Under the Wall government we went from having $2.3 billion in the bank to a $1.05 billion deficit in less than 2 years

Brad Wall told the Globe and Mail that his personal political mantra is "Don't screw it up"

Saskatchewan has seen more than 4700 people lose their jobs under the Wall government.

According to Statistics Canada, under the Wall government, Saskatchewan had the highest cost of living increase in all of Canada?

Under the Wall government, Masters and PhD students do not qualify for benefits in the Graduate Retention Program?

Health regions have announced that prenatal classes, breastfeeding support, and immunizations of school children will be suspended to give H1N1 vaccinations instead.

According to Statistics Canada, under the Wall government, more people in Saskatchewan are receiving Employment Insurance than ever before?

The Wall government is spending $49,000 a month for a former Republican Ambassador's advice on how to talk to the Obama White House.

When the Sask Party hiked the price for camping in Provincial Parks, it claimed that Saskatchewan families weren't appreciating their parks enough.

After the escape of six prisoners from the Regina Correctional Centre, the Sask Party denied the existence of gangs in Saskatchewan jails.

When faced with an 80% increase in Employment Insurance claims in Saskatchewan, Minister Rob Norris said the increase was not unexpected and no cause for alarm.

In September of 2005, the Saskatchewan Party promised to take action to reduce the cost of gas at the pumps, yet they have done nothing.

Deficits are like potato chips...they're not very good for your long-term health, and bet you can't stop at just one.

Using reserve funds to balance the provincial budget isn’t so bad after all.

By the end of the year there will likely be two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the province, which means Saskatchewan will be in a recession.

We’re not heading into a recession – we’re coming out of one.

They’re looking at, for lack of a better word, some surgical tourism. People coming up to British Columbia, spending some time in British Columbia, being able to get the procedure.

Under our old definition, we would be in a technical deficit.

`Have you got a visit from the police yet?’ I think that was my exact comment.

We do not have a gang or a violence issue in our provincial correctional system.

Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear for the member opposite that yes, we will impose our views on the Crown corporations.

I don't think people in Saskatchewan expect too much of whoever their government is.

In Opposition, I could say just about anything I wanted; and I did on a lot of occasions for 12 years... When you're the Minister, you're responsible and you have to do it right

With the eradication of the Domestic Abuse Outreach Program (DAOP), it occurred to me that perhaps the government is in fact proud of its accomplishment in ensuring the Ministry now takes no responsibility, outside of child welfare, to support families who experience violence, and the in the prevention of family violence. -Tracy Muggli, Former Social Worker with the DAOP

A letter send to the government in December by Family Service Saskatoon on behalf of 14 other local agencies said the agencies had received no notice from the government before being told the DAOP was being discontinued. But Justice Minister Don Morgan told reporters that consultations had taken place, although he could not say with whom. -The Leader-Post

Victims of domestic abuse in Saskatoon are losing out on vital help because of Saskatchewan Party cutbacks...The domestic abuse outreach program (DAOP), which has been in existence on a contract basis with the Ministry of Social Services since 1990, was eliminated with its 2.5 positions at the end of last year by the government, which intended to move the services in-house. -The Leader-Post

In Canada, Conservative governments in provinces such as Ontario and Saskatchewan preached all the usual small-c conservative virtues but bequeathed deficits that subsequent governments had to eliminate. They cut spending for a while but left provinces in hock. -The Globe and Mail

Meanwhile, another anti-labour bill we hear about (Bill 80) is being prepared by Mr. Wall's government. ...It appears this bill is taking aim at the unionized workers in the construction trades. Ready or not, labour minister Rob Norris has already assured a business association Bill 80 is going to pass. -Henry Neufeld, Waldeck, Sask., Lloydminster Meridian Booster

One of the first pieces of legislation on winning government, was Mr. Wall's promised attack on the workers of Saskatchewan by resurrecting an old Grant Devine anti-labour statute (Bill 104) which is now Bill 6. This bill makes it nearly impossible for workers to organize a union at their place of work (that is bargain collectively). -Henry Neufeld, Waldeck, Sask., Lloydminster Meridian Booster

Brad Wall, while leader of the opposition made the remark (John Gormley show) if he ever became premier, he would go to war with the labour unions of Saskatchewan. In this case, the word 'war' is camouflage for helping his business backers reduce their labour costs. -Henry Neufeld, Waldeck, Sask., Lloydminster Meridian Booster

On the opening day of the provincial legislature, more than 200 Saskatchewan health-care workers and supporters gathered at the Legislative Building to protest the pace of contract talks. The boisterous bunch - from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU) and Service Employees International Union West (SEIU West) - waved flags, carried signs, blew whistles and chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Brad Wall has got to go." -The Leader-Post

The mayor of Big River is confused this morning about the province's plans for his town's sawmill. Brian Brownfield tells us Premier Brad Wall met with the local reeve recently and during their discussion Wall said that the town's sawmill could be getting 400 thousand cubic meters of logging rights. ...Since last month's meeting, though, Brownfield says he has not heard any more about those logs and he says the town is getting impatient. -CBC News

"It goes directly back to our budget criticism on Day 1, that $2 billion was ludicrous and had they had that number right then we wouldn't have had those advance payments in this amount. Because they allowed such a ludicrous number to be placed into their budget, it now has large consequences for Saskatchewan people." -NDP Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon

Potash revenues were supposed to boost the coffers in Saskatchewan, but now the province is in the hole on the mineral and will be forced to pay back money it collected from producers. ...The province won't say exactly how much it will have to give back because of confidentiality rules in the Mineral Taxation Act, but it will be at least $203.9 million. -Canadian Press

"I think the big question on everyone's mind is how did things go so wrong so quickly? We've gone from record revenues and record surpluses in the provincial budget and coffers to what we are seeing now is a billion dollar deficit and expected cutbacks that are to be coming in the next budget." -NDP MLA Deb Higgins, Discover Moose Jaw

The proposed 75 per cent cuts to the EA jobs, by the provincial government, should alarm adults in this province. -Burna B. Purkin, Saskatoon, The StarPhoenix

NDP Finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said the government was "ludicrous" with its potash projections from day one. "Many kids get their hand caught in the cookie jar and all of a sudden a lot of honesty comes out. I think this is pretty telling." -The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government must refund millions of dollars to potash companies that overpaid royalties to public coffers... That pushes the budget's once-positive $1.9-billion projection for the pink mineral into unprecedented red territory, according to the third-quarter 2009-10 budget update released Tuesday. For the first time, the province will record a negative number - minus $203.9 million - in potash revenue. -The Leader-Post

Just this week, Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer announced that for the first time ever the government will post a negative number - minus $203.9 million - in potash revenue for this year after having to refund royalties to potash companies. -The Leader-Post

A proposal to eliminate school boards is one of just a handful of policy resolutions that will be considered at this weekend's Saskatchewan Party convention in Regina. ...The resolution calls for the government to dissolve property-taxing school boards and fund education directly from general revenue. The responsibility for services such as school facilities and transportation would revert to municipalities. -The Leader-Post

Some small Saskatchewan communities are facing a water rate hike. SaskWater is raising rates for its customers by nine per cent beginning with the April billing period. Non-potable water customers will see an increase of anywhere from 5.9 to nine per cent. -The Leader-Post

Why did our government build a pavilion at the Winter Olympics for $4.1 million? ...Can we really afford these things? It will be up to the taxpayers to pick up the tab. -Elsie Braun, Regina, The Leader-Post

Water and sewer rates have gone up, there's a proposed power rate increase and property taxes will be rising. In addition, parking rates are going up, there's a proposed increase in transit and paratransit fares, teacher assistants are being cut and there might be more cuts when the provincial government brings down the budget. Will there be an increase in wages? I doubt it. -Elsie Braun, Regina, The Leader-Post

The government is desperately attempting to portray it as an unfortunate set of circumstances that have conspired in a slight overpayment. Well, the problem here is much, much more than that. ...Whatever it is, it's incompetence well beyond anything voters should ever have to tolerate. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But the really, really bad news is that this Sask. Party was dead wrong about last year's breathtaking $1.927 billion potash revenue forecast (the original budget estimate) and is actually going to lose money in potash revenue. Yep, the great free-enterprisers who've railed on for decades about Tommy Douglas driving out the oil companies are now giving away every penny of our potash royalties this year to the potash companies. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon is right when he describes this as budget incompetence on a Grant Devine scale by a Saskatchewan Party government that has clearly allowed itself to be led around by the nose by the potash industry. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

In an unprecedented situation, the province will actually lose $203.9 million in potash revenue in 2009-10, according to the third-quarter budget update released Tuesday, because the government overcharged the potash companies for royalties in 2008-09. And what's truly irritating is that the government won't even tell us how much the potash companies were overcharged, citing confidentiality under the Minerals Act. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Evidently, it can get worse than Saskatchewan making almost no money from potash. We can actually wind up owing the potash companies money. Yes, folks, you read that right. Saskatchewan people will pay all 2009-10 royalties back to the potash companies. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter wasn't impressed with SaskPower's proposed rate hike, especially in light of the Saskatchewan Party government's recently announced plans to freeze government spending and restrain public sector wages. -The Leader-Post

By late summer, residential customers could be paying another $6 on their monthly power bills, and farmers $16 more, if SaskPower's proposed rate hike is approved. And the Crown is serving notice that rate increases of this magnitude or greater can be expected for the foreseeable future. -The Leader-Post

Krawetz's assertion that the document was misinterpreted is an insult to the comprehension abilities of all his teachers, principals, superintendents, levels of education bureaucracy, and parents. The emotional impact of what he proposed, as parents saw the education of their children pulled away to be replaced by nothing, is reprehensible. -Frederick Rackow, Regina, The Leader-Post

I do not believe Education Minister Ken Krawetz when he says his proposal to cut the number of educational assistants (EAs) by 75 per cent was misunderstood by everybody (Feb. 26, Leader-Post). Many teachers, principals, superintendents and officials in the ministry read that document and understood EAs were going to be reduced. ...Due to the callous nature of the proposal, and the arrogance of Krawetz's backpedaling, I believe we need a new education minister who respects Saskatchewan's education system and students. -Fred Rackow, Regina, The Leader-Post

For a government that rode into office two years ago on a platform of "accountability" and "transparency", Premier Brad Wall's administration has sometimes struggled to prove its commitment to principles. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Despite rationalizations from Education Minister Ken Krawetz the "draft proposal" to get rid of thousands of educational assistants who work with special needs students is another case of the provincial government deciding to act without consulting anyone and then having to back down in the face of justified criticism. -The StarPhoenix

Critics are skeptical of the minister of education's comment Thursday that a government document proposing the elimination of 75 per cent of educational assistant jobs in the province was "misinterpreted" by some school divisions. "They can wiggle and try to get off the hook here as much as they like, but this was not right," said Trevor Bearance, an education consultant who most recently worked with special needs students in the Southeast Cornerstone school division. -The StarPhoenix

The Saskatchewan Party's 2007 election campaign promise to establish a health-care ombudsman has been put off for at least another year because of the government's financial crunch. -The StarPhoenix

"The analogy might be closer to broccoli," he said of this year's upcoming budget. "It's less satisfying in the immediate term, its better for your long-term health, and I don't know about you but I can actually stop at just one," Wall said. -The Leader-Post

"Deficits are like potato chips...they're not very good for your long-term health, and bet you can't stop at just one." -Saskatchewan Party leader and Premier Brad Wall, The Leader-Post

"Little by little, the Wall government is contracting out and selling off pieces of our Crown Corporations. The end result of all this privatization by stealth will be big profits for private companies, many of them from out of province, paid for by higher utility bills for Saskatchewan families." -NDP SaskPower critic, Warren McCall, NDP Caucus

Stung by the loss of almost $2 billion in potash revenue last year, Gantefoer aims to balance his budget by slashing spending, retreating from promises to boost funding to cities and towns and likely raiding the province's "rainy day fund" for a second successive year to stay in the black. -The Leader-Post

"It's still an extra $500,000 that the people of Saskatchewan are paying (for the Olympics) when we're talking about fiscal restraint, when we've got a billion-dollar deficit, when things are being frozen and deferred and cut. Half a million dollars is a lot of money for a lot of communities," said Danielle Chartier, the Opposition's Tourism, Parks and Culture critic, who expressed concern the additional costs are only now coming to light. -The Leader-Post

