A very sound business proposal for Brad Wall

Dear Mr. Wall;

I wish to advance a very good business opportunity to you. I have modeled this plan on the current arrangement the Province of Saskatchewan has with PotashCorp. It is a plan that will make money for you, make money for me and will help to illustrate how well you are managing our natural resources.

I propose that you permit me to rent out your family home in Swift Current. I am positive that I can find a good renter for the property and negotiate a very good rental amount.

I will ensure that the taxes are paid annually and that maintenance of the home is maintained.

In exchange, you will receive 4.5 cents for every dollar of rent that we are able to achieve! This is a sound proposal and you will certainly benefit from the $.045 from each dollar that you will receive!

Your ongoing advocacy for the current potash royalty structure in Saskatchewan illustrates what a great deal this would be for you and your family!

I eagerly await your affirmative response!

Sincerely,
Sask Party Watch!

It was all good fun until someone got hurt, right John?

chemical bomb tossed into Occupy Maine protestors camp

Dirty dirty Saskatchewan Party election tricks exposed

Are Saskatatchewan people really that stupid?

In my mailbox today was an election flyer from my local Sask Party Candidate. As I read through it’s contents, I couldn’t help but think, are people in Saskatchewan really this stupid that we would believe these claims, facts and figures?

They claim:

“-A family of four earning $50 000 now pays $8000 less income tax than in 2007”
But did you know the average Sask income according to Stats Canada is actually $71200. But let’s stick with $50 000. A family earning $50 000 represents about 5% of the population. That same family has also experienced an annual inflation increase of 2.8%. That means they are now paying an additional $7000-8000 on their disposable income. And don’t forget provincial sales tax, a percentage of the actual items which has increased by 2.8% annually. It’s also important to note that the consumer price index does not include the costs of food or fuel, which have increased approximately 18 – 23% which would realistically increase the cost of living substantially, unless of course you don’t eat and walk everywhere you go.

“Reduced Government Debt: Has reduced debt by over $3 billion”
Once again, not divulging all the facts. If the Sask Party government did not repeatedly rape and pillage the Growth and Financial Security Fund (rainy day fund), or raid smash the profitable crowns piggy bank every year, the Sask party would have produced a deficit budget each year. Instead, they proudly announced a $20 million dollar surplus. There is now said to be an urgent need by crown corps to invest in infrastructure, neglected over the years. Interesting. Similar to picking your pocket when you’re not looking and then gifting back your own money to you. Interesting indeed.

“-Improved Health Care: There are now 900 more nurses and 200 more doctors working in our province.”
This is a great claim but it fails to also mention, according to the Sask Party web site, that the population has increased by 15 000 people since 2007. That means and additional doctor for every 75 people (assuming all 200 doctors are general practitioners) and 1 nurse for every 17 people (not considering the existing nursing shortage). As the provincial population increases, so does the demand on our human resources. This is not an improved health care. This is status quo health care. In fact, if you consider hospital closures, cuts to provincial chiropractic coverage, cuts to senior programs in Qu'appelle Health Region and cutting over 1800 jobs in social services care, to mention a few, our health care system is actually eroding at a slow and steady pace each year.

“-Investing in Infrastructure – over $4 biliion has been invested in roads, hospitals and schools.”
But did we forget not a few months back March 2010, when the provincial budget indicated a reduction in capital projects by over $700 million? Did we forget about the four year plan of laying off over 1800 government positions in the same 2010 budget?

“-Supporting Students – increased funding 40% - 650 new housing units, $2000 towards post secondary education.”
Due to Provincial funding shortfalls again, the University of Sask is raising tuition rates for 2010 by 5.2% Students in arts, agriculture, education, computer science and nursing courses will pay an additional 4.4 per cent in tuition. Law students will pay 9.8 per cent more for tuition, and medical students will pay an additional eight per cent. The Sask Party’s offer of $2000 over 4 years is not even enough to cover the needed rate increase of 3.2 per cent for the 2011-12 academic year - the $586 average increase in annual tuition. Would it not be easier to fund post secondary institutions such that tuitions could be frozen? I guess that wouldn’t have the same effect on a Sask Party brochure. Sounds like more “shell games” to me.

-Strengthening farm families – reduction in education property tax, cut farm taxes by 80%, funding crop insurance all time high $161 million.
This is the ultimate magic trick! Reduce the education tax on property in rural Sask, eliminate local boards ability to set mill rates, and instead provide that portion from provincial coffers, and the icing on the cake, they claim to be contributing more than ever to our education system. Yet teachers salaries don’t keep pace with inflation, educational assistants are reduces by 75%, and the entire Sask curriculum is renewed from k to 12 without additional resources to implement new curricula.

But the Sask. Party has done their homework indeed. The majority of his winning seats are in rural Saskatchewan. Keep the farmers happy as we approach an election year, and smooth sailing ahead indeed. Property taxes for the urban areas has been on a steady increase. In Saskatoon, property taxes increased 5.44% in 2008, 3.86% in 2010, with similar increases in Regina.

