Saskatoon

Poll shows Sask. voters don't want out-of-province money in politics

A new poll out today suggests that people in Saskatchewan have some strong opinions about the way political parties line their coffers.

Mainstreet poll shows 69% of people polled don't want to see out-of-province donations to parties

A new poll out from Mainstreet Research suggests voters don't think political parties in Saskatchewan should be able to collect donations from outside the province. (CBC)

A new poll out today suggests that people in Saskatchewan have some strong opinions about the way political parties line their coffers.

A report out this week showed that Alberta's corporate sector likes donating to the Saskatchewan Party.

Advocacy group Progress Alberta said that since 2006, the Saskatchewan Party has accepted more than $3 million in out-of-province corporate donations, with more than $2 million coming from Alberta companies alone.

So what do the voters think?

Mainstreet Research spoke with 1,673 people in the province by cell phone and by landline on political funding issues.

  • 69 per cent said out of province money should not be allowed to fund political parties.
  • 74 per cent said charities should not be allowed to donate to politics.
  • 81 per cent said government funded organizations like cities or universities should not be allowed to donate to a political party.

A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.4%, 19 times out of 20.