With less than three weeks to go before the Winter Olympics, the cost of Saskatchewan's presence at the games is jumping higher. Last week, the Saskatchewan Party cabinet approved an additional $500,000 for the province's temporary pavilion at Vancouver, raising its cost to $4.1 million. -The Leader-Post

For a party that is so obviously stealing ideas from the Conservatives, it's more than a little rich that its ads label Lingenfelter as having "no new ideas." The ads also say the NDP leader is "down on Saskatchewan" for saying the economy is in "free fall" and citizens are "grumpy." Saskatchewan people grumpy in the winter? Who knew? As for the economy, the message coming from the provincial government itself hardly suggests a smooth road ahead. -The StarPhoenix

The Saskatchewan Party's new television attack ads that target NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter reveal as much about the governing party as they do about the man who wants to inherit the premier's chair - perhaps more. ...For a majority government such as the Saskatchewan Party's to adopt such attack advertising suggests a puzzling element of panic. -The StarPhoenix

...when it comes to issues like power-rate increases, we need to hear something from Wall other than there's nothing much we can do. Really, the big problem for Saskatchewan right now might be a tale of two Brad Walls. It's the second Brad Wall - the one required to provide a vision for dealing with local concerns - who now must improve his game. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Wall made an interesting point when he claimed a 25-per-cent increase in the size of the civil service in the 10 years he's been an MLA (to 12,677 full-time equivalents from 10,174 FTEs in 1999). Sadly, that point significantly lessened when it was discovered that Wall has miscalculated his FTE number by about 1,000. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But with the 2010-11 provincial budget coming, the locals are having a hard time deciphering Wall's plan or even the signals he's sending. (If potash is recovering and we are about to lead the country in growth, then why the freezes in municipal grants, health spending and government hiring?). Nor has Wall been able to generate much confidence - at least so far - that he has a workable solution to deal with these issues. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...call it a tale of two Brad Walls - a provincial premier punching far above his weight on the national and international scene...but lost ground back home, where people are starting to become increasingly worried about health-care spending cuts, government hiring freezes and another whopping electrical rate increase. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

One of Premier Brad Wall's fondest cliches these days is his 'Tale of Two Cities' lament about Saskatchewan's two stories. The 'best' of times are everything else going in the provincial economy and the 'worst' of times are the potash industry, which should be just a glitch in a province with a vast diversity of wealth, a Dickensian Wall tells anyone who will listen. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Premier Brad Wall was in Saskatoon this week to repeat his nostrum that reducing the size of government is the wisest course to ease the budget crunch. ...What's questionable, however, is whether the premier's solution - to build a smaller government through managing vacancies created through retirements - will best serve the interests of the taxypayers who count on receiving effective and efficient services for their money. -The StarPhoenix

A government that apparently counted on Saskatchewan's resource boom to continue unimpeded as it increased program spending by more than 32 per cent since 2006-07 is being just as shortsighted in how it plans to tackle the problem now that the cash flow has slowed. -The StarPhoenix

Faced with a deficit of more than $7 million, the Saskatoon Health Region is cutting jobs. The region, which is the largest employer in the province, with 12,000 nurses, managers and health care service and support workers, cut 21 positions on Thursday. -CBC News

I have no doubt that Wall will keep his promise (which doesn't happen very often) to cut the civil service. He will slash health administration to the breaking point. Then, when things (shock) start falling apart due to work overload, unfilled positions, lack of expertise, etc., the Sask. Party will start saying how awful the system is and that we should start allowing the private sector to have a greater role. Sask. Party's Big Business Pals: 1, People of Saskatchewan: 0. -Kent E. Peterson, Humble Opinion Blog

According to CBC News, Billboard Brad (the Poster Premier) wants to cap health spending at a 3% increase in the upcoming March budget. I've never been very good at math, but I know once a settlement with health workers is factored in, a 3% increase is actually a cut. -Kent E. Peterson, Humble Opinion Blog

Saskatchewan's finance minister now projects provincial potash revenue for the 2009-10 year won't reach the $100-million mark. Rod Gantefoer, who made the comments while speaking in Saskatoon Thursday, said compared to the nearly $2 billion in revenue the province expected from potash at the beginning of the fiscal year, the final figure will seem like almost nothing. -The StarPhoenix

Setting aside the $1.8 billion overestimation of potash revenues in the last budget, the premier's current favourite number - a 25 per cent increase in the civil service, to 12,677 full-time positions in the past 10 years - appears to include double counting about 525 positions that were moved into the government proper from the property management Crown corporation. It's also not unfair to suggest the Wall government has done nothing so far to indicate it has the political will, fortitude or discipline required to impose spending limitations of this magnitude. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Urban and rural residents of Saskatchewan should be concerned about these closures. Using producer cars not only reduces farmers' costs, but it saves on trucking distances. There's also the added benefit of reducing the carbon emissions inherent in moving grain to market, as rail transportation is more efficient than trucking. Rural and urban economies on the Prairies are intertwined. Chipping away at farm income and farm stability is the opposite of what we should be doing to maintain a healthy economy for all of us. -Denise Kouri, The StarPhoenix

The New Democrat Opposition is urging the government not to cut STC routes. For many people in rural Saskatchewan, especially seniors, the bus is a crucial service. "Many people in these towns depend upon STC for their link...to the bigger cities, whether it be for medical appointments, or to visit family or perhaps make connections to travel elsewhere in Canada," said NDP MLA Ron Harper. -CBC News

Brad Wall was forced to borrow money to make up for his deficit budget, but I doubt we will be seeing those billboards. Brad Wall makes the leadership of Grant Devine seem like the "Good Old Days". -Kent E. Peterson, The Carillon

To illustrate the absolute absurdity of everything that is Brad Wall, let us not forget the billboards. They were big and colourful and featured the smiling face of our dear premier. If you were unfortunate enought to catch a glance of these squandered dollars, in over-sized rectangular form, you know what they said. ...While the global economy was collapsing and corporations with double the revenue of Saskatchewan were declaring bankruptcy, Brad Wall was attending photo shoots. It's partly understandable. We all paid for those publications, we might as well get quality. -Kent E. Peterson, The Carillon

He promised a children's hospital and delivered dashed dreams. He promised better days, but attacked our unions. He promised help for students, but raised our tuition. He promised much more, and has broken the majority. Most shamefully, he promised to keep his promises. -

It takes a special kind of incompetence to turn a booming Saskatchewan economy into a bust. Ineptitude is a soft and fluffy term when it comes to describing a government that had $2 billion in the bank then ran a $1 billion deficit shortly thereafter. It could all be forgiven, probably, if it were not for all of Brad Wall's broken promises. -Kent E. Peterson, The Carillon

After more than two years of Saskatchewan Party rule, populism is fleeting it seems. We no longer see Ken Cheveldayoff smirking, and God knows he loves to smirk. Long gone is the love affair rural Saskatchewan once heaped so abundantly on Bill Boyd. The standing ovations Doreen Eagles once received have now been replaced with utter indifference. She's happy to have at least that. The bumbling Fred Bradshaw now fears for his seat and Rob Norris is still Rob Norris - despite our collective wish that he wasn't. In short, what goes up must come down. -Kent E. Peterson, The Carillon

The NDP held a noon hour lunch at Tommy Douglas House for the Day of Caring and leader Dwain Lingenfelter stopped by with the proceeds, over $4100.00. Lingenfelter was struck by the response from across Saskatchewan. "It's important we help our neighbours and friends here and we always do, but what's even more impressive is these are people we don't know. They're in another part of the world, they need our help and Saskatchewan people have stepped up to the mark and we're just very, very proud of this." -Murray Wood, News Talk CJME

Wall said in an interview Thursday that the current budget deliberations have been tougher than the past two and "we're going to need help from the savings account" to balance the budget. In other words, it will be a deficit budget. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Perhaps worst of all, this is a government that didn't pay attention to the details of budgeting. Believing that the tide of money would just keep flowing in, it allowed operational spending of government departments to increase to $10 billion from $7.7 billion. As has been previously stated, the Sask. Party government has had more of a spending problem than a revenue problem. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But if Gantefoer and his government have been unfairly criticized for their work in math class, they surely deserve the criticism they've received for their poor grades in basic philosophy and economics. This is a party that clearly drank its own bath water, convincing itself that its mere presence in government offices as believers in the free enterprise system somehow magically turned around the cyclical nature of Saskatchewan's commodity resources and the revenues that governments derived from them. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

If you were troubled by Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer's math last year, you might be really bothered by his math going into the 2010-11 budget deliberations. This time, however, the troubling math won't just be quibbling over miscalculations of potash revenue. The troubling math will be the depth of the cuts that we should be expecting in the March budget. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It seems unlikely that citizens of Saskatchewan, who well remember the price they paid for fiscal recklessness and irresponsibility under conservative rule in the 1980s and 1990s, are going to ignore Premier Wall's inability to manage the finances of the province because - ludicrously - Mr. Wall wants voters to believe Mr. Lingenfelter isn't enthusiastic enough about the province. It's the Wall government's enthusiasm for billion-dollar "mistakes" that are worrying the voters these days. -Brian Topp, The Globe & Mail

These days Premier Wall has particularly good reason to be worried by the experienced and wily NDP Leader across from him in the Saskatchewan Legislature. After all, Mr. Lingenfelter now has some beautiful material to work with. The Wall team, eastern-establishment darlings though they might still be, stand revealed this winter to be as fiscally incompetent as the last Saskatchewan Tory government was. -Brian Topp, The Globe & Mail

When I went on the surgery list in February 2009, I was told my wait would be about a year. Then Premier Brad Wall promised shorter wait times, and five months were added on to mine. Now there is another announcement about shortening waits, and I wonder how many months this will cost me. ...Is this the two-tier system we are hearing about? If not, how do I get onto the shorter waiting list? -Andy Whiteman, Saskatoon, The StarPhoenix

"New Democrats are at our best when we are reaching out to people across Saskatchewan and listening to their concerns, their ideas and their dreams. That's exactly what our comprehensive Policy Review is all about: it's about listening to Saskatchewan people, engaging in conversation about the future of this great province, and then moving forward to turn those dreams into reality." -NDP MLA for Saskatoon Massey Place, Cam Broten, Saskatchewan NDP

The effects of this government's unprecedented financial mismanagement are now being felt by its most vulnerable citizens: our seniors. As the cost of rent continues to increase across the province, senior citizens are struggling to find an affordable place to live. Despite what the Sask Party says, senior citizens in this province are in a worse situation than they were before this government came to power. -NDP Housing critic, David Forbes, The Southwest Booster

Despite the overwhelming need, there are currently no seniors' housing projects under construction in Swift Current and very few anywhere in the province, for that matter. As we head into the 2010 budget with a $1 billion deficit, the Wall government will continue to ask low-income people, rural Saskatchewan, and senior citizens to pay the price. This is simply not acceptable. -NDP Housing critic, David Forbes, The Southwest Booster

Two Saskatoon city councillors say Monday's announcement by Premier Brad Wall that cities will receive the same amount of revenue-sharing money as last year will put further strain on a difficult budget year. "This will make us pull in our horns a bit and go through the books closely," said Councillor Myles Heidt. "Now to me, what we have to do is sit down and take a real look at what core services we're going to be providing or raise taxes significantly." -The StarPhoenix

"Corporations are not the big bad wolf. They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do: to drive profits up for their shareholders...They also want to see what the playing field is. There has be a balance between the profitability that corporations should expect, and still being responsible tenants of the province." -NDP Environment critic, Sandra Morin, The Carillon

When asked about the trends against industry regulation in other provinces and the U.S., Furber argued that strict regulations ultimately produce stronger economies and healthier societies. "You have to protect the citizens of the province and the environment of Saskatchewan for future generations. We can't compromise that for some perceived immediate financial benefit." -NDP Energy and Resources critic, Darcy Furber, The Carillon

"I don't think post-secondary education should depend on the amount of money that your parents have. Our view is that through bursaries, through meaningful utility rates, through housing costs that are not unaffordable, and having proper childcare in place that we can make post-secondary education fully accessible for all students." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, The Carillon

The NDP leader expressed his desire to ensure that students do not emerge from university with enormous debts that render them incapable of functioning as productive members of society. He assured the audience that the NDP is working towards making university degrees more fiscally manageable through bursaries that can eliminate costs such as living expenses. -Ethan Stein, The Carillon

