Progressive Conservatives hope to gain ground in Sask.

It might be a difficult path ahead, but the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party of Saskatchewan is hoping to gain some ground in the Oct. 26 provincial election.

In 2016, PC candidates received 5,571 votes, or about 1.28 per cent of all the ballots cast.

Ken Grey, the party’s leader, has an optimistic viewpoint, but he also doesn’t want to get his hopes up too much.

“We realize that we’re not going to form government … but we can form an effective opposition,” he said Wednesday.

Maps of different electoral constituencies line the walls of Grey’s office in Harbour Landing. One challenge so far has been filling each of those ridings with a PC candidate.

He estimates that by election day, his party will have about 30 or 40 candidates across the province.

“At the end of the day, we’re still moving forward. We’re doing our best to get people in as many areas of the province as we possibly can. We have a tremendous team right now, and I’m very excited,” he said.

Grey sees the PCs as a legitimate alternative for right-wingers who are disgruntled with the Saskatchewan Party government.

“We’re truly conservative. (If) the Sask. Party was truly conservative, they wouldn’t be racking up $30 (billion or) $40 billion in debt. They wouldn’t be taxing us as much as they do. If I had any feeling that they could be a conservative alternative, I would be (on their side), but I don’t have that feeling,” he said.

His platform includes lowering taxes in many different areas. He would aim to establish a flat personal tax rate, cut business taxes, and remove PST from children’s clothing, used vehicles and boats. Another major goal is paying down the provincial debt.

“We need to conserve our tax dollars as best we can so we can afford the programs that we need in this province, like decent education, decent health care and rural health care. If we don’t have the resources on hand to make those things a reality, then we’re in bigger trouble,” Grey said.

While the campaign has just kicked off, the PCs are firing on all cylinders to get the word out about their message.

“Because we’re not in the legislature, we do have some struggles … so we’ve adopted a social media strategy … We’ve had some social media hits of up to 80,000 (views). It has been a really good way to engage with voters, and that’s mainly how we’ve been getting our word out,” Grey explained.

“We brought this party into the modern age. When we inherited it, the party was basically operating off of Excel spreadsheets and fax machines,” he added with a laugh.

Grey was elected leader of the PC Party at a leadership convention in 2018, succeeding Rick Swenson. This will be Grey’s first election as leader.

He’s a candidate in Regina Walsh Acres.