Despite promises to protect Saskatchewan’s crowns and respect Saskatchewan people’s ownership, the Sask. Party have shown again that their plans to sell off everything from SaskTel to government buildings are far from over.
“Whether it’s refusing to scrap all of Bill 40 – their proposed law to let them sell off our Crowns without asking the owners, the people of Saskatchewan, – selling off STC and our grain cars, or having meetings to sell SGI and SaskTel, it’s clear that the Sask. Party has an itch to put everything that isn’t bolted to the ground on auction block,” said NDP Deputy Leader Carla Beck. “They already called in the auctioneers for the STC and now want to go for more. Next thing you know, the Minister will be posting public buildings on Kijiji.”
In the SARM bear pit session today, Minister of Central Services Ken Cheveldayoff said “there are 660 government buildings across Saskatchewan. That’s something I became aware of when I became minister. I think that’s too many. I’ve ask that if you see a government building in your community that you think can be better run by the private sector, let us know, and we’re certainly open to doing that.”
“For a government Minister to stand in front of community leaders and media from across the province and invite bids on every public building is incredibly reckless and deeply concerning. It’s clear that they have no plan except to sell whatever they can to cover up for their own bad management,” Beck said. “They either don’t understand or don’t care about the impact that these sell-offs will have on the communities they’re in, the people who work there, and on our whole province’s economy.”