So what does the Saskatchewan Advantage Really mean?
Despite the UNPRECEDENTED Advertising campaign where you will see billboards, web site banners, flyers, image wrapped vehicles and on and on to the point where radio talk show host Vic Dubois complains, here are some statistics you won’t see on Sask Party Billboards:
· Crime rates – across Canada falls to lowest rate since 1973, but in Saskatchewan, still has the highest crime rates in the country with Regina reported the highest Crime Severity Index, followed by Saskatoon.
· Tax rates for business have been reduced from 4.5% to 2%
· Off-sale beer retailers get a break, with the government hiking their beer discount for the first time since 1993
Questionable advertising tactics
· Political parties are to refrain from campaign advertising prior to an election call, yet Sask. Party members have invested thousands in vehicles clad in party colors and members images, placed strategically throughout the city as roving billboards.
· Despite city bylaws prohibiting advertising on public property, Sask party candidates freely place their election signs, often in rows only a few feet apart, on boulevards entering neighborhoods creating a sea of visual pollution for all.
What I would like to know is why does the Sask Party feel the need to invest unprecedented money into advertising? I think you know the answer to that question. The Saskatchewan Advantage is real, but only for a select few. It is the essence of capitalism of which neither you nor I are included. If you can honestly say you are better off than you were four years ago, vote accordingly. If you cannot, if you pay more in property tax, provincial tax, income tax, fuel costs, food costs, energy costs; if your child is now in a classroom of 30+ students without support, if you pay more for chiropractic care, if your salary buys less today than it did four years ago, then you just realized the Saskboom is in reality, Saskadoom if we continue on this course.
“Capitalism: An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.”
Sask Party tactics

"whatever the market detects ... er ... I mean dictates"

My favorite phony Saskatchewan Party caller to the John Gormley live show yesterday wasn't reading his script very well. At about the 10:55 AM mark of the show the caller misread his script. He said that "things work best according to market detects ... er .. I mean according to market dictates."

She must be on her coffee break

At the 9:23 am mark of this mornings Gormley open mouth show, an extremely hard core right wing woman named 'Sharon' phoned in. She started off by saying that she works for the provincial government. (Excuse me darling, are you on your coffee break or are you phoning Gormley on the taxpayers nickel? - And by the way, are you listening to Gormley on the radio at work while we pay you to actually work for the people of Saskatchewan?).

She then went on to say that all provincial parks should be privatized. (Not sure what the context of that gem was??).

The caller then related that she and her husband own rental properties and that they drove around and took down an NDP lawn sign that one of their tenants had put up! HUH! Mr. Gormley's little caller is breaking the law as stipulated in The Saskatchewan Election Act.

Another morning in the Right Wing paradise known as John Gormley Live.


John Gormley - HE USED TO GET AWAY WITH IT, BUT NOT ANYMORE.

Rawlco Radio's first phony 'snap poll' of the election

Gormley's first phony 'snap poll' results are in. What a joke!




John Gormley - HE USED TO GET AWAY WITH IT, BUT NOT ANYMORE.

The entire cost of -John Gormley Live- should be a Saskatchewan Party election expense

Rawlco Radio's acute Sask Party bias is not even in question anymore.

For twenty hours a week (8:30 mornings to 12:30 noon), over the next four weeks, John Gormley's live talk show will be a non-stop commercial for Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party.

Clearly, the entire cost of the show, production, salaries, etc. should be tallied up by Saskatchewan's Chief Electoral Officer and added on to the Sask Party's election spending amount.

Don't let Mr. Gormley feign anything but the truth. Rawlco Radio, the entire lot of them, are dupes for the Saskatchewan Party.




John Gormley - HE USED TO GET AWAY WITH IT, BUT NOT ANYMORE.

It's time for criminal charges in the Rob Norris financial scandal

Brad Wall gives $1.300 in capital spending per student to SIAST and the U of S. But for St. Peters College $60,000 per student was handed out! And from the tax money intended for construction, almost $900,000 was spent on day to day operations!

NDP Education Critic Cam Broten called on the Sask Party government today to provide an update on whether criminal charges will be laid in relation to Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris’s failed attempt to merge St. Peter's College and Carlton Trail Regional College. Broten also called for the government to be clear about whether the decision about criminal charges was made by provincial government officials or sent out-of-province to avoid any political interference.

“We’ve had several months of silence from the Sask Party government on this important file and the people of Saskatchewan have a right to know what is going on,” Broten said. “This merger scandal involves an appointed joint-CEO who was closely tied to the inner circle of the government through his $1,000 per year membership in the elite Sask Party Enterprise Club. It involves government-appointed board members, including a former Sask Party nomination candidate, who ignored concerns and belittled the whistle blowers. And both Rob Norris and Humboldt MLA Donna Harpauer were involved in this project. So I would hope that the determination about whether or not to lay criminal charges was made by out-of-province prosecutors.”

Broten noted that Rob Norris delivered over $60,000 per student in capital funding to St. Peter's College – compared to just $1,300 per student to SIAST and the University of Saskatchewan – despite the fact that the joint-CEO had a criminal history of defrauding the Saskatchewan Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund.

Three independent reports released at the end of June outlined many damning findings related to the failed merger, including that taxpayers' dollars were used inappropriately; over $874,000 of public capital funding was actually used for operational expenditures at St. Peter’s College; and a special transfer of $60,000 of taxpayers' money to St. Peter’s was well timed with the purchase of a luxury SUV for the joint-CEO and member of the elite Sask Party Enterprise Club.

While responding to those three reports, Rob Norris spoke of the existence of a fourth independent report which outlines the specific details of potential criminal behaviour in the scandal, however he refused to provide further information about what is contained in that fourth report.

