates for that region, and comply with the same nomination, disclosure, and deadline rules that apply to party lists. Vacancies in regional seats won by a citizen list will be filled by the next eligible candidate on that list.

Proportionality will be achieved using the Sainte-Lague / Webster Method to calculate seat distribution, which is just a way of mathematically dividing up the seats to ensure each party, or registered regional citizen list, only gets the number of seats equal to the percent of the regional vote it earned.

Elections Saskatchewan will divide the province into 6-8 regions, each electing 5-8 regional MLAs. Regions will be drawn to respect geographic communities of interest (urban, rural, northern) while maintaining roughly equal populations. No region may have fewer than 50,000 residents. Region boundaries will be reviewed after each census.

Provincial electoral regions will be drawn independently of federal riding boundaries, optimized for provincial representation.

Overhang seats, resulting from more local representatives being elected than their party is proportionally entitled to, will result in no more than 20 additional seats being distributed to the parties, or registered regional citizen lists, until proportionality is achieved, or seats run out.

Example: If Party A wins 60% of regional votes (entitled to 60 seats) but wins 65 local constituencies, they have 5 'overhang' seats. To restore proportionality, up to 20 additional regional seats may be distributed to other parties until their share matches their vote share, or until seats run out.

If proportionality still cannot be achieved, the minimal deviation outcome prevails and a written report must be released detailing the decision within 30 days.

Regional candidate lists must be submitted by registered parties or independent candidates to Elections Saskatchewan at least 60 days before the election. Parties must certify that their lists were determined through a democratic process open to all party members. List order determines which candidates fill seats won by that party. Each ballot will come with two votes:

• The first vote will be for your local MLA. Just like now, it will list a candidate and their party affiliation or registered regional citizen lists.
• The second vote will be for your regional MLA and also their listed party or registered regional citizen lists.

The second vote for a regional MLA and their party will be used to calculate the proportional distribution percentage of seats in the Legislature, and which candidates from the parties, or the group of independents, to place in those seats.

Vacancies in local seats will be filled by by-election. Vacancies in regional seats will be filled by the next candidate on the party's list from that region. If no eligible candidates remain, the seat remains vacant until the next general election.

If two or more independent MLAs, regional or local, are elected, an Independent Caucus of the Saskatchewan Legislature will be formed.

The Independent Caucus will be granted a secretariat and legally guaranteed the same per-member funding parity as with registered political parties, ensuring they have equal access to research, legal, and administrative staff. The only difference being the Independent Caucus or its secretariat will have no authority to whip votes, as they are independent.

Voting in Saskatchewan provincial elections will be made mandatory. However, fines will be levied at no more than $25, and fines will be waived where reasonable justification is provided to the court.

Reasonable justifications for not voting include: illness or medical emergency, being outside the province during the entire voting period, religious objection, caring for a dependent who cannot be left alone, or other circumstances beyond the voter's control. Voters claiming justification must submit a brief written explanation within 30 days of election results being certified. Elections Saskatchewan will presume good faith and grant justifications liberally. The purpose is civic encouragement, not punishment.

The voting age will be lowered to 16 years of age to allow for civic participation to coincide with civic education. Voting should feel second nature. The minimum age to vote will be 16. However, the minimum age to hold office will remain 18.

Digital voting machines will be prohibited. Saskatchewan will exclusively use paper ballots for voting, counted without the use of digital vote machines.

Voting will take place over an election week rather than a single election day. Ballots may be received, verified, secured, and reconciled each day, but no candidate totals, party totals, partial tabulations, or unofficial results may be accessed, aggregated, or released before the close of voting on the final day. Elections Saskatchewan shall maintain sealed custody and daily chain-of-custody records throughout the voting period.

Mail-in voting will be available to any voter who requests it, with applications accepted up to 14 days before voting week begins. Mobile voting stations will serve hospitals, care homes, and remote communities. Assisted voting will be available for voters with disabilities, with procedures to protect ballot secrecy while enabling participation.

