Saskatchewan NDP Leader Cam Broten has removed a provincial election candidate in Saskatoon because of questionable posts on Facebook.

One post circulated by the governing Saskatchewan Party from 2013 shows a photo with the words: "A true gentleman holds the door for his woman then smacks her ass."

Above the image is written: "True, ladies?"

"I understand this was many years ago, but I have a zero-tolerance policy on the issue of making light of domestic violence," Broten said in a statement Thursday.

"No one wants a campaign where every old retweet or Facebook post is dragged out in 'gotcha' politics, but violence against women is a serious issue. Comments which take sexual harassment lightly are below the standard we should all expect from our elected representatives."

Broten pointed out that almost half of the party's candidates are women.

Clayton Wilson, who was running in Saskatoon Northwest, faced criticism a day earlier for Facebook posts from two years ago referring to "stupid farmers." He apologized and said that at the time of the posts he was upset by the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board.

His Facebook page has been removed.

Wilson's ouster came after Broten and Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall spent the day on the campaign trail for the April 4 election talking about health and highways.

Wall was in Silton, about 50 kilometres northwest of Regina, where several highways are lined with hazard signs, crumbling shoulders and potholes.

"Some people might find it strange that one of the first announcements that we would make as a part of the campaign is ... an admission that we know there's more work to be done in a number of areas of government, including in highways," Wall said.

"There are a lot of bad stretches of roads across the province of Saskatchewan."

Wall said the Saskatchewan Party will spend $70 million over three years to repair more highways if it is re-elected. The money has already been accounted for in budget estimates showing the province faces a deficit this fiscal year and next.

The premier could not say how many kilometres of road might be repaired.

Wall said highway repairs will be the most expensive plank in the Saskatchewan Party's election platform. He's already indicated that there will be few campaign promises from his party, because he's trying to watch the province's finances.

Karen Wilker, who owns a restaurant in Silton along Highway 322, would like to see permanent repairs to roads in the area. The highway, which leads to a popular provincial park, was closed last year because of what the Ministry of Highways called "severe surface breaks."

"This one stretch that's right in front of us was basically dirt," said Wilker, who noted she is not backing any party in the campaign. "There was no pavement. It was kind of like a goat trail going through."

Meanwhile, Broten promised that he would cancel a program which aims to streamline health-care costs.

He said the Saskatchewan Party government paid a U.S. consultant $40 million to implement the so-called Lean initiative and the program has cost the province more than $150 million.

"We need more care aides to look after seniors," Broten said. "Not more Lean consultants following nurses around with stopwatches."