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Public Safety
“The best measure of a government is not necessarily how smoothly it conducts daily business but in how well it manages a crisis. Under unexpected pressure, character reveals itself. The train wreck that was Corrections Minister Hickie demonstrates this principle in action.”
- Saskatoon StarPhoenix: August 30, 2008
Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government proved to be both incompetent and unworthy of the public’s trust with its mishandling of a jailbreak involving six inmates including 3 accused murderers with ties to gangs. Corrections Minister Hickie failed in his duty to protect the public safety by not immediately informing the public of the prison break. He was also less than truthful with the media when answering questions regarding details of the escape and the magnitude of the gang problem in Saskatchewan correctional facilities.
“There were three basic things we should have expected our elected officials to do…
- alert the public as soon as possible;
- provide the public with as much information as possible…
- honestly acknowledge there is a problem related to gangs
Hickie failed on all three counts. He may have failed more miserably than any Saskatchewan cabinet minister in recent memory”
-Regina Leader Post: August 29, 2008
That same article used the words “egregious”, “damning”, and “unforgivable” to describe the government’s performance. It also took Hickie to task for “repeatedly attempt(ing) to bamboozle reporters with this nonsense that there’s no gang problem in Saskatchewan jails… something that speaks either to the honesty or the competence of the Minister.”
“Governing has to be about more than feel-good football-related announcements and raking in oil money. You have to have ministers who demonstrate a rudimentary ability to handle a ministerial portfolio -- something that Hickie failed to do this week.” –
- Regina Leader-Post, August 29, 2008.
“…most unforgivable was Hickie's initial nonsense that there is no gang problem in our jails -- something he apparently didn't witness while he was a prison guard in Prince Albert.”
– Regina Leader-Post, August 29, 2008.
“In less than a year, [Hickie] has learned to speak more like a bureaucrat than most of the civil servants, explaining to reporters gang members in prison aren't flagged as such unless they ‘self-identify.’”
– Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, August 30, 2008.
“[Hickie’s} handling of the aftermath of a major jailbreak this week had all the élan of a Keystone Cops movie.”
– Star-Phoenix, August 30, 2008.
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