SASKATOON — Saskatchewan voters will head to the polls Nov. 7.

Elections Saskatchewan announced Wednesday afternoon that Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart had dissolved the legislature and set the date for the vote.

NDP Premier Lorne Calvert was expected to confirm the call later at the party's nomination meeting in his Saskatoon Riversdale constituency.

Since the last election in November 2003, the New Democrats have held a slim 30-28 seat majority over the Opposition Saskatchewan Party.

But Calvert will have to fight hard this campaign if he wants to maintain power, something the New Democrats have managed to do since 1991.

The Saskatchewan Party, under leader Brad Wall, has softened its image and is very much seen as a government-in-waiting in the province.

His party has built a steady base of support since it formed as a right-of-centre alternative to the NDP out of an alliance of disgruntled Liberals and vanquished Tories in 1997.

The two were already trading barbs earlier Wednesday after news of a deal struck between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald which ensures the eastern province will not lose any money under changes made to its offshore oil accord in last spring's federal budget.

Saskatchewan has been pushing for similar consideration for its oil resources.

During the last federal election the Conservatives promised to change the federal equalization program so that non-renewable resource revenues didn't shrink transfer payments from Ottawa. They made that change in the budget, but capped the payouts under the program, angering Saskatchewan.

Wall -- whose party draws on a lot of the same supporters as the federal Conservatives -- claimed the Nova Scotia deal shows Calvert has not been able to deliver for the people of Saskatchewan.

"Clearly, other provinces have been able to get a better deal from the federal government,'' Wall said. "Why hasn't Lorne Calvert?''

Calvert accused his opponents of being too close to the federal Conservatives to get tough with them.

"We're going to stand up for the people of Saskatchewan, and Mr. Wall has clearly demonstrated that he won't do that,'' he said.

In the 1999 provincial election, under then leader Elwin Hermanson, the Saskatchewan Party managed to force Roy Romanow and the New Democrats into a minority government and they relied on a coalition with the Liberals to stay in power.

It seemed the party under Hermanson was poised to make the move to the government benches in 2003. But the NDP effectively attacked the party's soft stance on maintaining public ownership of the province's government-owned utilities -- an argument Hermanson struggle to rebuff.

With 41-year-old Wallat the helm, the Saskatchewan Party has a fresh image.

After taking over the leadership in 2004, Wall and his team of backroomers set about dismantling the party's policy and rebuilding it to appeal to the centrist voter. Gone were policies that called for a referendum on publicly funded abortions, work-for-welfare and the end of affirmative action hiring practices.

Wall has been unequivocal in the party's new stance that the Crown utilities are not for sale and he has also tried to head off another NDP attack by affirming his belief in a publicly funded and publicly administered health care system.

The NDP has already tried to paint the Saskatchewan Party as a wolf in sheep's clothing -- literally. Before the campaign, the New Democrats launched a series of ads featuring a wolf's face superimposed on a sheep's head under the slogan "What Lies Behind the Friendly New Image?''

The ads made pointed references to private health care and privatizing the Crown utilities, signalling that the NDP wants to make those major issues in the campaign.

But who can best manage Saskatchewan's booming economy is perhaps bound to become the biggest issue.

Oil, gas and mining revenues have swelled the provincial purse in recent years. The money has allowed the NDP to make dramatic cuts in business and sales taxes while freezing tuition for students and capping prescription drug costs for seniors.

The Saskatchewan Party has been critical of how the government has paid for the goodies. The government used its rainy-day funds to finance all the spending in the short term, saying the growing economy will cover the costs in the long run.

With the hot economy driving up real estate values, particularly in Saskatoon, renters and first-time home buyers are feeling the pinch and there have been growing calls for more affordable housing.

The Saskatchewan Party has also focused on long waiting lists in the health-care system and a shortage of doctors and nurses.

A potential monkey wrench in the campaign is the threat of a federal election and what that will do to the party's stances on the equalization fight with Ottawa.

As was the case in 2003, the urban areas will be the key battlegrounds during the campaign, especially Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won all the large rural ridings in 2003 with the exception of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan Rivers and the two northern constituencies. The NDP won all the seats in Regina, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert and all but three of the seats in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party has eyes on Meadow Lake and it is also looking at Yorkton, where deputy premier Clay Serby is not running because he is battling cancer.

Fighting for attention in this campaign will be the Liberals and their leader, David Karwacki.

The Saskatoon businessman came close to winning his seat in the 2003 election, but failed and his party was shut out.

The Liberals have struggled to gain traction since the formation of the Saskatchewan Party and the coalition with the NDP in 1999, which led to two of the party's three sitting legislature members becoming New Democrats.