Electoral reform will be implemented by legislation without referendum. The NCP believes that elected representatives have the mandate to reform the system that elected them, and that referendums on electoral systems consistently fail due to status quo bias rather than informed rejection. The subsequent election will itself serve as a referendum on the new system.

Elections Saskatchewan will receive a 50% budget increase to implement electoral reform, manage expanded disclosure requirements, and oversee CodeShare Civics petition verification. The Chief Electoral Officer will report annually on implementation progress.

MLAs elected under first-past-the-post will serve out their terms. The first MMP election will be a fresh start with new boundaries and dual ballots.

Lobbying Reform / The Sunshine Initiative:

Lobbying means any communication with a public office holder, made for payment or on behalf of an organization, intended to influence government decisions on legislation, regulations, policies, programs, contracts, grants, or appointments. Excluded from the definition: constituent casework, responses to government requests for information, submissions to formal public consultations, testimony before legislative committees, and communications from other governments (federal, municipal, Indigenous).

Communications from Indigenous governments, tribal councils, and organizations representing Indigenous peoples are government-to-government relations, not lobbying. These communications are still subject to transparency requirements but follow protocols established under Policy 04 - Reconciliation.

Communications from municipal governments and their associations are intergovernmental relations, not lobbying, but must be disclosed on a public registry.

Advocacy by unions, professional associations, and non-profit organizations on matters affecting their members is lobbying and subject to registration and transparency requirements. However, these organizations may designate up to three senior officers as authorized representatives without engaging external consultants.

The Conflict of Interest Commissioner will be granted expanded powers with additional funding and resources to ensure the lobbying rules herein are strictly enforced.

The Conflict of Interest Commissioner's office will be expanded with dedicated staff to review lobbying recordings, prepare summaries, and maintain the public registry. Summaries will be prepared by trained staff and verified by the public office holder before publication.

Consultant Lobbying, also known as third-party lobbying, will be banned in Saskatchewan. Payment for such services will be prohibited by law.

Those who wish to lobby the government must do so through their own senior officers or permanent employees. No more selling access.

A "cool-off" period will be enacted so that public servants are barred from all lobbying activities for no less than five years after they leave public service.

Ministers, MLAs, Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Ministers, and all other public servants will be prohibited from taking any and all off-record lobbying meetings.

Before any official lobbying can take place, the lobbyist must register in a public database with the Province, which will keep an active Lobbyist Registry. They must then make a formal, public, meeting request with whomever they are trying to lobby.

Unofficial lobbying is prohibited. Any substantive, unscheduled attempt to influence government business must be reported within 48 hours to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. The Commissioner may investigate, compel records, publish findings, and impose administrative penalties where authorized by law.

Where the Commissioner finds serious or repeated misconduct by an MLA, minister, or other public office holder, the matter may be referred to the Legislative Assembly for further sanction, including suspension or removal where permitted by law.

All meetings with lobbyists must be publicly scheduled 24 hours in advance. Every meeting will be recorded with both high-quality audio and video, with a separate redundant audio recording. The materials presented, the recordings, and a summary of what was discussed will be posted online and publicly available within 48 hours.

To clarify, all scheduled meetings between public office holders and registered lobbyists must be recorded. Recordings are not required for: constituent casework, intergovernmental meetings, party caucus meetings, or social encounters where government business is not discussed.

Substantive lobbying communications by phone or email must be logged and disclosed, including date, participants, and subject matter. Email communications with lobbyists must be conducted through official government accounts and are subject to public disclosure.

Incidental social encounters do not require reporting unless government business is substantively discussed. If substantive discussion occurs, the public office holder must file a brief disclosure within 48 hours describing the encounter.

