Editing Ross Thatcher (section)

===Premier of Saskatchewan (1964–71)===
Ahead of the [[1964 Saskatchewan general election|1964 provincial election]], the Liberals campaigned on growing economic development in the province; Thatcher also wooed [[Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan|Progressive Conservative]] voters and worked to limit competition between free-enterprise candidates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |first=Bill |url=https://archive.org/details/saskatchewannewh0000wais |title=Saskatchewan: A New History |publisher=Fifth House |year=2005 |isbn=9781894856492 |location=Calgary |pages=390 |language=en-CA |url-access=registration}}</ref> Thatcher's Liberals went on to win a narrow victory that ended 20 years of CCF-NDP government.<ref name=esask/><ref name=ccf>The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation became the New Democratic Party of Canada in 1961. The Saskatchewan CCF used CCF-NDP as a transitional name before it became the Saskatchewan NDP in 1967</ref> The popular vote was a virtual tie between the Liberals and the CCF; however, the distribution of the Liberals' votes and a sharp decline in [[Social Credit Party of Saskatchewan|Social Credit]] support allowed the Liberals to win a six-seat majority, making Thatcher the province's sixth Liberal premier and ninth overall.

Thatcher's government sold several crown corporations and declared the province "open for business" by encouraging private investment in the [[potash]] and other industries.<ref name=esask/> His approach to potash led to a rapid expansion of the industry in the latter half of the 1960s—the industry grew so rapidly that Thatcher eventually opted to negotiate a minimum price and production cap with American producers to avoid prices collapsing from oversupply.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=401 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Thatcher was known to boast that potash would become for Saskatchewan what oil was for neighbouring [[Alberta]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |first=Dale |title=From Left to Right: Saskatchewan's Political and Economic Transformation |publisher=University of Regina Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780889778672 |location=Regina |pages=136 |language=en-CA}}</ref> On economic issues, Thatcher's government was [[classical liberalism|classically liberal]], and was well to the right of the federal Liberals. Thatcher often clashed with the federal Liberal governments of [[Lester Pearson]] and [[Pierre Trudeau]] over agricultural policy, social welfare policies—which the federal party supported and Thatcher opposed—and constitutional reform, as well as the federal Liberals' attempts to form a federal political organization in the province separate from the provincial party.<ref name="esask" /><ref name="ce" />

Thatcher also focused on downsizing the province's robust civil service.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=143 |language=en-CA}}</ref> During Thatcher's tenure, veteran Saskatchewan civil servants were known to move to other provinces or to the federal civil service—which at the time was expanding the federal welfare state—and these migrants became known in government circles as the "Saskatchewan Mafia".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marchildon |first=Gregory P. |title=Saskatchewan Mafia |url=https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_mafia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706200309/https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_mafia.html |archive-date=2017-07-06 |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pasolli |first=Lisa |date=2009 |title=Bureaucratizing the Atlantic Revolution: The 'Saskatchewan Mafia' in the New Brunswick Civil Service, 1960-1970 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/12473 |journal=[[Acadiensis]] |volume=38 |issue=1 |via=University of New Brunswick}}</ref> Thatcher himself became renowned for being a "ruthless" leader that "ruled the Liberal caucus with an iron fist" and ran what came to be seen as a "one-man government".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=391–400 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

Thatcher's Liberals were re-elected with a slightly-increased majority in a snap election called in [[1967 Saskatchewan general election|1967]]. Thatcher then surprised observers by introducing an [[austerity]] program, which cut government services, increased taxes, and introduced medicare user fees. The provincial economy, which was still heavily resource-based, experienced a downturn, and reduced government investment hurt both the potash and agriculture industries, while oil and uranium production dropped as well.<ref name=":1" /> Thatcher's administration became increasingly unpopular as a result.<ref name=esask/> Thatcher pitched the next election, which took place in [[1971 Saskatchewan general election|June 1971]], as a stark choice between capitalism and socialism, promising for his part to continue running government like a business.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=265–66 |language=en-CA}}</ref> For their part, the NDP campaigned on increasing public ownership of resources and state-led development.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=From Left to Right |pages=78 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Although the Liberal vote share remained steady, they were defeated by [[Allan Blakeney]]'s NDP, who were helped by an increased voter turnout and the collapse of the Progressive Conservative vote.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=403 |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=From Left to Right |pages=80–81 |language=en-CA}}</ref> [[David Steuart]], Thatcher's top cabinet minister who would succeed him as Liberal leader later that year, quipped after the loss that, "If there was someone or some group that we hadn't alienated by the election of 1971, it was because we hadn't met them yet."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quoted in Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=403 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the election, Thatcher announced to the party that he intended to resign as Liberal leader, placing a one-year limit on the search for a successor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=268–70 |language=en-CA}}</ref>