"I hear stories from across the province of doctors being forced to leave their communities, facing overwhelming workloads and burnout. Saskatchewan families counting on our health care system don't deserve to be the latest victims of Brad Wall's mismanagement of the province's finances. It's time for the Wall government to show a real commitment to rural health care and the thousands of people who depend upon it." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, R Town News

In addition to ignoring the worsening rural doctor shortage, the Wall government has broken their promise to fund 13 long-term care facilities in rural Saskatchewan. $152 million was cut last November, worsening the situation for hundreds of seniors waiting for a space in a long-term care home. -R Town News

The $1.3-billion surplus of 2007 has become a deficit of more than $1-billion in just two years. Wall can't keep his promise to rural and urban municipalities on infrastructure projects; this doesn't help workers' prospects. -Helen M. Baker, The StarPhoenix

In reference to debt, Premier Brad Wall should pay down the remaining billions of debt saddled on Saskatchewan taxpayers by his former boss, Grant Devine. Like Grant Devine, he's taken the province back into deficit. -Helen M. Baker, The StarPhoenix

Remember when then-minister for parks, Christine Tell, explained two years ago the government needed to increase campsite fees so that consumers would better appreciate these amenities' true value? Gee, I can't imagine how much more we will all appreciate our electricity in August, when SaskPower hike its rates by 7.5 per cent to 7.9 per cent. Heck, we've hardly got over the euphoria of last year's increase of 8.5 per cent. Please stop. It's getting tough to afford all this appreciation. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...the Sask. Party has done a poor job of explaining its strategy to the public, and an even worse job of sticking to its principles. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

...the government needs to explain why it is selling cabins in provincial parks, contracting out IT services, or making deals with out-of-province firms to build power plants. The government needs to tell taxpayers exactly what the benefits are, in terms of cost savings, increased efficiency or improved service. More importantly, it needs to articulate a consistent strategy rather than saying one thing and doing another. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

Recently, the government announced it had contracted Northland Power of Toronto to build and operate a 261-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant at North Battleford. The cost of the plant? A cool $700 million. The cost of the power being sold to SaskPower? Who knows? Terms and conditions of the 20-year deal with Northland haven't been disclosed. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

Another major change in policy was getting government out of the business of picking winners and losers. Under the Sask. Party, the private sector would lead the economy, while government would set the business climate. But since its election in 2007, the Wall government has been going largely the opposite direction. Far from getting government out of business, it has created a welter of government economic development funds and agencies...Does this look like the actions of a government that's committed to getting government out of business? -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

One thing the Saskatchewan Party government promised to do was to get the private sector more involved in the economy. ...After more than two years on the job, the Sask. Party record is a mixed one, at best. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

"It's going very, very slowly and our membership's getting frustrated...we have an understanding that the economy is slow and all the rest of it. But the simple fact of the matter is we have to get something up here because our membership expects it and we're losing doctors left, right and centre." -Dr. George Miller, General Surgeon, Moose Jaw, The Leader-Post

The snail's pace of negotiations with the provincial government over a new agreement on fees is fuelling uncertainty amongst doctors about their future in Saskatchewan and could lead to job action by physicians... Dr. George Miller said in an interview Wednesday that the doctor's previous contract came open in April of 2009 and it seems the Saskatchewan Party government is dragging its feet. -The Leader-Post

Consider where FNUniv was just one week ago: Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris was badly bogged down in his own talking points that "this chapter is closed" and the "status quo is not on" at FNUniv. It was also a week ago that Norris uttered the less-than-encouraging proclamation that "we didn't start this fire", leaving everyone to wonder how willing the provincial government was to sit back and watch FNUniv burn to the ground. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It's quite possible that the Saskatchewan Party government had a game plan for the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) that's suddenly gone awry with the federal government's announcement Monday that it was also pulling its funding from FNUniv. There again, a far more nefarious interpretation is also possible - that this has been a rather orchestrated effort by the Sask. Party and Conservative governments to close down FNUniv once and for all. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Since the federal Conservatives have reneged on their promise to let Saskatchewan keep its oil royalties, their counterparts in the Saskatchewan Party have done the same to us in clawing back money that was going to be included in the budgets of cities and RMs. How many more years are we expected to put up with these lies? -Rodney Perry, The Leader-Post

"Since the board has been dissolved and reforms are being made, as requested, the Wall government must indicate their support for this institution. One has to ask: Did the Wall and Harper government want to get this valuable institution back on track, or were they looking for an excuse to shut down this university for good?" -NDP First Nations and Métis Relations critic, Warren McCall, R Town News

Health regions will find it tough to find significant savings in their budgets with more than 70 per cent of spending going to fund doctors, nurses and other workers. With the provincial government bleeding red ink, Saskatchewan's health regions have been told they must share the pain of looming provincial budget cuts. -The Leader-Post

When Mr. Yates raised in the legislature last fall the case of Brock Wiebe, a prisoner who had been inadvertently released before his time was up, it elicited a veiled threat from Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister Yogi Huyghebaert. "Have you got a visit from the police yet?" he asked the Opposition critic - a remark that was rightfully found in contempt of the legislature by Speaker Don Toth. -The StarPhoenix

A state of affairs is unfolding in southwestern Saskatchewan which demands the attention of our premier and minister of health. The citizens/voters of this region have legitimate concerns about the policies, directions and leadership of the Cypress Health Region. ...does the premier care about the concerns and needs of the people of southwestern Saskatchewan? The health minister has responsibilities for the health care of Saskatchewan citizens and yet he has not responded to these communications. Is he doing his job? -Alan S. Howard, The Leader-Post

News of talks ending between Domtar and Iogen was more surprising than the mill's date with a wrecking ball, said Prince Albert Northcote NDP MLA Darcy Furber. "Iogen not being able to use that site could cost 100 jobs; Domtar shutting down, with the impact on forestry, trucking, logging...it's upwards of 2,500 jobs." -NDP MLA Darcy Furber, Prince Albert Daily Herald

Saskatchewan Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer was recently at a federal, provincial and territorial housing ministers' meeting in Quebec and does not think that the low-income housing situation will improve any time soon. Nor does she appear to see any role for the government in providing low-rental housing. -Elecia Chrunik, The Sasquatch

Many of the tenants facing rental hikes receive social assistance and disability support, and, without large rent supplements, will have difficulty paying the extra rent or finding another place to live. The vacancy rate is 0.9 per cent in Moose Jaw, the second lowest in the province after Regina, and there are no major plans to build low-income housing in the city. -Elecia Chrunik, The Sasquatch

Oddly, cuts to other government programs - like culture, or health care, or government services - aren't seen as job killers, but as necessary sacrifices to a government's bottom line in these "tough economic times." The provincial government just cut $1.3 million from its budget, $8.4 million of which came out of "vacancy management." Otherwise known as cuts to public sector employment. -Carle Steel, The Sasquatch

What right do glorified bureaucrats have to question or interfere with an MLA doing his job? And even if they are investigating a specious violation of the civil service code of conduct, could it possibly justify a two-hour shakedown of an Opposition MLA over information he brought forward under the absolute privilege of the legislature? ...We've seen politically motivated investigations before, but we haven't previously seen our government give investigators free rein to harass opposition politicians. In our democracy, that crosses a line. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Premier Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party caucus must feel uneasy reading such a headline as 'Infant mortality highest in Sask.' (SP, Jan. 22)...To add to Brad Wall's shame is the fact that he agrees with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament until March. Surely the premier realizes that Parliament should be functioning at full capacity to deal with such issues as infant mortality, particularly in the North. -Peggy Durant, Saskatoon, The StarPhoenix

The forest is a provincially owned resource, so for the government to take such a hands-off approach is mystifying. Premier Brad Wall needs to step outside his ideological boundaries and realize that sometimes tax dollars can be used effectively to help kickstart stalled industries whose payback is potentially enormous. -Brad Bardal, Saskatoon, The StarPhoenix

When the Saskatchewan Party government took office, it wasted no time in tearing up a memorandum of understanding between Domtar and the former NDP government to restart the mothballed pulp mill in Prince Albert. The stated reason for doing so what that no tax dollars should go toward getting the mill running again, and that the government would come up with a better plan. Now Domtar is applying for a demolition permit. -Brad Bardal, Saskatoon, The StarPhoenix

The government last year poured $3 million into examining future possibilities for uranium development, including nuclear power. The NDP has argued similar resources should have been offered to examine other power sources so all the options could be better compared. "(The government) had so much effort and concentration on the nuclear file that you sort of get the sense they're not really sure where to go now." -NDP MLA Warren McCall, The StarPhoenix

"The bottom line is we need to have more success than we're having now. We want to bring recommendations in that provide more support to families, more preventative services, taking fewer children in care, returning children who are in care back to their families quicker and really make sure we have recommendations regarding long-term planning for children." -Bob Pringle, Saskatoon City Councillor, Chair of the Child Welfare Review Panel and former NDP MLA

It's not so easy to calculate the long-term benefits - if any - of a pavilion promoting this province for two weeks. The extra $500,000 in funding for that pavilion approved by cabinet last week brings its total cost to $4.1 million. However, once everything else has been tallied, including the cost of travel and accommodation for who knows how many officials and politicians, plus a previously announced $1.5 million contribution for athletes and the staging of the games, the bill balloons to $7.2 million. -The Leader-Post Staff

At a time when the Saskatchewan government is skating on thin ice financially, a last-minute bill for an extra $500,000 towards its presence at the 2010 Winter Olympics is unwelcome news. Taxpayers are now on the hook for almost $8 million for the Feb. 12-28 games in Vancouver and many will undoubtedly wonder a) why the bill is so high and b) exactly what they are getting for their money. -The Leader-Post Staff

Ontario has introduced a senior homeowners' property tax grant, a grant provided annually to offset taxes for seniors with low and moderate incomes who own their own homes. ...Why doesn't Saskatchewan offer this type of relief for its seniors? I think it is high time we pressed this issue by writing our legislators and demanding that we, the seniors of Saskatchewan, get an equivalent or better deal. Get on the bandwagon. More voices make change. -G.E. McMurtry, The StarPhoenix

If you buy a house on credit, does it make sense to pay down the debt each month in such a way that your family can not be provided with the essentials? A high school kid taking a life skills budgeting class could figure this out. But that is what this government has done. When you budget on hope and not common sense you get the predicament created by the Potash bust. -William Gibbs, Southwest Booster

The hope of a children's hospital has been taken away. Will the thirteen long term care homes get the funding they were promised? Also there is promised long term care home for Meadow Lake. There was promised economic development at Big River. All these projects are up in the air. There is the promise of new funding for Municipalities. What about promised education property tax cuts? And just where will the School Boards make up for shortfalls from lower education taxes? -William Gibbs, Southwest Booster

Regina's housing market has gone from being the most affordable in Canada to moderately unaffordable in less than three years. -The Leader-Post

According to numbers posted on the Saskatchewan Surgical Care Network website, there were 28,769 patients waiting for surgeries as of Sept. 30, an increase from 27,807 at the end of June and the highest number in at least two years. -The Leader-Post

The number of Saskatchewan patients waiting for surgeries rose while the number of procedures performed declined in the most recent period where statistics are available. -The Leader-Post

But the actual transition from a "have-not" province (we've been a "have" province for six years now) to one leading the nation in economic growth was a five-year process that really started in the last three years of NDP premier Lorne Calvert's administration. -Murray Mandryk, Rosetown News

Still another theory is that the Saskatchewan Party's over-inflated optimism combined with a naive willingness to believe whatever industry executives told them, allowed the government to pick a high number out of the sky. At budget time, Energy Minister Bill Boyd was even privately predicting that potash revenues would top $3 billion. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

From the highs of the March provincial budget ($1.926 billion in expected potash royalties) to the lows in November's mid-year update ($109 million), Saskatchewan rode the rocky pink roller-coaster this year. And much to the chagrin of government, this ride could get even wilder in 2010. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

"For all the words the prime minister is saying I don't think he's being totally truthful with the public of Canada and the truth is he's running away from a difficult situation with the committee looking at the Afgahn (detainee issue)." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter

"I want to be very clear that I'm referring to (Wall) and his team of cabinet - but mainly the premier because he's the leader - as loser, but no one else." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, The Leader-Post