Failure to report lobbying contacts may result in suspension from office for up to 30 days, determined by the Conflict of Interest Commissioner after investigation. Suspensions may be appealed to the Court of King's Bench. Repeated violations may result in removal from office by vote of the Legislative Assembly.

Lobbying recordings and transcripts will be retained for 10 years, then transferred to the Provincial Archives. Storage will be managed by Saskatchewan Digital Services on SaskCloud infrastructure.

Campaign Finance Reform (No Outside Influence):

Donations from unions, corporations, or other third parties will be prohibited. Donations will only be allowed from residents of Saskatchewan who have valid Saskatchewan government ID. Foreign or outside donations of any kind are strictly prohibited.

Eligible donors must be Saskatchewan residents with valid provincial identification. Acceptable identification includes: Saskatchewan health card, Saskatchewan driver's license, Saskatchewan photo ID card, or other proof of residency accepted by Elections Saskatchewan. New residents may donate once they have established residency for 30 days.

Residents may donate to political parties, organizations, Saskatchewan-based Political Action Committees (PACs), or third-party political advertisers. Registered parties and elected independents will receive $2.50 per vote received in the previous general election, paid annually for the four years following the election. This subsidy will be indexed to CPI.

Donations will be limited to a Global Aggregate Contribution of $1,200 per year per resident, indexed to inflation. This means that $1,200 is the total amount any individual in Saskatchewan can donate to any combination of Registered Political Parties, Constituency Associations, Candidates, Nomination Contestants, and Registered Third Party Advertisers (PACs).

All donations must be publicly reported to, and posted online by, Elections Saskatchewan within 48 hours. This includes "In-Kind" contributions, which are equally capped to the Global Aggregate Contribution of $1,200. Gifts, or hospitality stays, or any other services that might be construed as donation of value cannot pass the donor's $1,200 annual limit.

Volunteer time by individuals is not an in-kind contribution. Professional services provided free or below market rate by individuals, corporations, or unions are in-kind contributions valued at market rates and subject to the $1,200 limit and donation prohibitions.

When the writ is dropped, Third Party Advertisers are subject to a strict spending limit of no more than $150,000. Any political advertising that is intentionally targeted to an audience within Saskatchewan, or deals with topics of Saskatchewan policy, falls under the jurisdiction of the Saskatchewan Democratic Renewal Act, and the listed restrictions therein.

Third-party political groups or advertisers can only spend money on Saskatchewan targeted political advertising via donations from Saskatchewan residents, and, as stated above, those donations cannot exceed $1,200. The idea is to completely remove outside money from our elections.

All political ads, including digital ads, must be registered with Elections Saskatchewan 24 hours before posting or airing with the registration made public within 48 hours. Every ad must disclose who paid for the ad, how much, and who is the intended audience / target.

Unregistered political advertising will be fined at 1.5x the market value of the advertising placement as determined by Elections Saskatchewan based on published rate cards for comparable advertising. For digital advertising without clear rate cards, the fine will be 1.5x the amount spent, or $10,000, whichever is greater.

Digital platforms and broadcasters are prohibited from accepting political advertising payments for Saskatchewan target audiences from unregistered entities. The use of brokered personal data to create and target political advertising is strictly prohibited.

No political ads may be shown 48 hours before election week.

Loans to campaigns must be from recognized Saskatchewan financial institutions at market rates, or from the candidate personally up to $25,000. Personal loans must be repaid within one year of the election or converted to donations subject to the $1,200 limit. Unpaid loans in excess of $1,200 are prohibited contributions.

Candidates may contribute to their own campaigns but are subject to the same $1,200 annual limit as other donors. No candidate may spend personal funds beyond this limit.

Elections Saskatchewan will investigate complaints and may refer serious violations to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner or the RCMP. Penalties for violations include fines up to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for organizations, disqualification of candidates, and potential criminal charges for fraud or foreign interference.

The donation limits and disclosure requirements apply to party leadership races and nomination contests. Parties must report all contributions to leadership and nomination campaigns to Elections Saskatchewan.