“The Sask Party government has demonstrated very poor judgment throughout this entire process and they have had to be pushed to do the right thing at every step of the way,” Broten said. “We’ve been waiting for months to hear what is in that fourth independent report, who it points the finger at in terms of criminal behavior, and whether any criminal charges will actually be laid. It’s time for the government to answer these questions and to make it clear who made the decision about criminal charges.”

press release from Cam Broten MLA

Brad Wall trys to pull a fast one but fortunately got caught

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
by James Woods

The legislative press gallery was thrown into a, well, let's just call it a tizzy, on Monday morning when reporters checked the orders in council from the previous week's cabinet meeting.

Included was a bombshell - a letter of agreement saying Ed Carleton had been named chief of staff to Premier Brad Wall and that he was getting a pay raise to $9,017 a month.

Carleton, Wall's childhood friend, has been executive of the Saskatoon cabinet office since the Saskatchewan Party took office in 2007. As well, he is a former University of Saskatchewan Huskies linebacker who has served as defensive co-ordinator for the football team since 1993.

Reporters were perplexed by the news because there had been no hint that current chief of staff Joe Donlevy - one of the premier's most relied-on advisers - was planning on stepping down. And Carleton, based in Saskatoon, would not have been viewed as a likely person to fill the post in any case.

But things got even more confusing when questions started flying at the government and no one in communications seemed to know anything about the major personnel shift.



Finally, Reg Downs, the premier's senior adviser, was able to set the record straight - both Carleton and Donlevy are staying in the same place.

The problem was the letter's "somewhat strange wording" Carleton was to be chief of staff, but of the Saskatoon cabinet office, and the change in title was to better reflect his duties.

And the pay raise? That, according to Downs, was a mistake. The change in title was to be accompanied by the same salary as before - $8,202 a month - and the letter has to be amended.

Reporters naturally wondered whether Carleton's raise would have gone through if they hadn't asked about the order.

But the government maintains somebody would have caught it.
SP

The extremely short memory of the Saskatchewan Party

In 2003, the Saskatchewan Party opposition was roundly condemned for fabricating a quote by then Minister, Maynard Sonntag:

"At issue was a quote attributed to Crown Investment Corp. Minister Maynard Sonntag, supposedly from a June 13, 2000, debate on the budget estimates. It quoted Sonntag saying: "With respect to Con-Force in the construction of the buildings, they were jointly owned. The ownership was Con-Force 51 per cent and ourselves 49 per cent."

Here's what Hansard indicates Sonntag said: "First of all, with respect to Con-Force in the construction of the buildings, they were jointly owned but they were entirely debt-financed and SaskWater -- the Spudco division of SaskWater -- subsequently bought Con-Force out."

Not only did the Opposition completely distort Sonntag's statement, but it did so to make the point that there needed to be a special legislative investigation of him for "lying to the legislature." That's not just irresponsible. It's contemptible."
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Feb 26, 2003. pg. A.12

The Saskatchewan Party never did apologize for their 'contemptible' actions.

Every since, the Saskatchewan Party has gone out of its way to find anything that the NDP has published that does not have all the i's dotted and the T's crossed. Too funny!

Saskatchewan's Incompetent Finance Minister

Today in Question Period, Finance Minister Ken Krawetz kept referring to Saskatchewan's Provincial Auditor as 'he'.

Problem for Ken is that Saskatchewan's Provincial Auditor is Bonnie Lysyk.

Ooops!

Sask Party Speaker tosses Trew from the Legislature for telling the truth about McMorris's lie

The most one sided, partisan Speaker in any Canadian Legislature presides over the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. Yesterday, he threw an NDP Member out of the Legislature for telling the truth.

If Health Minister Don McMorris had any class at all, he would find a way to keep his word to this poor woman. But this is Wall's 'new' Saskatchewan. Billions of dollars in profits for PotashCorp. Nothing for the people of the province.

RLP

How do you define 'cheap'?

(Hat tip to Pierre Bourque)

When little girl guides come knocking on your door selling cookies, the intent is to raise funds for a wonderful international youth organization.

Here we have a Saskatchewan Conservative Member of Parliament, who earns a base salary of $157,731 from taxpayers. When little cherub faced girl guides knocked on his door, he grudgingly added a $1 donation to his $4 box of cookies - and then complained that he never pays full price and can't even get any votes for his generous $1 gift.

Voters in Saskatoon-Humboldt should be aware of Mr. Trost's unflinching and magnanimous generosity in the community.

Minister Billy Boyd Continues To Act Like An Employee Of The Potash Cartel

You really have to wonder who Minister Billy Boyd thinks he works for. Even though the taxpayers of Saskatchewan pay his wages, Billy Boyd seems to be putting the interests of the Potash cartel ahead of the people of Saskatchewan. Shame.

Good Morning and welcome to listeners of Rawlco Radio's John Gormley Show!

Yes! Sask Party Watch wants to wish a very good morning and welcome to listeners of Rawlco Radio's John Gormley Show!

(Although, with ratings for the show as low as they are, there won't be all that many to welcome here today - probably just Trent, Mike, Paulie and that other guy with the bad adenoids who calls in to the show every day!)

((And special greetings to Mr. Gord Rawlinson, up in Edmonton, who is making all of this Gormley stuff possible for Saskatchewan radio listeners!))