"There has been lots of cases in Canada where governments have been off on projections, even by millions of dollars - maybe $100 million - but we're talking about a government that was off by nearly $2 billion, or 20 per cent of its budget. That's a blunder of historical proportions." -David McGrane, Political Expert, University of Saskatchewan (West Central Crossroads)

"There doesn't seem to be any substance in how he's going to make that happen and I think that's what's causing a lot of concern in the business community and in the public. You need more than that in order to get the province's economy back on track." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, West Central Crossroads

"There isn't another jurisdiction in North America that would have seen their cash flow increase by 25 per cent from $8 billion to $10 billion, and still they can't manage it. They're running a $1 billion deficit. It's just irresponsible." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, West Central Crossroads

But let's also give some Christmas cheer to new NDP Opposition leader Dwain Lingenfelter who has actually been a surprisingly strong advocate on rural issues - especially in the last three months when a tightening budget has the government thinking of cuts. -Murray Mandryk, West Central Crossroads

"The last budget was a total disaster and it wasn't just potash that was wrong - it was every line. And we're counting on the government to be more transparent; to inform the public both on the income side and the revenue side, and on what the true story is." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, The Outlook

"What we're hoping is the government and the Premier are doing their own work now, because we can't afford two budgets in a row that lead us into deficit." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, The Outlook

"First the government removes our ability to govern education property tax rates at the local level and now they are saying zero percent increase in our budgets. This calls for action from education providers to lobby the government for stable and adequate funding. Children's lives and education are being jeopardized and we cannot let that happen." -Larry Ahenakew, Chairperson, Northern Lights School Division

"...we can't afford two budgets in a row that lead us into deficit. The last budget was a disaster and it wasn't just potash that was wrong - it was every line. And we're counting on the government to be more transparent; to inform the public both on the income side and revenue side, and on what the true story is." -NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter, The Outlook

NDP social services critic David Forbes said there has been lots of talk but little action on the issue since the Sask. Party took office more than two years ago, as reflected by the worsening statistics in the report. "It seems to have become a trademark of this government to drag its feet." -The StarPhoenix

The auditor has continually raised issues about whether policy is being followed to ensure the proper placing and protection of children in care. But in more than half the audited files - 53 per cent - workers had inadequate contact with children, up from 39 per cent in 2008.

Mr. Wendel suggests the problems here, as well as in some other problem departments, stem from a failure to develop and implement a proper human resource plan. "It's either a capacity or commitment issue," he points out, where the agencies don't have adequate staff, have in place the wrong staff, or have people without the proper training to do what's needed. -The StarPhoenix

The Environment Ministry in particular remains a perennial laggard in addressing the concerns raised by the auditor's office, seemingly lacking direction from the top, sound management in the middle and follow-through at the rank and file level. -The Star Phoenix

With the Saskatchewan's boom gone bust in a hurry as potash revenues hit the dumpster, and Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer talking about freezing government spending...suddently the $1.05 billion summary deficit projected this year is getting plenty of attention. -The StarPhoenix

But as Mr. Wendel noted in an interview, what he said a year ago in presenting an almost identical assessment of the government's performance but got little attention at the height of the economic boom, bears repeating today: "Nobody is going to care about summary and GRF statements until there's a deficit." -The StarPhoenix

...we have a public sector that improves its measurable output at a rate slower than the rest of the economy, and a government that sees expenditure announcements as more important than performance. That means constantly increasing government expenditures, which put Saskatchewan one potash crash away from a fiscal crack-up. -David Seymour, Special to The StarPhoenix

The auditor also continues to be concerned about the protection of children in the care of Social Services. "Ministry employees are not following the established processes for the proper care of these children. The ministry lacks timely information on how many children are wards, who they are and where they live," Wendel said. -The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan government has been gambling with public money by letting ongoing problems linger, according to the provincial auditor. -The Leader-Post

The voting public should rightly ask why the government's high-profiled UDP was stricken from the record. After all, for 11 of the 12 months since the 2008 Throne Speech, the UDP and nuclear controversy was front and centre in the media. Such an omission doesn't happen by accident. -Jim Harding, R Town News

...when I looked at the sparse section on energy, way down near the bottom of the Throne Speech, there was no mention of the previously high priority Uranium Development Partnership (UDP). I wondered if I had been in a long, deep dream. Had I only imagined that last October the Wall government gave $3-million to the UDP to recommend how to expand the nuclear industry? -Jim Harding, R Town News

The government thinks that to win the next election it must tackle health-care waiting times, but there's nothing in the Throne Speech on how environmental degradation makes us all sicker. -Jim Harding, R Town News

When we learned that the long-promised emergency helicopter is no longer in the plans because, as Health Minister Don McMorris explained, it's just not feasible under the current economic restraints. This was something that the Sask. Party promised for more than a decade while in Opposition. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

Some of this potential damage emerging out of the mid-year update are things we've already discussed like the deferral of capital spending to 13 rural nursing homes and hospitals and the reduction in agriculture spending at a time when farmers and ranchers could surely use some help. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

...perhaps the biggest blunder we are now seeing is the Sask. Party government's proposed solution that always seem to involve taking something away from rural Saskatchewan. In fact, the longer this legislative sitting went, the more was taken away. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

The government clearly made a blunder when it assumed a worldwide recession would have no effect on world potash sales at a time when the potash industry in North America was severely over-valuing its product. An even bigger mistake was the record government spending based on what were clearly shaky revenue projections. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

Most of the digging was designed to bury the $1.05-billion summary financial statement deficit announced in the mid-year budget update - a far cry from the surplus the government promised in March. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

Mercifully, the fall sitting of the legislature has come to an end for the Saskatchewan Party government. Actually, it was a rather mercifully end for a lot of us in this province - especially those living in the rural areas. The longer the session went on, the deeper the Sask. Party dug itself into trouble...although it mostly seemed as if it was the rest of us getting covered in dirt. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

The government is warned by the auditor that its books can't be trusted and it sees that warning as just more political games? Let's hope not. Let's hope Wall and company can still be a little humbled by at least the provincial auditor. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

In terms of the economic costs, the economic costs are straightforward. We are the ones who are going to pay. There is no one else there. So the costs will end up coming out of our standard of living. -Eric Howe, Professor of Economics, University of Saskatchewan (CBC News, Blue Sky)

(the Wall Government) inherited such a fiscally solid position that I think they felt that they could buy anything they wanted with our money. And frankly, as we all know, there always is a budget constraint. And I would say the deficits that were run by Devine and the deficit that is now being run by the Wall Government are, in fact, entirely analogous. -Eric Howe, Professor of Economics, University of Saskatchewan (CBC News, Blue Sky)

Brad Wall's government inherited an extremely positive, extremely solid fiscal position. And that, unfortunately communicated to the members of the provincial cabinet that there effectively wasn't a budget constraint. And sadly, if I violate my own budget constraints, it costs me and it costs my family. When they violate their budget constraints, it doesn't cost them, it costs us. -Eric Howe, Professor of Economics, University of Saskatchewan (CBC News, Blue Sky)

We have gone in those three years from having a one billion-dollar surplus to running the second largest deficit in the history of the province. To find a larger deficit, you would have to go back to the last year of Grant Devine's government. -Eric Howe, Professor of Economics, University of Saskatchewan (CBC News, Blue Sky)

First, the province warned it might not be able to keep a promise of more direct funding to school boards and a cut to your property tax. Well, now the finance minister is warning that a promise cities and towns of a set share of the provincial sales tax might not come through, either, And that might also affect your property tax. -Garth Materie, CBC News, Blue Sky

Promises made, promises broken. How might the province's backtracking on funding promises to municipalities and school boards affect you and me? The bad news just keeps on rolling this week. -Garth Materie, CBC News, Blue Sky

Saskatchewan's agriculture ministry has found another $20 million to give back to the provincial general revenue fund. The ministry has now contributed $40 million to the government's cost-cutting and restraint measures that were required after expected potash revenue didn't materialize. -Karen Briere, The Western Producer

...workers aren't being given the information they need nor is the Saskatchewan Party government providing support to ministry employees in enforcing labour laws and health and safety rules. -The Leader-Post

Adding to the health region's financial challenges are the province's belt-tightening measures. In response to lower-than-expected potash revenue, the provincial government announced $8.1 million in program reductions, including $5 million trimmed from the health regions' non-clinical programs. -Pamela Cowan, The Leader-Post

Brad Wall's honeymoon is officially over - and his big troubles as premier have begun. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

The grand rural-urban conservative coalition which brought Wall's Saskatchewan Party to power is beginning to unravel. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association has denounced the loss of the PST point. Local school boards, a foundation of political conservatism in the province, are getting angry and restive. ...Regina's right-wing mayor, Pat Fiacco, formerly a darling of Wall's Sask. Party, has been uncharacteristically pointed and public in his criticisms of the government. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Post

The negative political fallout for Wall has begun, most particularly among his "natural" constituency, his right-wing base in the province. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

The province has moved overnight from a healthy projected surplus to a billion dollar deficit - the worse since 1991, the year of the scandal-ridden Devine Tory government which left Saskatchewan an economic basket case. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

A multitude of cuts are being carried out beneath the public radar throughout the whole government and its bureaucracy. To deal with the crisis, the government has pulled over half a billion from the rainy day fund carefully built up by the previous NDP government. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

The Wall government has begun to renege - no children's hospital, no long-term care facilities, no one PST point for the municipalities and no stable funding formula for the school boards(many have slipped into deficits). -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

The potash boom lasted just long enough for Wall to begin delivering the promises in the budget. But the boom suddenly vanished. Expected government revenues from potash have fallen from the budget's projection of $1.96 billion to $109 million, and it is still unknown if the floor has been reached in the collapse in both potash prices and demand. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

Unfortunately for Brad Wall, his political ponzi scheme collapsed after only eight or nine months. The government's budget was so out of touch with reality - it was based on endlessly high potash revenues - that many in Saskatchewan never believed it for a moment. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

Last March, the Wall government brought in a budget with huge tax cuts...Despite naysayers among experts who suggested this was a fantasy budget that could not work in the real world, Wall proclaimed Saskatchewan's booming economy recession-proof, and it would all work out. Then he crossed his fingers and hoped it would last until the 2011 election was over. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

Premier Brad Wall had a political ponzi scheme ready to soar in Saskatchewan. Unfortunately for the Saskatchewan Party, it's been grounded by the worldwide recession before it could really take off. -John F. Conway, The Prairie Dog

Right from Day One, minding the pennies hasn't exactly been the strength of Premier Brad Wall's government. Political operatives and ordinary civil servants were hired and fired with little regard for the salaries and severances being paid. -Murray Mandryk

But how could a government that had reduced the public debt by about $2.8 billion suddenly have a debt problem? And how could a government that increased the operational budgets of government departments by $1.5-billion or 18.5-per-cent in just two years possibly be contemplating a spending freeze right now? -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

We're now talking about freezing spending in the 2010-11 budget. And we're talking about it in the context of significantly increasing provincial debt - something tat we hoped we left behind us in the 1980s and early 1990s. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Since the mid-term financial report that saw both the debt and government spending increase, there have been solid reasons to fear Saskatchewan's return to the bad old days. ...as it referred to Devine's massive, debt-inducing and sometimes unnecessary mega-projects. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...the government actually went a surprising step further by suggesting it would consider any community's proposal to facilitate nuclear waste disposal - a significant departure from Premier Brad Wall's stated position that Saskatchewan has no appetite for nuclear waste. -Murray Mandryk

As Canada was being hammered by environmentalists at the international climate change talks, Heppner - in Copenhaagen in Premier Brad Wall's stead - clearly decided her best tactic was to lend support to the embattled Conservatives who once employed her as a communication strategist. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It would have been nice if Saskatchewan Environment Minister Nancy Heppner had curbed her enthusiasm for the federal Conservative government Wednesday. This didn't seem to be a great day to be lending one's unconditional support to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's environmental policy. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Gantefoer was stumped when asked about another order-in-council that saw Norris appointed to something called the Investment Board. "I don't believe that's under my purview," he said before an aide interjected that it was inactive. Gantefoer is in fact chair of the Investment Board. -The StarPhoenix

The Saskatchewan government has been gambling with public money by letting ongoing problems linger, the provincial auditor says. In Vol. 3 of his 2009 report, provincial auditor Fred Wendel said public money remained at risk in some areas because of poor financial controls. -The StarPhoenix