Campaign finance restrictions will be designed to meet the Figueroa standard established by the Supreme Court of Canada, ensuring regulations are proportionate to the objective of electoral fairness. Mandatory voting provisions include conscience exemptions consistent with Charter freedoms.

CodeShare Civics:

The Government of Saskatchewan will introduce CodeShare Civics.

Saskatchewan Digital Services will establish a dedicated CodeShare Civics team of no fewer than 10 staff, including developers, legal experts, and community moderators. Initial implementation will focus on new legislation, with historical statutes added over a five-year retroactive digitization project.

CodeShare Civics is a method of participatory democracy that allows residents to see, and even propose changes to, the law. We are treating democracy like an open source project, because it is one. We are all in this together.

An online, version-controlled repository (repo), acting as a canonical mirror to the Saskatchewan Gazette, will be created to store and publicly display online all non-private Government of Saskatchewan information.

The Saskatchewan Gazette remains the official legal record. CodeShare Civics is a public-facing mirror for accessibility and participation. In case of discrepancy, the Gazette controls. Any discrepancy must be corrected within 7 days with public explanation.

This repo will use version-control software similar to Git, hosted on a Saskatchewan-made platform on servers in Saskatchewan. Version control allows the public to track every change made to laws, regulations, and other public documents over time, including the sponsoring minister, MLA, ministry, committee, or public body responsible, the date of the change, the version history, and the stated reason for the change. Think Google Docs meets Wikipedia for laws and regulations.

Visually, for residents, it will be in a "wiki" style where all documents, be they policies, regulations, or full statutes, are easily human- and machine-searchable and readable, with relevant information on the document included on the side and inline with the text. It will even include links to other relevant documents in the document itself.

Each document in this repo will be presented as a single page with different views:

• A regular view, which would show the document and relevant information, such as the sponsoring minister, MLA, ministry, committee, or public body responsible, when it was published, and options to see previous versions.
• A Diff view, which would show a side-by-side comparison of the current and previous version(s) of the document, highlighting additions, removals, when the change was made, and the stated reason for the change.
• A Suggested Changes view will be available for all to see and "like" or "support" the resident proposed changes to the document.
• A Discussion page for each document, where the public can comment on the document or proposed changes with others.
• A File view which would show the entire repository file system, for those who find that style more suitable.

An edit or "Suggest Change" button will be on all pages, allowing verified residents to suggest changes on any document, from fixing a typo to doing a statute rewrite. Residents who link their Saskatchewan Account, and have their health card linked to the account to verify it, will be allowed to make suggested changes and "star" other people's suggested changes.

Suggested changes will be viewed as official petitions to the government. Suggestions with 5,000 Saskatchewan resident "stars" will receive a ministerial response within 60 days. Suggestions with 15,000 Saskatchewan residents "stars" will be brought forward to the Legislative Assembly by the Speaker for a debate and vote on the matter.

The 5,000 and 15,000 star thresholds are minimums, not guarantees. Ministers must respond to 5,000-star proposals within 60 days but may respond that the proposal is outside government priorities or legally infeasible. The Speaker may decline to bring forward 15,000-star proposals that are clearly unconstitutional, duplicate existing legislation, or have been substantially addressed in the current session. Declined proposals will receive a written explanation.

Suggested changes can only be implemented, or "merged," by the relevant high-level authority for the area the change was made. It will also depend on what was changed. For example, if a law was changed then it must be read and approved by Legislative Assembly majority vote.

CodeShare Civics will display the sponsoring minister, MLA, ministry, committee, or public body responsible for each legislative or regulatory change, together with the date, version history, and stated reason for the change. Internal drafting records may be preserved for audit purposes, but individual public servants will not automatically be presented as public political authors.

Where a resident proposal is adopted in whole or in part, the resident will be credited as the originating proposer or contributing source, but not as a formal legal author of the law.