:)

Brad Wall wants to keep Liberals, Greens and PC's out of next Leader's Debate

Surprise, surprise. Brad Wall doesn't want the Green, Liberal or (gasp) PC leaders in the upcoming Saskatchewan leader's debate. I think the fact that Rick Swenson will finally have a public forum to ask Wall the hard questions about the stolen PC Trust Fund, will make watching the debate fun all by itself.

I can already see the beads of sweat breaking out on Mr. Wall's face when Rick Swenson confronts him. Maybe Wall will be smart and resolve the issue before it gets to that.

"politicians all a twitter"

No lunch for you

The public is now aware that the Saskatchewan Party has a secret club. Until recently, for a thousand dollar donation to the party, you got a number of perks. Reporters and pundits have been unable to get Premier Wall to disclose what these perks are. We'd like to speculate. For the mere sum of $1000, we think that you got lunch with Premier Wall, a golf game with Wall and some cabinet ministers, a secret decoder ring, a coffee mug, an autographed picture of Brad Wall, a tee shirt and a nice chunk of potash.

Since we don't know what you actually 'do' get for the thousand dollar club membership, we simply hope that someone will fill us in.

Enterprise club lunch cancelled

'NDP Boogeyman' Outed!

We now know that the libelous Saskatchewan Party blog known as 'ndpboogeyman' is authored by a prominent online troll who goes by the name of 'Mike the Greek' 'Mike C' or just 'the Greek'. He is a regular caller to the John Gormley radio talk show.

Mike is a prominent Saskatoon businessman in the insurance business who has a long history with Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party. Along with notorious Sask Party troll, Trent Lalonde, Mike has been slandering New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives for years. That may be about to change!

He is John Gormley's facebook friend (and Twitter pal) as well as Ezra Levant's and half the Saskatchewan Party caucus.

On any given day, ndpboogeyman publishes a post and within a few minutes Gormley mentions it on his radio show. It appears that Mr. Gormley may be very much involved in this online smear strategy on behalf of Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party.

It's a good thing that 'Mike the Greek' has some lawyer friends because he just may need them. Mind you neither Gormley nor Ezra are renowned for their lawyering, rather both are in the business of political commentary.

UPDATE:
Word on the interwebs has it that Mr. Gormley is some ticked that he has been defamed regarding his skill as a lawyer. Phhhtt! He should perhaps get a thicker skin and read the fine print from way way back on the very first post on this blog

Memo To Minister Of Justice, Hon. Don Morgan QC

TO: Minister Don Morgan QC
Minister of Justice and Attorney General

FROM: Taxpayers of Saskatchewan

RE: Regional College Scandal

Dear Minister Morgan, please accept our wishes for the quick return of your voice. We must assume that you have a sore throat and are unable to rise to your feet in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly and answer questions directed to you in Question Period. While your colleague, Mr. Boyd, wants to assist and answer for you, we would like to hear from you.

Please get well soon!

Memo To Minister Rob Norris

TO: Minister Rob Norris
Minister of Advanced Education,
Employment and Labour

FROM: Taxpayers of Saskatchewan

RE: Regional College Scandal

OPEN THE BOOKS!

Because It's Really All About Brad Wall !!

Saskatchewan Party Introduces Corporate Budget Because PotashCorp Needs More Tax Breaks

Yawn.

(1) Sask Party Has Secret 'Club' - For $1000 Gives Access To Premier And Cabinet (2) Wall's Pal Caught With Hands In The Till

(1) Who are you going to believe - Brad Wall or a well respected Saskatchewan Priest?

"Last week, the Saskatchewan Party cancelled (Glen) Kobussen's "Enterprise Club" membership after it was learned St. Peter’s College, which is located in Muenster, had paid it for it. The co-chair of St. Peter's board of governors, Father Demetrius Wasylyniuk, said the college paid because it wanted the CEO to increase his "exposure" to the political process. At the time, St. Peter's was trying to merge with the Saskatchewan government's Carlton Trail."www.cbc.ca

(2) Glen Kobussen was hired by the Brad Wall government to act as CEO for two small rural colleges even though he was found guilty of five counts of fraud in 1995 for siphoning money from the Saskatchewan professional firefighters burn fund charity. He later received a pardon. That was good enough for Brad Wall and off to work he went.

Problem was, because the two colleges are slated for a merger, the Wall administration contracted with an accounting firm to look at the books and governance issues prior to the merger.

Guess what the accountants found? Glen Kobussen is alleged to have undertaken sufficient financial improprieties that he has now been fired. The accountants found that "The memo raised concerns that Kobussen had been charging St. Peter's College twice for reimbursement of travel expenses by claiming mileage as well as gas and repair costs on his college credit card.

Burgess also raised concerns that a 52-inch Sony television purchased by the college and picked up by Kobussen had never been accounted for.

The report also shows Kobussen made a $1,000 donation to the Saskatchewan Party to join its "Enterprise Club." That amount was reimbursed to him by St. Peter's, which Burgess described in his report as "not a normal expense in the everyday ordinary operation of the college." An official with the Sask. Party government later said the money was being returned by the party to St. Peter's." Saskatoon SP

Old Man Sweating, Trying To Look Youthful

(Who the hell in the Saskatchewan Party brain-trust thought this would be a good idea?) ((pants look a little wet))

Is That A Bong?