The provincial government is not following proper accounting principles and its net debt is more than $8 billion - double what is reported - the government's financial watchdog reported Tuesday. -The StarPhoenix

Van Mulligen challenged those numbers. He said in recent private-sector forecasts from the big banks suggest growth will be well below one per cent this year. He also questioned the potash revenue projections, adding that recently Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan has cut back production and extended layoffs in the mines. -CBC News

NDP finance critic Harry Van Mulligen said the budget is built on "blind optimism," ignores signs that the economy is slowing and isn't sustainable over the long term. "Strong and steady...we think this budget is wrong already," he said. -CBC News

Disturbingly, it was a similar unfettered belief in the surging market that likely led the Sask. Party government this spring to ignore the better advice of its own ministry of finance and bet the budget on a repeat of 2008's record potash revenues. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Facing a mid-year 2009-10 budget report that ushered in Wall's first real governing challenge (in the form of a $1.05-billion overall deficit), what we saw is a disturbing return to some old Conservative notions. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...it's first taste of economic adversity (in the last few months) has really served to demonstrate how deeply rooted this Conservative economic philosophy might really be in Wall's governing Sask. Party ranks. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The political instinct that the Saskatchewan Party premier must fight in 2010 is his dyed-in-the-wool conservative belief that we will simply grow our way out of the budgetary problems we're now encountering. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Judging by both his reaction and Gantefoer's counterattack, a siege mentality seems to be developing in corners of the executive council that won't be helpful to Wall in the long run. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Wall, had he been on his game, would clearly have recognized that his petulance simply wasn't the right approach. ...Unfortunately, his less than constructive sentiments appear to be reinforced by those around Wall. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Taxpayers not only are owed a clear and concise update of Saskatchewan's financial circumstances, but also deserve a premier who is capable of demonstrating leadership, especially during the kind of increased economic turbulence we're likely to see in 2010. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But we also witnessed in late 2009 a politician with an unfortunate tendency to feel hard done by, even when the circumstances don't really merit it. It was a defensive Wall whom we saw after the mid-year budget, complaining that reporters were unfairly provincial. He complained that reporters were unfair not to put in context today's $1.05 deficit with the $2.3 billion debt paydown in his first year. Since then, we've seen Gantefoer use letters to the editor to make similar claims of unfairness. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Given the economic challenges that face him in 2010, it certainly will be a significantly tougher task for Wall to be seen as a positive influence. After an early term debt paydown of $2.3 billion, the mid-year budget update from Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer for 2009-10 clearly shows $1.05 billion summary deficit that will be added to the provincial debt. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

With the $1.8-billion shortfall, Gantefoer scrambled to freeze spending, cut programs and delay or defer promised tax cuts and large-scale capital projects, like the children's hospital in Saskatoon. And all because somebody miscalculated - badly - on the price of a pink rock. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

But as financially embarrassing as the potash production/price collapse was to the industry, it was a massive body blow to the finances of the Saskatchewan Party government and a huge slap in the face to the, whose ministry relied heavily on the potash industry's projections. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

And with the news this week that Domtar is dismantling the shuttered Prince Albert pulp mill, Saskatchewan Party MLA Darryl Hickie's 2007 campaign pledge that "a vote for Darryl is a vote for the mill open and people working" isn't likely to be forgotten for a while. -The StarPhoenix

While there has been internal finger pointing at both finance and energy officials for the budget miscalculation, the reality is the government had neither the mechanism nor the interest in making an independent assessment. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Besides severely limiting the Sask. Party government's flexibility to spend in the lead-up to the next election, the massive miscalculation and debt has political foes and analysts conjuring up unfavourable comparisons with the Grant Devine government of the 1980s. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Scrambling to offset the shortfall, the government postponed the Children's Hospital in Saskatoon and 13 rural nursing home-hospital projects. However, the government is now threatening to freeze municipal grants and education propertu tax cuts. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It was the biggest single miscalculation of resource revenues in the province's budgeting history and produced the second-biggest overall deficit in Saskatchewan history: $1.05-billion on a summary basis. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

After gambling nearly $10 billion in spending on the notion that potash revenues would again hit $2 billion, the Saskatchewan Party government spent much of 2009 stunned by a $1.8-billion decline in potash revenues from its March budget prediction. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Describing himself to be as "fiscally conservative as anyone you'll ever meet," Howe said the Saskatchewan Party government has dug itself a "fairly deep hole" - the largest deficit the province has seen since the Progressive Conservative government's last budget in 1991. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

"If I were to ask the Finance Minister (Rod Gantefoer) one thing, it would be: `Where did the money go?'" Howe said Wednesday, adding that the Devine government also blamed its deficits on recessions even when Saskatchewan wasn't in recession. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

University of Saskatchewan economist Eric Howe - whom the Saskatchewan Party government recently praised for insisting that this province had avoided the recession - said in an interview Wednesday that the current government has a spending problem and not a resource revenue problem caused by failing potash sales. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

One of the province's foremost economists says the Brad Wall government is suffering from the same mindset that plagued the Grant Devine government and added $10 billion in debt in 10 years. -Murray Mandryk

Even more legitimately maddening was the remarkable hubris of Advanced Education, Manpower and Labour Minister Rob Norris and his staff, who seemed unwilling or still unable to answer issues raised by the unions at the hearings last summer. There again, if a government is intent on jamming legislation through anyway, should we be surprised it didn't attempt to answer questions? Unfortunately this is what happens when governments get a little too eager to do the bidding of their supporters. It tends to lead to trouble. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The best the rest of us can hope for is that whoever is in power isn't so beholden or captivated by its supporters that it starts to make really bad, rash policy decisions. Unfortunately, this was precisely the disturbing thing about Sask. Party MLAs trying to ram through Bill 80 in the waning hours of this sitting for what seemed to be little reason other than placating their business clientele who came to the public gallery to see Bill 80 passed. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

NDP education critic Pat Atkinson said the government is leaving everybody - including school boards - in the dark about its intentions. "We have the biggest education funding change in the history of the province. School boards no longer get access to the tax base, so the minister promised them continuity and stability going forward, and now he's saying we may not have this in place before the next election," Atkinson said. "I think it's very disappointing. What's really disconcerting is that many school boards used reserves this year in order to deal with education financing." -The StarPhoenix

Further education property tax cuts promised by the Saskatchewan Party under a new funding system for school divisions may not happen in 2010, a casualty of the government's financial woes... With the government taking over the responsibility from school boards for setting education property mill rates, taxes are supposed to go down again in 2010 and the province's share of funding increase to 66 per cent. But with the government promising a belt-tightening budget, Krawetz said that may not happen. -The StarPhoenix

Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco said he expects the provincial government to live up to the plan it outlined in the last provincial budget. "There was certainly never a caveat attached. Our expectation frankly was to get the full cent lasy year and we settled with 90 per cent of the full cent. People have really come to rely on the predictability of the new municipal operating grant. A promise made should be a promise kept. And once again, PST does not reflect their ability to sell potash to China or India." -The Leader-Post

With the government already talking last week about potentially backtracking on its promise to further cut education property taxes and increase its direct funding to education next year, the Sask. Party's two big-ticket items from this spring's budget have hit unexpected bumps before being fully implemented. -The Leader-Post

A promise to boost funding for municipalities in next year's provincial budget may be sacrificed to the Saskatchewan Party government's current financial predicament. -The Leader-Post

After all, if there are two separate economic stories - potash and everything else - why might municipal taxpayers be asked to pay for the shortfall in the provincial government revenue? Isn't that why municipal revenue increases were tied to the PST - a far more stable, predictable source of revenue - in the first place? Are there really two stories in Saskatchewan? Or are there only two stories when it comes to the government justifying the consequences of its overly optimistic potash revenue projections? -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But what might be even more interesting is how it flies in the face of all the spin we've been hearing from the Sask. Party government since the mid-year financial statement about how everything is good in the province except for potash. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Wall was spinning the notion Tuesday that the province would still be matching this record contribution to municipal funding (which, is a lot nicer way to put it than calling it a funding freeze) and that the increases would go ahead as soon as resource revenues got better next year. This will come as cold comfort to normally amicable leaders like Fiacco and Earle who are already counting on additional municipal revenue in 2010 to avoid passing on property tax increases to people like you and me. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Even more irksome to SUMA is the fact that Gantefoer would speculate with reporters Monday on arbitrarily changing the agreed-upon formula without at least first notifying municipal leaders. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...public interest will certainly be piqued when Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco (often and unfairly criticized for being too aligned with the Sask. Party government) or SUMA President Allan Earle (who seems like he could get along with anybody) now say that the Sask. Party is going back on its word. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Judging by the justifiably irritated reaction of municipal leaders to Finance MInister Rod Gantefoer's musings that his government might not go ahead with further municipal funding increases because of dwindling potash revenue, one gets the impression that this province's most significant stakeholder group isn't all that confident in the Sask. Party government in the wake of its mid-year financial report. In fact, it's this reaction from the municipal leaders that should be most worrisome to Brad Wall's administration right now. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It's really a simple choice: Either we have two stories in the Saskatchewan economy right now - potash and everything else, or; potash is the only story in Saskatchewan. If it's truly the latter, the government has more problems on its hands than anyone thinks. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

If there are really two stories in Saskatchewan - potash and everything else - why on earth would the Saskatchewan Party government even consider not making good on its promise to increase municipal funding? -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government is prepared to back away from both education property tax cuts and increased funding for municipalities it promised for 2010...But the Opposition NDP said it will be taxpayers who will bear the cost of broken promises that spring from Sask. Party financial mismanagement. -The Leader-Post

In the spring, the Sask. Party acknowledged it would break its 2007 election promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 32 per cent below 2004 levels by 2020 - a target it had adopted from the previous NDP government - in favour of laxer federal targets. NDP environment critic Sandra Morin said she would be glad to see any movement from the Sask. Party on emissions after a lack on action on the issue in its first two years. -The StarPhoenix

With all the activity the uranium/nuclear issue in Saskatchewan these days, residents might want to check their homeowner insurance policies to learn how much coverage we get in the event of what the industry and government call a "nuclear incident." Hint: Look in the section entitled Exemptions. -Elaine Hughes, The StarPhoenix

What is the Brad Wall government doing with the healthy financial legacy it inherited? It is following the example of the former Conservative government. It has cut taxes and spent wildly. It looks as if this government will continue on that road until the NDP will again have to take over and get us back on track. Ho Hum. What else is new? -Jack Driedger, The StarPhoenix

Yes, the pink elephant of potash the finance minister saw when he dreamed up the 2009-10 budget has proven to be an illusion, but given the array of spending increases at provincial agencies, Messrs. Wall, Gantefoer and Krawetz should keep their word. -The StarPhoenix

Yet the reality is that, on a summary basis, the province's books for the current year are in the hole to the tune of $1 billion. Unless Mr. Wall's administration remains focused on spending money to build for the future instead of trying to placate voters by throwing gobs of cash at causes on the basis of short-term political rewards, things could get ugly in a hurry. -The StarPhoenix

If indeed Mr. Gantefoer was trying to float a trial balloon to learn what reception the notion of holding back a grant increase to municipalities would get, it turned out to be lead balloon that was dropped on his feet the moment he handed it to municipal leaders. -The StarPhoenix

Having made the commitment to stable funding, it's disingenuous of Mr. Gantefoer now to suggest, as he did this week, that "municipalities are just as astute as anyone else and are looking at the challenge that we're facing with the potash shortfall and saying, `Marybe we better be a little bit prudent as well, and wait and see what's actually going to be made available'." -The StarPhoenix

The volatility of resource markets, the very reason that Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer is now scrambling to gain control of a budget that hurtled off the tracks, is precisely why his government shouldn't be backtracking on a stable funding deal with Saskatchewan's municipalities and its commitment to further ease property taxes. -The StarPhoenix

NDP energy and resources critic Darcy Furber, who raised the issue in question period, said the government clearly has its mind made up about Big River. "It certainly seems the government has killed any hope that Big River had. The 200,000 cubic metres the minister alluded to is on-quarter of what it takes to make that mill viable. Without the wood allocation, that mill is dead." -The StarPhoenix

