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...

With the current government selling off bits and pieces of our power industry to out-of-province power companies, today we take a few minutes to look into Saskatchewan’s future power industry. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s), in their simplest terms, are contracts with private power companies to supply power to the Saskatchewan grid. Many PPA’s are signed for ‘peak load’ power, which means that when Saskatchewan is using a high amount of power, SaskPower can purchase excess from these providers. In some cases, our government is actually signing agreements are fo...

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...

Last year the government of Saskatchewan declared that April would be recognized as “Safe Digging Month” in the province “to increase public awareness on the importance of working safely around underground infrastructure.”However, there seems to be more and more stories about gas line hits in the news than ever before. Previously, Crowns including SaskTel, SaskPower, and SaskEnergy conducted their own line locates, which have all been contracted out to a private company. Christy Best, President of CEP Local 649 who represents members at both SaskEnergy and SaskPower, sa...

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.  ...

Today is Saskatchewan, Crown Corporations are being sold off, contracted out, deregulated and dismantled slowly by the Brad Wall government.  As the people of the province, we are being lied to about the future of the very organizations that we have built from the ground up. Today in Saskatchewan when the government says they have not sold off any Crown Corporations, ask them about the Saskatchewan Communications Network. A Crown that was valued at nearly $4 million and was attributed to attracting millions of dollars a year for the television film industry in Saskatchewan – SOLD f...

We you aware that in December 2010, BC Hydro customers were told to expect a near 30% price increase over the next 3 years? Government critics attribute the increase to failed Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and "the government forcing BC Hydro to buy expensive power from the private sector, instead of generating more power itself through public projects."Why would the Brad Wall government want to make the same mistakes other provinces have made?Only 3 months after BC residents were told to expect price increases, the Saskatchewan Party government entered into a 20-year PPA with Ontario-based ...

Throughout the month of January the Standing Committee on Crown & Central Agencies was accepting written submissions and presentations regarding the future energy needs of Saskatchewan. Public meetings were held in 6 Saskatchewan cities allowing interested parties to appear in front of the committee with their suggestions.   The following question was posed: “How should the Government best meet the growing energy needs of the province in a manner that is safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable, while meeting any current and expected Federal Standards and Regulations, a...