Being unfamiliar with what goes on in the offices of the Saskatchewan Party Caucus, I simply have to ask if that thing with smoke coming out of it is a 'bong'?

When Brad Wall Doesn't Get His Own Way

Mr. Grumpy is having a BAD day.

Historic Speeches From Potential Future Leaders Of The Saskatchewan Party Caucus

Sask Party Watch is going to start a new feature that highlights historic speeches and articulate elocution by Members of the Saskatchewan Party Caucus who may one day succeed Brad Wall as leader: Enjoy!

The following is a speech by Arm River MLA, Greg Brkich on March 26, 2004 - Address In Reply To The Speech From The Throne:

"Talk a bit about the Crowns and why a lot of people are, some people are dissatisfied with them. I will talk about . . . I have two communities, Craik and Imperial, that have their own cable companies. They entered an agreement with SaskTel, I think it was . . . I have the paperwork down in my office. I may be wrong on the date, but it was roughly around the 2000 to 2006, for a certain amount to pay for pole use. In 2002, SaskPower comes in, takes the contract away from SaskTel, rips it up. Doesn't inform the towns that had the contracts except to send them a bill saying that they're going to increase the rates over the next two years. The first year is a 67 per cent increase, the third year a 73 per cent increase, and the next year is an 80 per cent increase. Didn't even consult with the towns, basically just tore it up. With that extra money, it's not like they're providing more service, more infrastructure. All it is, is . . . The agreement that was made on it, Mr. Deputy Speaker, was poles. The towns are using SaskPower poles to run the line of their own cable company on this pole. A little tiny, little thin line — it's already there. Using that, SaskPower has decided to basically gouge these towns throughout the province.
You have to ask yourself why. I don't think it's a big demand on the power poles. I don't think that little line has tore down many power poles. And besides, you have a contract up to 2006.
The town says, hey we're willing to renegotiate at the end of the contract. We signed a valid, legal contract. We're willing to negotiate. If the price wants to go up afterwards, hey that's what we face. We designed our cable companies with the price in this contract. When we set out our services, we sent out a rate for the . . . yearly, to our customers to get them signed up. That's what we used.
So now we've got this added increase. So we have to go back, Mr. Deputy Speaker, go back to the people and say, we have to charge you more to use this cable, to use this cable. How is that helping small rural towns who are basically trying to get their own cable companies, own little things? That's just one instance of the Crowns always trying to compete with the local businesses instead of working with them. Over the number of years, the Crowns want to run things of every little business.
And at the utility end, they're very good at it. Do their job. Stay in the utility end. But why do they want to get into businesses?
Outlook was another one. The IRON Solutions magazine, they had to go buy one in Ontario to compete with the one in Outlook, employs 20 people. I mean, right now he's struggling.
That's 20 less people that could be out of a job because a Crown had to buy another dealership magazine, and keep it in Ontario, that services Western Canada. Now how is that helping rural Saskatchewan? How is that helping it grow?
They had made . . . Another agency, Rural Revitalization. That was supposed to work with that and help problems with that.
And there has not been one instance where they've actually helped the businesses out in rural Saskatchewan, worked with it. You want to really grow the businesses, get the Crowns trying not to drive the small businesses out of town, out of business out there in rural Saskatchewan.
Health care, on the Throne Speech . . . you know, no vision out there and that scares a lot of people. Over the years, I've read a lot of petitions on people that are scared about losing their services in Imperial and Craik and Davidson. Right now there's rumours that some of the little hospitals are in trouble. There's a rumour. . . I've even had calls from Moose Jaw about a rumour about a seniors' complex that may be closed. You know, people are very worried out there.
The beds . . . right now Davidson, a long-term care and Imperial . . . I'm not sure about Davidson. Now Imperial is five. There's five on the waiting list. You close some more beds out there; where are these people going to go? They're going to overload the system somewhere else, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
You're going to have to look at trying to expand the services and work with the people. I mean we can talk about the waiting lists going down the line. When I look at the response from the Health minister out there and the Finance minister, I get very worried that they're going to be cutting some more hospitals out there and some more long-term care beds out in rural Saskatchewan. And there's nothing left to cut. They're cut basically right to the bone. You cut any more out there and this system is getting ready to explode out there.
You want to . . . Mr. Deputy Speaker, when you look at a government, you should be looking at their legacy. And you look at the Chrétien government, it's going to be remembered for the scholarship scandal,(Editor's Note: I think he means 'Sponsorship Scandal ??) Mr. Deputy Speaker. You look at the Devine government. It did a lot of good things, but when you mention its name, debt always seems to be associated with that particular government.
But what is this legacy of this particular government going to be? If it continues down the same path that it is going, Mr. Deputy Speaker, its legacy was going to be having the most longest waiting lists. It's going to have the poorest health care, having people, Mr. Deputy Speaker, people die unnecessarily under its watch. That's what this government, if it continues down this path, that's what it will be remembered for.
And then we can talk about the debt that this Premier is starting to incur. The previous premier had left a little surplus there.
Now this Premier is running close to $1 million-a-day deficit. What do you think he's going to be remembered for 20 years down the road? He's going to be remembered, I think, with disgust and contempt, Mr. Deputy Speaker. That's what he's going to be . . . what this government is going to be remembered by, if it continues down the path of the way it is serving rural Saskatchewan with health care throughout the province. That's how it's going to be remembered.
It's going to be remembered, Mr. Deputy Speaker, of 19 quarters — 19 quarters of continuous population loss, the only province in all of Canada that that is happening in. That's what people are going to be remembering this government — the
depopulation of rural Saskatchewan. The gutting of rural Saskatchewan — that's what this government is going to be remembered for. And it's going to be remembered by disgust and contempt over . . . many years from now. And that contempt and disgust is out there in rural Saskatchewan. All you have to do is look around the members here they've elected, over the number of years. And that disgust and contempt is there. And it's going to be there for a long time.
And you know what, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it's creeping into the cities, the disgust and contempt for that Premier and that government with the three new members that we have here.
And it's going to keep growing, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And eventually we will be getting rid of that government. We came that close to it. When we get rid of that socialist government, it will be the best times for Saskatchewan. And that's what we
need, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Finally maybe we can get this province on the right track and get it growing, Mr. Deputy Speaker, at that end.
With that Mr. Deputy, I think you probably get the idea I'm not going to support this Throne Speech. I've listened to four Throne Speeches that made the same promises. And what did we have, Mr. Deputy Speaker? What did we have after each
Throne Speech through that year? We had population loss. We didn't have any growth in rural Saskatchewan. We had the waiting lists get longer after each and every Throne Speech, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And I can't see one bit of difference with this Throne Speech.
It's about time this government actually did some action, maybe thought outside the box, forgot about their socialist ideological ideas that just has to be basically just straight socialist. If they're not running it, if the government can't run it, than nobody else can run it. They can't work. Well till this government starts thinking outside the box, this province will keep going backwards, Mr. Deputy Speaker."

