That’s right! We’re the Wild West of campaign financing. And the women running as candidates for the Saskatchewan New Democrats need support from Canadians everywhere if there’s any hope of ever defeating the SaskParty! Anyone living in Canada, any Canadian living abroad, and any corporation in Canada can donate to a Saskatchewan political party. So bring it, Canada, we need it.

And we need to prepare for the future, too. Preparing for the next election, succession planning, if you will, needs to carry on. The Bessie Ellis Fund, which exists to help more women run for nomination, needs topping up.

Saskatchewan will head to the polls on October 26. NDP leader, Dr. Ryan Meili, has gathered an incredible team of talent. Almost half the candidates around him are women and all candidates are committed to a progressive people first platform that includes pay equity legislation, a $15 minimum wage, $25/day childcare, and the return of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC).

By contrast, only 18 percent of the Sask Party’s candidates are women. And, as Premier Moe’s gerrymandered stronghold in rural areas weakens, news surfaced that an NDP candidate received a “disturbing letter” on a public bulletin board and discovered evidence of BB gun pellets on her campaign office door. The matter is now in the hands of the RCMP.

Threats are not a new experience for women. All our lives, we deal with insidious harassment and are encouraged to ignore or be ashamed of it. Most women experience some form of abuse, nuanced or outright, at some point in their lives. And Saskatchewan has the highest rate of domestic violence in the country. That threats such as this have crept into politics should not surprise anyone. It is not an isolated incident. It happens all over the country. Recently, a female public health official in British Columbia received a death threat.

Why, in the 21st century, must women pay such a high price, the threat of death, for taking a public role in building a better world? Why has the misogyny and general hatred toward women not been exposed and eradicated once and for all?

Furthermore, suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 49 in northern Saskatchewan. But in the last legislative session, the Sask Party caucus voted to defeat a comprehensive suicide prevention bill. And when a young Metis man, Tristan Durocher, walked 635 kilometers from Air Ronge in northern Saskatchewan to Regina and set up a tipi and 44 posters of suicide victims near the legislative building as protest, the Premier had him charged for trespassing. A judge dismissed the case.

Then there’s the Thanksgiving message tweeted out by Moe’s Minister of Highways and Infrastructure, the Sask Party’s candidate for Yorkton: a sermon by homophobic fundamentalist preacher in the southern USA. Ottenbreit also has associations with Charles McVety who is well-known for his promotion of homophobia and anti-Semitism in Canada.

This is a crucial election in Saskatchewan, one with great potential. We know that women’s voices need to be heard. We in Saskatchewan know that by working together, we can make a better world. Please, Canadians, take a moment to make a small or large donation to the Bessie Ellis Fund, a legacy fund which supports women seeking nomination.

Failing that, support any of these women who have courageously stepped forward as progressive women in this election campaign.

Or, donate the general campaign, here.

But please help. Lives depend on it.