Should a government ever be throwing money into Death Valley? And shouldn't it stop when its annual budget deficit hits a billion dollars? How addicted to spending do you have to be to think this is a good idea? It's time for Wall to come to terms with this addiction. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Finally, the government absolutely needs to eliminate all nonsensical spending, like the $25 million Bill Boyd's Innovation Ministry dedicates to researching and developing private sector ventures that the government says would otherwise be headed for Death Valley. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It's ridiculous to believe every ministry needs a director of communications, but it's even more ridiculous when you consider that the Sask. Party has turned these jobs into dumping grounds for former executive council political hires. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

However, no one in Saskatchewan should be expected to suffer before Wall's own political apparatchiks, so the first act should be a voluntary government MLA wage freeze accompanied by wage freezes or even rollbacks in all executive council, ministerial and caucus offices. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Mr. Premier, you need to stop talking about any debt you've retired and instead focus on the debt you're now creating at the Devinian pace of a billion this year. Again sir, you have a spending problem. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Mr. Premier, stop looking for places to spend money you don't have right now. Start looking for places to save. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Brad Wall has become addicted to spending and not even the intervention this week by his old economics professor, Eric Howe, helped Wall come to terms with his vice. Evidently, another intervention is required. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Wall truly appears to be suffering from Devine's affliction - the need for just one more hit of resource revenue to give the government one more spending high. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Wall's conviction that the billion-dollar deficit his Saskatchewan Party government unveiled last month will magically turn around when resource revenues recover is an economic and political disaster in the making. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Premier Brad Wall's frightening problem right now is that he truly does think he can get out of the dark deficit hole he's dug by digging even deeper. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

"Strong and Steady" was how the government described Saskatchewan's fiscal position when it released its budget in March. Since then, plummeting resource revenues have forced it to backtrack on several commitments. -Prairie Dog

"Without proper examinations, how do we know whether this financial statement is a any more accurate than the budget that they tried to fly by us last March?" Lingenfelter said. Whatever's decided, bet on Link and co. having a lot to say. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

In the Nov. 19 budget update, Gantefoer revealed that the province's operating budget for 2009-10 is a billion dollars in the red - not exactly what he forecast in March's budget. Twenty per cent of the province's projected income during the 2009-10 fiscal year - about $2 billion - was to come from potash royalties. Someone in his ministry didn't learn the lessons of the 2006-07 oil boom: if the price gets high enough, people eventually stop paying. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

Making things scarier, government spending increased by more than 30 per cent in the last 18 months, which also saw the single biggest income tax cut in the province's history. Apparently not much though was given to any scenario where the good times didn't keep rolling. Not only has the Sask. Party government now blown the estimated $2.1 billion surplus the outgoing NDP left behind, they're now selling assets to maintain the operating budget. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

It was one of the Saskatchewan Party's big promises; coming up with a new way to share money with the province's municipalities; one that was tied to the economy and one which was predictable, so local politicians weren't just relying on the whims of any one finance minister. The solution? To share one percentage point of the money raised by the provincial tax, worth about 220 million dollars. The promise was to be fully implemented this coming spring. But now Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer says maybe not: "Quite simply, if the revenue isn't there to allow it..." -CBC News Radio

More to the point though, how is this smoking flip-flop looking out for the average Saskatchewan person? For that matter, how does cutting municipal grants or not providing school tax relief meet that objective? Instead of standing up for people in these tougher times, Wall lost his way. In turn, his Sask. Party government lost the battle this sitting. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It's a telling indicator of Wall's leadership, causing one to wonder: If he can't get his own caucus focused and moving in the same direction, why should we hold out any hope the government can get a handle on its weakening finances? -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Yet Wall was trying to convince reporters Thursday that a more important theme was "moving the province forward" during a recession (a recession that we may or may not not have participated in, depending on which day you asked Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer about it). Really, Mr. Premier? ...That Wall seemed to have lost sight of these priorities speaks volumes about the way he and his government consistently ran into problems during this sitting...-Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government's decision to not extend the smoking ban to restaurant and bar patios was a small thing in the context of this legislative sitting. It was even a small thing in the context of otherwise good legislation. But in a very real way, it perfectly represented the failing of not only the Sask. Party administration this sitting, but the personal failing of Premier Brad Wall to provide the leadership we should have expected from him in these times. And this might be why the Sask. Party lost this sitting. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

"The people who have been hit hardest by the recession are seniors. The largest growth of new people coming into food banks pretty much across the country are senior citizens. And you've just got to say to yourself, `That's wrong.'...The seniors in this country are being left behind . And, we have an aging populations. So we have a demographic train coming at us and we don't have the tools in place." -NDP Leader Jack Layton, The StarPhoenix

The NDP also blocked the government's Bill 80, affecting construction-industry labour relations, from passing and refused to allow estimates to come to a vote. -The Leader-Post

The Premier is offering Mayor Pat Fiacco no relief. It follows criticism Regina's leader made publicly Wednesday morning that his relationship with the province has been dealt a blow with news the municipal revenue sharing agreement promised in the budget may be delayed. -Sarah Mills, News Talk CKOM

"You just can't do that, you just can't. Don't take us for granted. It is a huge step back, huge. It is absolutely wrong, absolutely wrong. It is really simple to fix. Let's get together, let's have a discussion, and talk about the future. PST is way different than potash." -Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco, News Talk CKOM

Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco thinks the relationship between the municipal and provincial government has taken a serious blow. The strong words for Brad Wall's government came Wednesday morning as Fiacco presented his Year in Review speech to a packed Queensbury Convention Centre. Fiacco believes the province is backing out of its promised municipal revenue sharing deal that would see municipalities eventually get 1% of the PST. -Mike Raptis, News Talk CKOM

"Last week, without consultation, and against everything we worked so hard to achieve, it was announced, in the media, that those funds would be frozen, that we are going to get the same amount that we got last year, even though those PST revenues have grown," Fiacco said. "We all know that the reason for that is the fact that the (provincial) government's financial position has been compromised as a result of the poor potash performance." Fiacco pointed out that potash revenues - or lack thereof - have "nothing to do with PST. It could cost us - you, the taxpayers of Regina - $8 million in lost revenue," Fiacco said. -The Leader-Post

Fiacco made a strongly worded speech to the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning in which he implored the Saskatchewan Party government not to change the funding to municipalities announced in the provincial budget earlier this year. -The Leader-Post

But all this said there is something disturbing about the Sask. Party's first inclination to look to rural Saskatchewan to fix the mess it created in its budget. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

That prospect was raised in the wake of Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer's mid-year financial update that has produced a billion-dollar deficit in 2009-10 - the biggest such deficit since the Grant Devine Progressive Conservatives were given the heave-ho by everyone in Saskatchewan 18 years ago. -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

But what happens if NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter is right and the Saskatchewan Party is already abandoning its rural base at the first sign of tough times? -Murray Mandryk, R Town News

What Wendel was talking about was the Sask. Party government's failure to "reflect the costs of decisions made during the year" by using "inappropriate accounting policies" to overstate the surpluses and massively understate the amount of debt we've been accumulating. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

"Because the errors significantly impair the usefulness of these financial statements, we have qualified our auditor's report on the GRF (General Revenue Fund) financial statements published in Public accounts 2008-09 Volume 1. `Qualified' audit reports are not normal and should cause concern for legislators and the public. Our audit report advises readers of the errors in the financial statement." -Provincial Auditor, Fred Wendel

So given Wall's petulance last week over how unfair it was to call the current massive deficit a deficit, or how wrong-headed it was for us to dwell on the notion that debt is on the rise again, it would seem doubtful he is now going to be swayed by the easily-ignored auditor. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

If Premier Brad Wall hasn't yet been humbled by the current financial mess, a quick perusal of Vol.3 of the Report of the Provincial Auditor on the 2008-09 government accounts should do the trick. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Again, we have a looming problem of Grant Devine proportions. ...The debt is increasing because departmental operational costs have increased by $1.489 billion or 18.5 per cent in just two years of Premier Brad Wall's government. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

In fact, if the Finance Ministry's debt projection is accurate, the Sask. Party will end its first term of governance with about as much public debt as it inherited and will increase public debt by 12 per cent by 2013, if elected to a second term. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But what's more disturbing is this: it not only reverses a significant trend of public debt reduction we've been seeing in years, but will also worsen the disturbing trend the Sask. Party government outlined in its own March budget toward much larger public debt in the near future. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Not even the biggest Saskatchewan Party sycophant would dare spin the mid-year numbers as anything other than what they are - the biggest rise in public debt we've seen since the Grant Devine days. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

In the aftermath of last month's mid-year budget report, which revealed the fallacy of pinning government spending on the hopes of potash revenue forever remaining at 2008's record levels, the problem boils down to ugly bottom-line figures: According to the summary financial statement in the mid-year report - the total budget used by every other province - Saskatchewan will have a $1.047-billion deficit in 2009-10. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But after a mid-year budget report that balances the 2009-10 books through a $570-million dividend from the Crowns and a $564-million transfer from today's fiscal stabilization fund, can Wall honestly call this a true revenue-over-expenditure GRF surplus? (That would be surprising, because even Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer is saying otherwise.) -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It's hard to figure which of Wall's notions was more idiotically comical - that he now seems to think he's the first Saskatchewan politician to ever be criticized for such financial jiggery-pokery or that he could possibly feel hard-done-by by the media? ...Governments that dig deep financial holes and then try to cover them up will always be criticized. So Wall - who used to do the criticizing - now feels unfairly treated because...? -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Asked by reporters Wednesday how his ads could fairly claim that his government was running a budget surplus in its general revenue fund when the overall summary financial statement shows the province running a $1.05-billion deficit this year, Wall launched into a lengthy, self-pitying soliloquy about how unfairly his government is being treated by the media and others (see: University of Saskatchewan economics professor Eric Howe). -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...what was more telling was Wall's petulant justification Wednesday for these ads. You quickly got the distinct impression that, for the first time, he's feeling a little heat. You also get the distinct impression that he's not handling it particularly well. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall's recent radio advertisements (even if they are paid for by his own party) boasting that his government now has a balanced budget are patently misleading and borderline dishonest. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Rather than simply talk about freezing spending, the government should be adjusting its thinking to take into account what jobs it is required to do - such as looking after health, education, social services, the environment and other responsibilities that are constitutionally mandated - and then consider how to pay for them on a sustainable, long-term basis. -The StarPhoenix

And as Mr. Gantefoer calls for spending freezes, the government must recognize that its investment in expanding Saskatchewan's infrastructure comes complete with pressure on its operating costs. For example, it would seem to be counterproductive to build a state-of-the-art health science centre at the University of Saskatchewan if the government can't provide the university the wherewithal to equip the facility, staff it and hire the faculty to allow it to reach its potential. -The StarPhoenix

It is increasingly looking like the Saskatchewan Party entered the public treasury with all the finesse and forethought of Ali Baba's brother Kassim when it took office just more than two years ago. The excitement of so much wealth seems to have addled its decision-making, and now the prospect of having the taps turned off seems to be a daunting challenge. -The StarPhoenix

As was pointed out when Mr. Gantefoer presented his budget in March, it is always dangerous for a government to spend one-time money - particularly from such fluctuating sources as resource revenue - as if it would continue to flow indefinitely. -The StarPhoenix

While it is always wise for a government to examine carefully every penny of the public's money it spends, Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer's conversion to fiscal conservatism is coming late. And it has all the appearance of desperation instead of prudence. -The StarPhoenix

How can the Wall government, which is bound by freedom of information, withhold the details of a trade deal that potentially has far-reaching implications for Saskatchewan residents? -Jenn Ruddy, The Sasquatch

Wall, who opposed TILMA because of its potential threat to Saskatchewan's publicly owned utilities, has since promised Saskatchewan residents that Crown corporations will be exempt from the new agreement. However, Saskatchewan residents can't confirm this, because the Wall government is refusing to let the public see a draft of the agreement. -Jenn Ruddy, The Sasquatch

I'm not satisfied with relying solely on well-crafted government news releases for information, I like to know how decisions are arrived at and why, and also who was involved in making them. That rarely happens, though, because the government withholds so much information. -Joe Kuchta, citizen journalist