User accounts will display pseudonyms publicly; legal names will be verified but not displayed. Government staff reviewing proposals will not have access to real names except where required for fraud investigation. Starring is anonymous—neither government nor other users can see which accounts starred which proposals.

Proposals that violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, or the Criminal Code will be removed and not counted toward petition thresholds.

Proposals removed for illegality, duplication, procedural defect, or Code of Conduct violations may be appealed to an independent CodeShare Review Panel. The Panel shall issue written reasons and may uphold, vary, or reverse the removal decision. The Conflict of Interest Commissioner will have no role in ordinary CodeShare moderation appeals unless the matter also involves corruption, undisclosed lobbying, or abuse of office.

CodeShare Civics will operate under a Code of Conduct prohibiting harassment, hate speech, spam, and bad-faith manipulation. Moderators will remove violating content and may suspend accounts. Appeals will be made to the independent CodeShare Review Panel. Rate limits will prevent flooding: no user may submit more than 5 proposals or 50 comments per month.

Excluded from CodeShare Civics: Cabinet confidences during the confidence period, documents protected by solicitor-client privilege, personal information protected by privacy legislation, and documents related to ongoing law enforcement investigations. A public index of excluded document categories will be maintained.

CodeShare Civics will launch in three phases: Phase 1 (Year 1) - new legislation and regulations only, read-only public access; Phase 2 (Year 2) - verified account creation, commenting, and proposal submission enabled; Phase 3 (Years 3-5) - historical legislation digitization, full feature set.

CodeShare Civics accounts will integrate with SaskAccount, the unified provincial identity system described in Policy 16 - Digital Sovereignty. Health card verification establishes Saskatchewan residency for petition purposes.

CodeShare Civics will be accessible through public libraries and Service Saskatchewan locations with staff available to assist. Proposals may also be submitted in writing to the Legislative Assembly Clerk's office for digitization and posting.

The Funding

The operating funds will come out of the General Revenue Fund.

What It Means For You

It means money no longer controls politics.

It means elections that no longer divide us.

It means the dignity of holding government accountable.

FAQ

• What is Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)?
• A voting system where you get two votes: one for your local MLA just like now, and one for a regional MLA and their party or regional citizen list. The regional vote determines how many seats each party or list gets proportionally, so the Legislature better reflects how people actually voted.


• Will there be a referendum on electoral reform?
• No. The NCP will implement MMP through legislation. The subsequent election will serve as the public verdict on the new system.


• Will voting be mandatory?
• Yes, but fines are capped at $25 and waived for reasonable justifications like illness, being out of province, religious objection, or caring for a dependent. The purpose is civic encouragement, not punishment.


• Can 16-year-olds run for office?
• No. The voting age is lowered to 16, but the minimum age to hold office remains 18.


• What happens to consultant lobbyists?
• Third-party or consultant lobbying is banned. Those who wish to lobby must do so through their own senior officers or permanent employees. Official lobbying meetings must be publicly scheduled, recorded, and disclosed.


• What are the campaign donation limits?
• A global aggregate contribution cap of $1,200 per year per resident, total, across all parties, candidates, and third-party advertisers. Only Saskatchewan residents with valid provincial ID can donate. Corporate, union, foreign, and out-of-province donations are prohibited.


• What is CodeShare Civics?
• An online, version-controlled public repository where residents can read laws and regulations, track version history, see which minister, MLA, ministry, committee, or public body was responsible for each change, and propose improvements of their own.


• If my proposal gets enough support, does it automatically become law?
• No. Support thresholds trigger a required government response and, at higher levels, possible legislative debate, but they do not override the Constitution, existing legislative procedure, or government priorities.


• Will there be electronic voting machines?
• No. Saskatchewan will exclusively use paper ballots counted without digital vote machines. Voting will take place over an election week, but no vote totals or unofficial results will be accessed or released before voting closes on the final day.