Why Brad Wall Should Not Be Allowed To Choose His Own Outfit

Nice pants Bradley!

Crowns Work Because The Private Sector Won't Bring Some Services To Rural Sask

WATCH: Rural politicians call for speedier internet - Saskatchewan - CBC News

You won't get Billy Boyd to acknowledge that Saskatchewan pioneered crown corporations out of necessity and that the province continues to value them because the private sector will not provide services to our far flung, thinly dispersed rural populations.

The entire Saskatchewan Party ideology is based on a belief that private enterprise is always better than public endeavors. Yet when confronted with the reality of life for many rural citizens, Sask Party eyes glaze over and they revert to repeating the mantra of 'private business is good / crown corporations are bad'.

Why Did Sask Party Cabinet Minister Norris Hide Unauthorized Land Sale?

A number of very serious questions have been raised as to why Minister Rob Norris did not disclose an unauthorized land purchase by the SIAST Board of Directors. Were it not for disclosure by the Provincial Auditor, how long would Minister Norris and the Wall Cabinet have hidden this matter? Something smells very badly here.

Regina LP

Someone Should Remind Billy Boyd That He Works For The People Of Saskatchewan Not PotashCorp

Mr Grumpy still has some explaining to do about his little Delisle road trip

During Question Period on March 8, 2011, Bob Bjornrud (minister of agriculture) was answering a question from the Opposition when Boyd interrupted him and jumped to his feet, sputtering what can only be described as an infomercial for PotashCorp. Problem is, Boyd isn't supposed to be so obvious that he is on a leash for the potash industry and does not actually represent the interests of Saskatchewan citizens.

For the record, here is Billy Boyd in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, March 8, 2011. (Talk about a pinata of crazy!)

Hon. Mr. Boyd: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to respond . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: — Order. Order. I.d ask . . . Order. I.d ask members to allow the Minister Responsible for Energy and Resources to respond.
Hon. Mr. Boyd: — I respond to the member opposite, the Leader of the Opposition, in terms of his thoughts about the $1.8 billion . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: — Order. I recognize the Minister of Energy and Resources.
Hon. Mr. Boyd: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I respond to the Leader of the Opposition.s call about $1.8 billion of profits. First of all, Potash Corporation has three main areas of business. They have phosphorous, nitrogen, and potash. The first two, nitrogen and phosphorous, are not located in Saskatchewan. So of the $1.8 billion of profits, $1.2 billion is related to potash. So it.s $600 million . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: — Order. Order. It.s quite ironic that the members at least not allowing the guests and those who are trying to follow the debate to hear what the minister has to say. I recognize the minister.
Hon. Mr. Boyd: — So it.s $600 million right there less than what the Leader of the Opposition is quoting. He is saying it.s only $76.5 million in royalties. Well if he looks at the balance sheet of Potash Corporation, he would find that it.s much, much more than that if you just read a few lines further down on the balance sheet. If the Leader of the Opposition, the former oil lobbyist, would take a moment and read down a little bit further on the balance sheet, he would see that they paid, in addition to that, significant income taxes. When you total it all up, Mr. Speaker, on $1.2 billion of potash profits, they paid about $350 million. That.s what the real number is, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it full well.
[Interjections]

Too bad that none of the economists familiar with the potash industry agree with Mr. Boyd's figures. Someone should remind this very excitable minister that 'when you are esplainin' you are losin'. I'll drink to that!

No Money For Farmers But Brad Wall Has Billions For PotashCorp

Guess what? Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party government has raised crop insurance premiums by a whopping 21 percent for the province's farmers. This at the same time when uncertainty in the Middle East is driving up fuel prices.