...Are we at the point where fear and mistrust is affecting how government employees do their jobs or the advice they are giving to government? Unfortunately, we may never know for certain. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But what might be even more troublesome in the broader context of the Sask. Party government is the fear and loathing such events create within the civil service. Stories like (Andrea) Dunkle's do send a chill through the entire public sector. It is the civil servants themselves who begin to ask: Is this a story simply about the insubordination of an overzealous employee? Or was this a civil servant who was perceived to not share the "premier's philosophy"? -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Whether the Saskatchewan Party government truly has as big a problem with the civil service as its enemies would have us believe is an interesting point. ...Or better put, we should all be looking for sometimes invisible fallout that stories like this create - an atmosphere in which civil servants fear the ramifications for speaking out or simply doing their jobs. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Deficit is a dirty word in Saskatchewan politics. ...The legacy of debt left in 1991 by the outgoing Progressive Conservative government of former premier Grant Devine cemented the political aversion to the D-word. -The Leader-Post

Earlier this week, Premier Brad Wall restated his resistance to a likely continental cap-and-trade system of emission reductions and his government's own plan for a provincial levy that would see large polluters pay into a "Saskatchewan Technology Fund" that would keep dollars in the province. But Matt Price of the group Environmental Defence said the problem with the premier's sales pitch is that it is highly unlikely that Saskatchewan would be able to exempt itself from a continental system nor would it actually be desirable for the province or its businesses. -The StarPhoenix

"It is not based on the sale of potash, it's not based on the sale of oil, and once again, it hasn't seen a full year in operation, and we're already starting to diddle around with it...We want the predictability. We want to be partners at the table if (it) is (changed)." -Allan Earle, President of Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), The Leader-Post

Two days after Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco's public criticism of the Saskatchewan Party government, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association president Allan Earle made similar remarks. "Quite frankly, it worries us when we have a Municipal Operating Grant that's less than a year old and we're talking about possibly having to change it," he told reporters during a break from a SUMA board meeting. -Joe Couture, The Leader-Post

The problem is also one of perception. By appearing to oppose any system that puts a price on carbon - cap-and-trade, carbon tax, you name it - Wall risks being labelled a climate change do-nothing. But Wall can't continue to oppose every climate change initiative that comes down the pipe, without appearing to have his head stuck in the oilsands. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

On the face of it, Wall's proposal seems sensible enough. Instead of taxing carbon, let's put that money into a fund and actually use it to reduce our carbon footprint. ...The problem with Wall's plan is one of both perception and reality. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

Sure, Wall believes we can do more to reduce our carbon emissions, which he admits are among the highest per capita in the country. ...But ask him about cap-and-trade, carbon taxes or other schemes to force countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and the affable Wall goes apoplectic. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

Hidden somewhere behind all the ponies, gophers, cheesy moustaches and general warm and fuzzies that Premier Brad Wall has served up at the legislature this week has been a lot of bad news in what’s become a bad sitting for his Saskatchewan Party government. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Of all the misleading clichés one hears in politics, the worst might be the Saskatchewan Party’s mantra about refusing to be a government that picks winners and losers. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government is grounding its long-cherished idea of a helicopter air ambulance service because of its hefty price tag. …“It isn’t a priority as our government moves forward, at least for the next couple of years,” Health Minister Don McMorris told reporters. -The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government’s financial woes are adding up to some uncertainty for the province’s school boards – and citizens who pay education property taxes. -The Leader-Post

Consider the Sask. Party government’s other labour laws – like the amendments to Trade Union Act and the Essential Service legislation. ...As little as a month before the 2007 election, Sask. Party MLAs said essential service legislation was not necessary. As we now see in health-care contract negotiations, not only did the Sask. Party government mislead the public and labour on its intention to implement essential services legislation, but the essential services law it passed went much, much further than anyone imagined it would. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

As a government that prides itself on its practical, if ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach to governance, the Saskatchewan Party administration’s eagerness to potentially disrupt the construction industry with new legislation is a bit of a puzzler. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The closest thing we’ve heard from the government this week to a completely honest admission might have came from Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris who let it slip Wednesday that his government “predominantly listened to business” in preparing this bill. The truth be told is this legislation is being primarily driven by construction businesses that prefer “wall-to-wall” unionization where everyone on a job site would belong to one union. The Sask. Party government, the truth be told, would simply prefer to see this for both practical and philosophical reasons. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Truth be told – and contrary to the false assertion of committee chair Greg Ottenbreit – the trades people that came to the legislature Wednesday did not come at the behest of the NDP Opposition. They came out of deeply held concerns that this legislation threatens higher wages and might restrict their access to future jobs. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

If one ever needed a classic example of how political partisanship impedes most things – including the truth – at the Saskatchewan legislature, look no further than this week’s debate on Bill 80, The Construction Industry Labour Relations Amendment Act 2009. ...Frankly, though, the fact they weren’t particularly interested in much of anything that might have altered their already-made-up minds is exactly the problem. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...evidence emerging out of Wednesday’s hearings on Bill 80 – The Construction Industry Labour Relations Amendment Act 2009 – and past labour legislation fights on essential services and the Trade Union Act, reveals this government to be partisanly right-wing on many critical issues with little capacity or interest in seeking our broader perspectives. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Former deputy minister of social services Allan Hansen and municipal affairs deputy minister Terry Coleman left government by “mutual agreement”. Given that they received severance packages upon their departure, there’s little doubt they were dismissed without cause. What’s intriguing however is, a) deputy ministers leaving with severance are rare events in government and extraordinarily rare so long after a change in government, and b) these two weren’t leftovers from the previous NDP administration, but specifically recruited by the Wall administration. One might argue that this is a horrific development for Saskatchewan taxpayers who are now having to pay healthy severances to two more deputies – the very deputies the Sask. Party fired (at a cost to the taxpayers of $10.7 million) for “not being philosophically compatible” with the new government. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Despite Wall’s supposed “compromise” to extend sitting hours to midnight so that the Opposition could ask any budget questions it wanted during discussion of supplementary spending estimates, the government made it known to the Opposition late Monday night it had no interest in scheduling time to discuss the ministries that saw reductions in their spending as a result of the mid-year update because “supplementary estimates are required only for increases in spending.” So, there was no real budget debate at the legislature Tuesday. We did, however, have a visit by a giant gopher. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

But one does begin to wonder whether Wall and his strategists see running government as much more than a series of well-spun press releases on our somewhat dwindling good economic news, feel-good announcements and glib publicity stunts like Gopher Day. (What’s next? Belly dancers performing behind Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer to emphasize the wild gyrations?) ...And as much fun as Gainer’s appearance truly was, it’s no small irony that it occurred on the day Wall rejected extending session debate to discuss spending cuts stemming from Gantefoer’s mid-year report. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

“Hey look, there’s a giant pantless rodent on the floor of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly… So can we please stop paying attention to that billion-dollar deficit in the 2009-2010 summary financial statement that we announced last week and any cuts that might ensue.”...it’s getting hard to overlook the increasing regularity of photo opportunities by Brad Wall and his colleagues that serve little or no other purpose than to hitch the Saskatchewan Party government to popular causes while perhaps neatly deflecting attention from the mounting unpleasant fiscal realities facing the province. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

During the 2007 provincial election, Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall told us he would “manage the boom if elected.” After two years of Premier Wall’s government, we are headed for a recession and the provincial budget is in deficit. Clearly, Wall has the boom under control. -The StarPhoenix

Twenty years ago, Saskatchewan squandered decades of growth by pushing itself deep into debt for short-term political gain. During the 1990’s fiscal crunch this province was forced to make adjustments earlier and deeper than almost any other jurisdiction in the world to regain its financial footing. By now budgeting to spend resource revenue in the same way its predecessors counted on future income, this government risks inflicting similar harm on the province. -The StarPhoenix

Taxpayers deserve to have the government budget honestly. If that requires deficit spending in tough times, it’s up to the government to justify why Saskatchewan has to spend more than it makes. Mr. Gantefoer demonstrated his government’s difficulty in grasping this approach in the first sentence of the press release that announced the state of Saskatchewan’s books. -The StarPhoenix

Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer clearly was uncomfortable when he stood in the legislature Thursday to defend his government’s mid-year fiscal numbers. His discomfort was deserved. Although the minister argued he has been able to keep Saskatchewan’s books in the black, it was only due to such jiggery-pokery as tapping into questionable Growth and Financial Security Fund and using one-time revenue of $275 million from the sale of the Crown’s share of Saskferco. -The StarPhoenix

In his letter to Wall, Lingenfelter noted $293 million in spending cuts to 19 different departments and questions how families would be affected by these cuts. He also questioned how the elderly and children will be affected by deferring capital health projects like rural nursing homes and the children’s hospital. Also worth asking is: How will taking more money from the Crown corporations affect future utility rates? It’s disconcerting that Wall doesn’t now seem to think that these issues are all that pressing in wake of the mid-year mess. The premier’s better course would be to agree to at least another week of proper legislative debate. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Lingenfelter put it well Monday when he said that’s like arguing that “buying insurance is a waste of money” or that “having meetings for your farming operation or company” is a waste of time. The reality is, oppositions – regardless of political stripe – are always the voters’ best insurance against bad government policy. ...as examples of where this government could be saving money, Lingenfelter actually made a compelling case that these are issues in need of debate. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Lingenfelter’s proposal is a reasonable one. And while Premier Brad Wall’s counterproposal of somehow squeezing an extra 27 hours of House sitting time during the remaining two weeks by sitting until midnight on some days might also seem like a reasonable request, it really isn’t. …what we have here is the second-biggest budget screw up in our province’s history. If not an extra two weeks, you’d think the Wall government would see that as worthy of at least one extra week of sitting time to make amends. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...there really is no proper legislative accounting mechanism for the spending changes now happening at mid-year - something that's a particularly disconcerting issue now that Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer has dumped on Saskatchewan taxpayers his mid-year mess with a mere eight sitting days left before the Christmas break. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...here in Saskatchewan, even the usually pro-Brad Wall/Saskatchewan Party Canwest columnists are upset with the government's deceit on the economy and in the provincial budget. One day Finance Minister Gantefoer says we are in recession. The next day, he says we aren't. And then the next he says we are not in recession, but just coming out of one. -John F. Conway, Prairie Dog

...the two-year Sask. Party spending spree and its aftermath reinforces the belief that the NDP - not the Sask Party - are the real fiscal conservatives who can best mind the shop, much as the Romanow NDP campaigned on in 1991. And who was Romanow's Number One? Dwain Lingenfelter. Remember, Grant Devine was all right too. Until the money ran out. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

The Ministry of Finance, purged of high-level bureaucrats whom the Sask. Party thought were politically unreliable, forecasted economic growth of 2.4 per cent this fiscal year (four times better than what independent financial analysts were saying) and potash royalties revenues of about $2 billion. But when Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer delivers his mid-year financial statement, he's expected to announce that Saskatchewan's economy has instead contracted by two per cent and potash revenues are somewhere between $600 million and zero. That's not `oops.' That's `WTF' territory. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

Two years in, the Sask. Party has spent its time in government pummelling the labour movement with fight-picking legislation and fantasizing about all the gee-whiz things they want to spend their money on... They're kind of like the Trailer Park Boys with their first credit card. But reality is about to set in. -Stephen LaRose, Prairie Dog

Saskatchewan's business community takes a very strong interest in the finances of the province. Business owners work hard to live within their means and expect the same from all levels of government. -Marilyn Braun-Pollon, Vice President of Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Saskatchewan and Agri-business

The Saskatchewan Party has been making hay over a private member's bill introduced a week ago by MLA Tim McMillan to protect a small herd of wild ponies in eastern Saskatchewan. At the same time, the government is touting a new bounty on coyotes announced Monday that will see the province pay $20 for four paws brought to an RM office. -The StarPhoenix

...the Saskatchewan economy will officially be in a recession. This is troubling for Brad Wall's government on a number of fronts. First, this is a government that clearly hitched its star to good economic times in Saskatchewan. Well, if we are now in bad economic times, it may be tough to unhitch that star. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The government promised many things and yet many of those items are not coming to fruition because of the loss in potash revenues. Many of the deferred projects were good announcements. But, at this point that's all they are. Announcements. It may have been better to wait to make sure the provincial government actually saw the money coming in from potash revenues. The provincial government gambled on high potash royalties. They gambled big but they didn't lose. The residents of Saskatchewan lost the hand. -Melfort Journal

