Led by Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada’s Western provinces are among the best-performing labour markets in North America, concludes a new report from the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank.
Not so fast....
In five provinces—Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia—more than 25 per cent of all workers were employed by various levels of government.
Small wonder Saskatchewan flirts with deficit budgets in a time of economic expansion. Now is the time to fix this. Get 'er done, Mr. Wall.
The full report (pdf) is here.
Well said, Kate. Ron Paul would have gotten'er done screamingly in Saskatchewan. Government is too large in this province. You need to trim a LOT of fat. Selling oil & potash, then paying Sask government employees to be rich ≠ prosperity.
less union's please
I tend to see this another way...
Let's attract more and larger companies to move, and produce here. An increase jobs would lower that number as well.
Now is the time to fix this. Get 'er done, Mr. Wall.
AHAHAHAHAh *catches breath*....do it now Mr. Wall! Shrink government or...or Kate and her fellow travellers will continue to vote for you and unconditionally support you!
Las-hole
Dirty Harry to speak at RNC.
OOOPSIE !
"Alberta set to post $2.3- to $3-billion deficit on slumping oil prices "
So how about that impending Have Not Province status?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/alberta-set-to-post-23--to-3-billion-deficit-on-slumping-oil-prices/article4509683/
@Fred 3:20 Ontari-owe has a $15 B debt Quebeece has about @200 B debt, Alberta has NONE, educate yourself...............
JoeFrmEdm at August 30, 2012 4:25 PM
Just be patient...the CINO Alberta legistlature will get there...just be patient.
Here in Ontari-owe we know about this stuff...been there...seen it....
"Socialism has done a lot of damage to SK. Going to take more years than Mr Wall has, to fix it."
Indeed. Socialism is analogous to a horde of cockroaches who have taken up residence for years within a building. The process of eradication is slow and sometimes painful, but necessary. Shining a light on them causes them to scurry in all directions, but they are still there waiting for the opportunity to reappear and continue their foul existence.
Premier Wall is on the right track but he certainly has his work cut out for him much like an exterminator facing an infestation. Thankfully for Saskatchewan, I think he is up to the task.
SK: Just be up front about stadium deal
Whether you like the new stadium deal or despise it, don’t you want your politicians to be straight up about it?
Most people on both sides of the fence would say “yes,” but the politicians haven’t been entirely up front about what’s going on.
Here’s what you need to know:
First, during the press conference about the new stadium, and then during the announcement in front of Rider fans at Mosaic stadium, Premier Wall and Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco seemed to have forgotten to mention one of the more controversial parts of the deal – a new hotel tax in Regina.
They may have said it under their breath, but initially no media picked up on that little tidbit. Most found out about the new tax when the news later surfaced in documents going before Regina’s city council. But there it is in black and white - $80 million will come from a new hotel tax in Regina.
Such a tax may have made a bit more sense if it was only charged on game days. But charging people coming in for conventions throughout the entire year to pay for a stadium for a football team that has only ten home games a year is hard to justify.
Why should the family of a little old lady, who has never watched a CFL game in her life, have to pay a hotel tax for a stadium when they visit her in December?
Or what if an agricultural fair comes to Regina in April? Should attendees from across the province have to pay an added tax even though their event doesn’t use the stadium at all?
Council should scrap the hotel tax and further increase the per ticket fee on Rider tickets (that is already being increased to help pay for the new stadium) or find some true private sector investment for the deal.
Speaking of user fees, the Premier and Mayor have maintained the largest contributors of the cost for the new stadium will be its users, but that’s just not true.
Of the $278 million deal, only $125 million will come from the Roughriders and the ticket fee Rider fans pay. Once you include the annual cost of maintaining the facility, the users of the facility pay even less as a percentage.
Next up, the Premier routinely suggests the province is putting in $80 million for the deal, but if you read the fine print, it’s almost double that amount.
The agreement notes the province will put $2.5 million per year into SaskSport’s account. SaskSport will then give that money to the Stadium. Over a 30-year period, through SaskSport, the province is actually putting in another $75 million towards the deal; bringing the province’s total to $155 million.
SaskSport will likely never need a 33,000 seat facility for amateur sport, but it’s making for a convenient scapegoat to help justify the deal.
It’s not acceptable that taxpayers were completely shut out from having a referendum on the deal or even so much as an open house to provide their input. It’s also disappointing that the Sask Party didn’t say a single word about the stadium in their party’s 2011 platform.
But it’s worse that Premier Wall and Mayor Fiacco haven’t been entirely up front with the public. Clearly there is more to this deal than the politicians clad in Rider jerseys led taxpayers to believe.
By: Colin Craig
Taxpayer.
Phil,
You are truly an idiot. The one thing you forget through all your ramblings and rhetoric about farmers is that capitalism works.
A great example is the supply management system we Canadians are forced to support through higher prices. What did capitalism do? The ‘invisible hand’ has put a price on quota for milk, eggs and poultry to the point where a farmer needs the extra margin the supply managed price gives to afford the payments on the quota that was purchased. Who benefited? Only the original holders of quota or those who are doled out free quota the rare times there are quota increases.
This applies to all subsidies. Subsidies to farmers have been proven to increase land prices. In the end the subsidies are needed to afford the higher priced land. The farmers (except for the lucky few) end up in the same position with or without subsidies; the’ invisible hand’ ensures it. Most farmers know it. You should too.
Oh, yeah, they work hard too.
Ron
Well, I saw that posting about "welfare bum farmers and thought, "that had to be that troll Phil". No surprise there...
ron, don't bother. Too thick.
fiddle and biffj, well said.
I expect the Liberal element in the Sask Party will baulk at a reduction in government.
Ron in Kathryn: name on dairy or egg farm that has gone bankrupt. SM virtually guarantees them a profit. That in turn guarantees less than efficient COP. And consumers pay exorbitant prices - prices far higher than a free market would charge as a result.
Now make no mistake, Phil is a blathering twit with little to offer in the way of a reasoned case, but defending the sweetheart deal that SM producers have is not the way to respond to his ad hominems.
From the executive summary, the entire paragraph:
In five provinces—Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia—more than 25 per cent of all workers were employed by various levels of government. Newfoundland and Labrador had 29.5 per cent of its workforce employed by government between 2007 and 2011, compared to Ontario at 19.2 per cent and Quebec at 21.8 per cent. Overall, Canadian provinces have the largest public sectors in North America, and occupy seven of the bottom 10 spots on this measure.
Well, the good news here is that NF is the worst but oil money is pulling them up, and SK has a bad legacy from the Dippers but that things ar elikewise looking good right now. It surprises me that Quebec did not make that list. Maybe the fact that the provincial civil service is closed to the 20% of the population who are not old-stock francophones has something to do with it.
Gord,
My comments were not in support of SM management. I believe it is obscene commie institution. I just feel sorry for the young Canadian who wants to be a dairy farmer and has to upfront $30k for the right to milk a cow. It creates a Catch-22 to dismantle without someone getting hurt bad; likely the taxpayer - likely not Phil.
Ron
Socialism is analogous to a horde of cockroaches who have taken up residence for years within a building.
Well said; almost Churchillian.
I drove by a local dairy farm the other day and did a double take. Yes, the barn walls were faced with decorative stone!
As a businessman I would be taking every dollar I could out of that dairy. The days of quota are coming to an end. I guess operators are confident in a buy-out by taxpayers.
Well phil just got off the swather since 6 am will have something to eat get some rest and back at it by midnight. Work hard for my money don't complain about it, just the business i'm in. So the left just can't say they are the "working people". Carry on man with your disdain of us people who work the land, but keep in mind I help feed the world and what do you do.