Input costs for our farmers are going through the roof. But Brad Wall continues to argue that he has no money, when in fact the potash companies continue to rip billions out of the ground while flipping the odd nickel of royalty to the people of Saskatchewan.

Dennis Allchurch Dumped By Saskatchewan Party!, He Should Run For The Progressive Conservative Party

You have to wonder what Denis Allchurch ever did to tick off Brad Wall so badly that his seat had to be taken away from him?

The way that the Saskatchewan Party works is that if Brad Wall wanted Allchruch on the ballot, then no one would have even dared to challenge him for the nomination.

Allchurch is the former mayor of the town of Spiritwood and is widely respected locally.

Mr. Allchurch should stand defiant, do the right thing, and find a way to run in the next provincial election.


Sask Party MLA loses nomination fight

"Suddenly, The Fact John Gormley Has A Job Makes Sense" Prairie Dog Blog

OMG is he ever old!
#8track #lavalamps #shagrugs #moodring


Prairie Dog

So funny! Just watch the Sask Party Trolls come out of the woodwork now!

Spring Legislative Session Only Minutes Old When Sask Party Cabinet Minister Forced To Apologize

The spring session of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly was literally only minutes underway when Minister of Education, Donna Harpauer (MLA for Humboldt), was forced to rise in her place, withdraw unparliamentary language and apologize to all Members of the Assembly and to the Speaker.

Arrogance, thy name is 'Saskatchewan Party'.

Brad Wall - he ain't 'pretty' he just looks that way

I'm pretty sure that Brad Wall is a nice enough fellow when politics is not part of the picture.

Were he my next door neighbor, I bet that I could go on holidays and leave the keys to my place with him. I'm absolutely positive that he likes children, puppies and walks in the park.

The problem for Mr. Wall, however, is that when you put him in a politically charged environment, something very sinister seems to creep from the depths of him.

Case in point was the Saskatchewan Party Annual Convention held this past weekend in Saskatoon. (This is the second year in a row where the Saskatchewan Party has met without discussing or voting on any policy measures whatsoever).

During his address to the crowd, Wall held up a copy of the NDP's policy development report and told the audience that it contained a lot of 'crazy'. Unfortunately for Wall, this little quip is going to come back to haunt him. (More on that to come).

If Mr. Wall wants to talk 'crazy', perhaps he needs to be reminded of a few things:

-That giving the potash wealth of the province away for pennies on the dollar is CRAZY!

-Hiring Serge LeClerc to run as a Saskatchewan Party candidate in the last election was CRAZY!

-Fudging the books (as pointed out in today's Saskatoon Star Phoenix) is CRAZY!

-Dropping the 'Equalization' court case against the Federal Government was CRAZY!

-Dropping the carbon capture agreement with Montana (which was done secretly last fall) was CRAZY!

People like the smiling Mr. Wall. They don't get to see the real Mr. Wall very often. The bottom line is this - Brad Wall ain't pretty, he just looks that way!

Great Moments In Saskatchewan Party History #1

Open Mouth Show Teabagger - John Gormley - Abusive To Rick Swenson Leader of Saskatchewan PC Party

John Gormley hosts a pro-Saskatchewan Party talk show daily on local radio. He has a history of supporting Sarah Palin, Serge LeClerc and pretty much any other wing nut Tea Partyer out there.

One of Gormley's biggest beefs is that politicians other than the Saskatchewan Party generally avoid his show. The reason they avoid the show is because John is overly aggressive and abusive in his interview techniques. God help you if he does not agree with your politics.

This morning, Mr. Rick Swenson, a totally decent guy and current leader of the PC Party of Saskatchewan phoned into Gormley's show to enter into the discussion on the need for a potash royalty review. Gormly was abrupt and completely interruptive. Rick Swenson was not allowed to finish even one sentence. As usual, Gormley made the last comment, flipped the switch and disconnected Mr. Swenson. No, 'thanks for calling in". No "good bye." Click.

The Leader of a legitimate Saskatchewan political party deserves better.

You see, the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan has taken the Saskatchewan Party to court over the theft of funds that belong to the the PC's.

The Globe and Mail has a good story on how the Saskatchewan Party stole millions from the Progressive Conservative Party Trust fund.

John Gormley owes an apology to Rick Swenson. Don't hold your breath waiting for it.

Sask Party 'Orc' Caught Writing LTE

The blog site operated by the staff of the Saskatchewan Party Caucus offices is notorious for its use of the word 'orc' to describe anyone who writes a letter to the editor who might also have a third cousin (twice removed) who votes for the NDP. Doesn't matter. Blaise Boehmer and his colleagues have been found out and are hard pressed to hide their true intent.

But here we have a Saskathewan Party Orc, the famous Trent Lalonde writing letters to the editor without identifying his connections to Wall's staffers.

When Blaise and the Bogeymen publish a post, within minutes you usually see Trent responding as well as the other Sask Party hacks 'Paulie' and/or 'oxygentax'.

Trent is very worried. Trent is very worried about socialist nationalizations. Trent is a Saskatchewan Party 'Orc'.

Another Saskatchewan Party Caucus Blog Posting

One of the worst kept secrets from the ranks of the Saskatchewan Party is that the blog known as NDP Bogeyman is published by Blaise Boehmer and other staff from the Government Caucus Office. Their raison d'etre seems to be an attempted counter to any letter to the editor which is critical of the Wall government. After they were outed in the Legislature and further exposed in Murray Mandryk's column, they went quiet for awhile.