The provincial government’s doublespeak, misleading spin doctoring, and stupid budget projections based on huge fantasy potash revenues have run their course. Saskatchewan is in economic trouble, and it will get worse before it gets better. But Wall and his minions just deny, deny, deny, and spin, spin, spin. My advice to you? Prepare for the worst. Prepare for big program cuts. There will be more privatizations. -John F. Conway, Prairie Dog

The government needs to recognize you don’t applaud when you get sacked. Two standing ovations in the house for the finance minister was not just inappropriate but frankly insulting. You don’t applaud a deficit of one billion dollars. You show contrition and resolve. Otherwise, you just look like cheerleaders. -Murray Wood, Newstalk CKOM

The Saskatchewan Party government is facing a harsh new reality after two years buoyed by a soaring economy and swelling provincial coffers. -The StarPhoenix

...Corrections and Public Safety Minister Yogi Huyghebaert's justification for breaking his own government's protocol by not notifying the public that a man convicted of sexual assault was unlawfully at large (and then attempting to blame the problem on the NDP for raising the issue publicly) was clearly irksome. -Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

McMorris said B.C.'s position on a premium makes "perfect sense" in that “they've invested hundreds of millions of dollars" into surgical facilities. -The Leader-Post

A stunning reversal of fortune is one way of describing the predicament Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer finds himself in halfway through the fiscal year...A nightmare is another way of describing the sickening feeling of seeing $1.9 billion in projected revenues plummet by two-thirds to $638 million in the first quarter, then plunge another 83 per cent to $109 million by mid-term. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

The premier had his own word problems with reporters on Tuesday when talking about his government’s climate change program. “We had an expectation we would have an equilizat… an equivalency agreement. We still have that expectation.” Yes, Wall had to catch himself as he nearly called it equalization – a topic generally ignored by the premier since he dropped the NDP’s battle with the Conservative government for a new deal under the federal funding program. -The StarPhoenix

When 250 workers went to the legislature in June to attend public hearings on Bill 80, they were turned away. Apparently we are not the public the Saskatchewan Party is interested in listening to. -Bill Steeves, the StarPhoenix

...Wall happens to share a few personality traits with Divine. Both are unabashed optimists with few qualms about attaching themselves to the good times and hyping them as much as possible. Both tend to flitter from one big idea to the next…both the Progressive Conservative and Sask. Party governments over-spent while badly overestimating income from resource revenue. -Murray Mandryk, the Leader-Post

...on a summary basis – which includes all of the operations of government including the Crowns – a deficit projected at $25 million at budget is now pegged at $1.05 billion. That’s the highest summary deficit since the record $1.5-billion shortfall posted in 1991-1992, the last year of the Progressive Conservative government. -The Leader-Post

A Saskatchewan Party government that once boasted of being in pink is now awash in red ink. -The Leader-Post

On the heels of a mid-year financial report that shows the province is running the biggest overall deficit in 18 years, Premier Brad Wall said his government might have been too ambitious in realizing some big-ticket campaign promises this budget year. ...he told a reporter he wouldn't mind using a time machine if he had one to approach some of campaign promises differently. -Angela Hall, The Leader-Post

Rather than appear to be competent managers of the public purse, Premier Brad Wall's team has been extravagant in its spending, ham-handed in its communications strategy and incompetent in its delivery. -The StarPhoenix, Editorial

The Devine government's scrapping of the children's school dental program contributed to the image of right-wing politicians as heartless poor-bashers, something that the Saskatchewan Party should keep in mind. -The Regina Leader-Post

The ending of the dental sealant pilot program unfortunately served to link the Brad Wall government again to the discredited Grant Devine administration at a time when the premier was trying to live down his unfortunate performance on "the videotape." -The Leader-Post

...coming on the heels of McMorris axing a dental sealant pilot program for inner-city children and his scuttling of the Station 20 West project that's generated a resounding backlash in Saskatoon, the move comes across as yet another example of the Saskatchewan Party government playing tawdry politics with the lives of society's least powerful. -The Leader-Post

The Saskatchewan Party government is doing itself no favours by appearing to go out of its way to project an image of poor-bashing. The latest case involves the announcement this week by Health Minister Don McMorris that the government is cancelling the Saskatchewan Workers' Health Benefits Program. -The Leader-Post

Hickie also found himself apologizing for having said gangs are not an issue in Saskatchewan jails, when in fact his own party ran on an election platform that said more correctional workers should be hired to combat gangs in jails. -Angela Hall, The Leader-Post

Mixed Reactions to Wall's Tax Cut. -The Leader-Post

For the Saskatchewan government, the drop in royalties drives home the challenge of governing a province so heavily dependent on natural resources. While Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer has announced $233 million in spending cuts this year, these won’t come close to making up for the revenue shortfall. -Murray Fulton and Michael Atkison, Special to the Leader-Post

While Gantefoer can be excused for not forecasting the unprecedented cutbacks in potash production, he stands guilty as charged for failing to moderate his overly optimistic budget projections, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

At the time, then-NDP finance critic Harry Van Mulligen warned production cuts announced by potash companies could easily derail the budget’s revenue and economic projections. “Bottom line,” Van Mulligen said, “shaky economic and revenue assumptions, plus runaway spending, equals a potential fiscal trainwreck.” As it turns out, Van Mulligen was remarkably prescient, unlike his counterpart in the government benches. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

So are Gantefoer and the Sask. Party government entirely to blame for the mess they find themselves in? With the benefit of hindsight, it goes without saying that the budget’s economic and fiscal projections were far too rosy. ...Were signs that those projections were too optimistic even before the budget went to the printers? Certainly, private economic forecasters were already signalling that the budget’s economic projections were unrealistic. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

For its part, the NDP Opposition called Gantefoer’s gaffe “the biggest example of fiscal incompetence in the history of Saskatchewan.” In absolute dollar terms, it may be. -Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post

…if Wall wants to avoid any more comparisons with Devine in the future, here’s an alternative: just stop budgeting as Devine did. -Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

Second, that Saskatchewan Party’s “vision” for province has been exceedingly rose-coloured, offering only so much room for supposedly negative forecasts. ...One gets the distinct impression that it didn’t want to hear talk about a further $1.3-billion hit on potash revenue, because a single year revenue decline of $3 billion just didn’t reflect the government’s spin that Saskatchewan is a booming island in the middle of this recession. This, too, is all too similar to the Devine approach. -Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

The problem Wall faces is two-fold. First, His government is now completely reliant on the private sector to provide such forecasts after it purged the Energy ministry and other civil servants who supposedly did not share the Saskatchewan Party’s vision. The loss of professional objectivity in the civil service is the same mistake the Divine government made, which proved to be costly. - Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

The first thing we need to do is get past that idiotic spin that no one could see this coming and that it was perfectly reasonable to assume we would get $1.926 billion in potash revenues this year... - Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

But even if one accepts the notion from Wall and Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer that no one could have anticipated such a decline in revenue in three months, it raises the question: Why are we formulating a budget on such unpredictable numbers? - Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

The least flattering comparison for the Saskatchewan Party government – and the one that its supporters bristle at most – is to be measured against Grant Devine’s Progressive Conservative regime of the 1980s. …This happens to be the biggest government miscalculation since Tory finance minister Gary Lane’s budget of 1986. - Murray Mandryk, The StarPhoenix

...the Sask. Party government still doesn’t seem to know how stupid it’s been – and that’s truly frightening. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

It was the same astounding, self-congratulatory arrogance that inspired Thursday’s standing ovations that caused the captains of industry in the Sask. Party to think they knew better than their financial bureaucrats, who surely told them not to design a budget in this way. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...Sask Party politicians deserve total blame for designing a budget around the notion that potash revenue would either stagnate at all-time record highs or get even better. You hope for that, but you surely don’t budget that way. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

What was truly most disturbing was the complete and total lack of humility we saw from this Saskatchewan Party government, which should damn well be embarrassed by its own incompetence right now, rather than celebrating. Yes, celebrating. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

In a heckle across the floor to Yates, he asked whether “the police had visited him yet.” Yes, the minister in charge of policing in our democracy was asking if the police had visited an Opposition member over a question he asked in the legislative assembly. Yes, the same legislative assembly that affords members the absolute privilege of asking anything they want. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister Yogi Huyghebaert pulled a stunt that might earn him a one-way ticket out of cabinet…bumbling his way through questions on why his government released a sexual assault offender too early from jail without bothering to tell the public as per his government’s own policy. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...the Saskatchewan Party in Opposition was always rather quiet when it came to taxpayers’ money being poured into Big Sky Farms Inc., which provided jobs in its MLAs’ ridings. But now that Big Sky is under creditor protection and the Saskatchewan Party is running the government that owns 64 per cent of the company, the party is being even quieter on how it intends to help the farmers who are getting stiffed on payments for the feed grain they’ve delivered to the company’s barns. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Don’t let Energy Minister Bill Boyd teach you how to drive. …To begin with, a yellow light doesn’t mean “proceed with caution”. It means “prepare to stop.”…Second, even “prepare to stop” would be an exceedingly understated interpretation of the submissions delivered to Perrins that screamed at the government to slam on the brakes. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

...let’s offer credit where credit is due. Leadership hopeful Deb Higgins’s throne speech response was particularly good. She went through the 15-page address and found 53 old initiatives repeated in the speech. New Democrats MLAs have also generally scored well in question period by sticking to substantive issues like the essential services legislation and H1N1. - Murray Mandryk, the Leader-Post

When Energy Minister Bill Boyd openly mused last May that the “government” might pursue a police complaint of alleged forgery of fraud if no one else did, it was an incredibly dumb comment, surpassed only by his musings that government potash revenue could hit $3 billion this year. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

At least two Sask. Party MLAs have quit over Wall’s leadership and there were even rumblings of a defection in May over Wall’s last cabinet shuffle. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

Yogi Huyghebaert’s justification for breaking his own government’s protocol by not notifying the public that a man convicted of sexual assault was unlawfully at large (and then attempting to blame the problem on the NDP for raising the issue publicly) was clearly irksome. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

The indignant attempt by Corrections and Public Safety Minister Yogi Hughebaert to castigate the NDP for using leaked information to publicize the mistaken early release of a dangerous sexual offender only draws attention to the hypocrisy of the Saskatchewan Party in government. - Star Phoenix Editorial

Huyghebaert’s hypocrisy was dizzying. His Saskatchewan Party promoted whistleblower legislation when it was the opposition. - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

For Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud to tell reporters Monday that his government has no obligation to ensure the farmers are paid for the grain they’ve delivered to Big Sky is startling.” - Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post

And in question period on Thursday, he said this: “Saskatchewan is not going into a recession, we’re coming out of one.” - The Star Phoenix

On Tuesday, the minister told reporters: “By the end of the year, we will be in a recession.” - the Star Phoenix

In an interview Monday, Gantefoer responded in this way when asked if Saskatchewan was in a recession: “No. Well, the country’s in a recession; North America is probably in a recession… While our positive growth is pretty miniscule, it’s still positive. So, technically we’re not.” - the Star Phoenix

The “wild gyrations” of the Saskatchewan economy have evidently left Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer a little dizzy – and the Saskatchewan Party government is having a bit of a hard time getting its message straight. - the Star Phoenix

I have little or no sympathy for a finance minister who tries to keep the public in the dark about the true state of the province’s economy – and its fiscal health – for months at a time. No one expects Gantefoer to have a crystal ball. But we do expect him to have the cojones to give us the straight goods, not some polished up version of the truth. - Bruce Johnstone, the Leader-Post

That things have been tightening up in Saskatchewan Party government ranks was obvious even before Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer’s confusing messaging this week that Saskatchewan “wasn’t in a recession,” that “we might be in recession by year’s end” and finally that “we were in recession, but are already coming out it.” - Murray Mandryk, the Leader-Post

But that miscalculation on potash is a big one, calling into question the competency of not only himself but also his entire government. Deficits from a government that brags about reducing public debt won’t help. Nor will humble admissions of mistakes, when operational spending has increased by 24 per cent under his government. - Murray Mandryk, the Leader-Post

Sure, there have been a few signs of surface cracking, like some ministers increasingly reliant on using their deputy ministers to answer questions on the massive severances and salaries paid to political staff. - Murray Mandryk, the Leader-Post

If you believe Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer, Saskatchewan just had the fastest recession in history. …In the space of a week, Saskatchewan went from being technically not in a recession, to being in a recession by year-end, to coming out of a recession. - Bruce Johnstone, the Leader-Post