Nearly seventy years ago in 1944, the government of Saskatchewan passed the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Act, creating the provincial Crown Corporation, known today as SGI. Within a year, on May 1, 1945, Saskatchewan SGI officially sold its first policy. SGI was originally created to assist with problems in the Saskatchewan insurance industry, due largely to poor economic conditions that had forced private insurers to leave the province. According to SGI’s 2012 Annual Report, at the time of SGI’s creation, less than 10 per cent of licensed Saskatchewan vehicles carried any ins...

In the “new Saskatchewan” rates continue to rise. Today, the government announced that Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) will be applying to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel (SRRP) to introduce a new tax that will be added to almost all drivers’ SGI insurance bills. If approved, the surcharge and accompanying rate changes would take effect August 31, 2013.In a news release, Danielle Chartier, NDP Critic for SGI stated, “The Sask. Party is asking you and your neighbours to pay bigger bills and more fees...What I’m hearing is that ratepayers are getting tire...

We are sending big congratulations out to SaskTel and Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) for once again being names as two of Canada’s Top 100 Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.SaskTel also takes home titles as a Top Employer for Canadians Over 40 for 2012 and Saskatchewan’s Top Employers for 2012. Some of the reasons that SaskTel was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2013 include: one of the country's leading corporate citizens that provides an instructive example for others -- employees and retirees donate tens of thousands of volunteer hours every year in...

Recently, the 2011 Crown Corporation Payee Disclosure report was released, detail payments that Crowns have made to Board members, employees, suppliers, and sponsorships, among other things. The Payee Disclosure report has been a traditional tool of accountability and transparency for our Crowns. It also shows the immense reach that Crowns have within Saskatchewan, and one of the reasons that this province is a great place to live and make a living. One of the largest portions of the report is the employee compensation section for each individual Crown. Any employee that earns more than 50,000...

Recently Premier Wall announced a cabinet shuffle and the creation of the Ministry of the Economy with the main purpose to make sure that “we can consistently implement our growth plan for the province” and to ensure the “government’s not getting in the way of growth.” With Bill Boyd now in charge of the new Economy portfolio, our question is this: will Crown Corporations be included in the province’s growth plan? For decades, Crowns have given Saskatchewan the advantage of being an affordable place to live and provides good jobs for nearly 12, 000 people.&n...

The results are beginning to roll in from our Crown Corporations about their performance and successes over the last year. It is undeniable that 2011 was an excellent year for Crowns in Saskatchewan, many posting higher profits than previous years. SaskPower posted record profits while SaskTel reached $1 billion in revenue for the sixth consecutive year.Crown Investment Corporation (CIC) predicts that 2012 will see a $273 million dividend to the provincial government, including a special dividend from SaskPower.What you might find in the fine print is that the government has increased Crown Co...

Crown Corporations including SaskPower, SaskEnergy and the SGI Auto Fund regularly review their rates and pricing through applications to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel (SRRP). The Panel provides an opinion to the Government after review of these applications regarding the whether the rate change is reasonable – taking into consideration the interested of the customer, the Crown Corporation, and the public.Currently, SaskEnergy and SGI’s Auto Fund have pending applications that will be discussed in public meetings in the next month.  If you are interested in attending any ...

Once again, a number of our Crown Corporations made the list for Saskatchewan's Top Employers including:   -Information Services Corp. of Saskatchewan (ISC) -Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) -SaskEnergy Inc. -SaskPower Corporation -SaskTel   With a total of 9,003 full-time employees between the 5 organizations, Crown Corporations play a huge role in many Saskatchewan communities.   In October of last year, both SaskTel and SGI were also honoured as two of Canada's Top 100 Employers.  ...

It is clear that the people of Saskatchewan are being deceived.  Our current government has made many claims regarding the future of Crown Corporations in Saskatchewan. One of which was a statement from our current Premier stating “Crowns are not going to be privatized and (subsidiaries) are not going to be wound down.” Our current government`s actions have been nothing but contrary to this statement.Merriam Webster defines the word privatize as the process “to make private; especially to change (as a business or industry) from public to private control or ownership.&rdq...

Today NDP House Leader Kevin Yates questioned why the Wall government is boasting of SGI license plate sales when it callously hurt a Saskatchewan small business in the process. Yates said the Wall Government failed to mention that the General License Plate Contract is no longer in the hands of a local Saskatchewan company which held the contract since 1971. SGI awarded the new contract to a larger company in Nova Scotia – Waldale Manufacturing Ltd. “We have seen this type of decision before with the Wall government in its tendering process. Instead of keeping jobs and work within...