Brad Wall thinks they are doing a fine job. Too bad Brad isn't doing a good job! That is why the LTE section of Saskatchewan's dailies is so full of critical comment.

$150,000 Investigation Bill Should Be Sent To The Saskatchewan Party For Payment

The cost of the investigation into former Saskatchewan Party MLA, Serge Leclerc, has now been identified at $150,000.

Rather than the taxpayers of the province paying this amount, the bill should be sent to Brad Wall and his political party for reimbursement of the provincial treasury.

It was the Saskatchewan Party who authorized and endorsed Serge Leclerc as their candidate.

Premier Brad Wall signed the nomination papers and told the Chief Electoral Officer that Serge Leclerc was a duly certified representative of the Saskatchewan Party.

So why are we taxpayers paying for Brad Wall's error in judgement?

The Saskatchewan Party should send a $150,000 cheque to the Province as soon as possible.

A brief history of Unions

The people from the Saskatchewan Party caucus office who operate their very own blog, don't like unions very much. Perhaps they just don't understand the history of why trade unionism has flourished over the last many decades. Although this little video was produced in the USA with American references, it still provides a good snapshot of how trade unionism has created a middle class in both the US and Canada. They've made this very simple and easy to understand!

Saskatchewan students rank 7th in Canada for literacy

Brad Wall's Spring Budget should include a huge funding increase for education in order to try and remedy this shocking finding. Unfortunately, you only need to listen to the speeches of certain government MLA's to understand the problem.

The following article was written by James Wood and appeared in the January 4, 2011 Leader Post

Saskatchewan students trail many of their counterparts in other provinces in literacy levels, according to the recently released 2010 Education Indicators report from the provincial Ministry of Education.

But one piece of good news is that the province's students still have a strong showing at the international level.

The annual education indicators report is a broad-ranging compendium of various statistics and rankings, including achievement levels.

According to the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) cited in the report, which compiles data from across the country on 13-year-olds, Saskatchewan has the smallest proportion of high-performing students in reading in the country.

"Less than one in 10 Saskatchewan students achieved level three, whereas an average of over one in five students in Canada achieved this level. The proportion of students who performed adequately (at level two or level three) in Saskatchewan was two percentage points less than the Canadian average," according to the indicators report.

Saskatchewan ranked sixth among provinces in the proportion of students who performed adequately.

And with female students generally outperforming males, the report notes that Saskatchewan does have one of the lowest gender gaps even as the female students' average score was 16-per- cent higher than males in Saskatchewan.

The indicators report also cited the 2009 Programmene for International Student Assessment (PISA), an assessment of 15-year-olds worldwide conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Reading literacy was the major domain assessed, with mathemathics and scientific literacy were assessed as minor domains.

"Saskatchewan student results were significantly higher than the OECD average in all the subjects of this assessment. However, the Canadian average performance was significantly higher than Saskatchewan's performance in all subjects assessed," reads the indicators report.

In the reading assessment, Saskatchewan had 84.5 per cent of students reach what the PISA report defines as "baseline proficiency." That was below the Canadian average of 89.8 per cent but above the international average of 81.2 per cent.

Saskatchewan's proportion of high-performing students at 8.7 per cent was also lower than the Canadian average of 12.8 per cent but was higher than the OECD average of 7.6 per cent.

The province's report also shows that Saskatchewan has gone from having performances similar to Canada on the 2000 PISA report to posting performances "significantly below" the country since then.

Saskatchewan ranked seventh in the country in reading and scientific literacy and sixth in mathematics.

A government news release when the indicators report was made public said it "shows the need to bring student performance on national and international assessments to meet or exceed the Canadian average."

leaderpost.com

Rawlco Radio's 'John Gormley' show panders for the Saskatchewan Party

I continue to wonder what the motivation is for Rawlco Radio owner, Gord Rawlinson, to continue with the money losing, ratings deprived 'John Gormley Live' radio call in show. The daily right wing call in show is obviously intended to slam Saskatchewan's NDP and to praise up the Brad Wall administration.

I wrote on December 30th about the dismal, basement dwelling ratings that NewsTalkRadio and Gormley rack up. Here is a little snap shot of how bad the show is. Gormley was back on the radio waves this morning after a week away for Christmas and New Year. You would think that after his absence, his 'fans' would be chaffing at the bit to call in to the show. Not really! Here is the show's stats for the first hour of Gormley's return:

9:07 - Gormley opens the call line
9:15 - 1st caller (whines about SGEU)
9:25 - 2nd caller (not happy with Regina garbage pickup)
9:39 - 3rd caller (not happy with Saskatoon garbage pickup)
9:43 - 4th caller (unhappy with snow removal at bus stops)
9:45 - 5th caller (wants private liquor stores)
9:54 - 6th caller (mad at a contractor for messing up his basement)
9:57 - 7th caller (hates icy Victoria Ave in Regina)

In the long spaces between callers, Gormley monologues endlessly. During the first hour he tried to get the calls to come in by:
-praising Brad Wall
-slamming NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter
-insisting that George Bush isn't a dummy
-telling people that Harper is wonderful and Ignatieff and Bob Rae are terrible

Gormley also managed to promote his own book with 3 shameless plugs.

That's show business I guess!