The problem for Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 government is that even good news isn鈥檛 necessarily great news.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For one thing, good news in this time of economic recovery will be compared with the great news of early in the Saskatchewan Party government鈥檚 first mandate.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By all measure, the good news of today surely is not as good as the good news of the nearly 10 years when a booming economy created astronomically good numbers for the then-newly minted Sask. Party administration.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For another thing, any hopeful sign of a return to prosperity is needed to give voters some hope that things will get better sometime soon.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But that鈥檚 a problem for impatient voters.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Or at least, it鈥檚 a big of problem for the Sask. Party government to make the argument that the province is on the road to recovery when it鈥檚 also reminding the voters the government is taking some very unpleasant steps to deal with the budget imbalance caused by consecutive deficits.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But at least when it comes to the economic front, there are some signs of good news.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For example, Minister of the Economy Jeremy Harrison recently announced that manufacturing sales in Saskatchewan increased by 22.7 per cent in February 2017, compared with a year earlier.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This was the second best increase in Canada and well above the national average of 6.8 per cent.
鈥淥nce again, Saskatchewan has experienced strong growth in manufacturing sales, leading the west and well above Canada鈥檚 average,鈥� Harrison said in a prepared statement.聽鈥淭hese numbers point to a manufacturing sector that is strong and resilient, offering a diversity of high quality products to markets across Canada and the world.鈥�
This was followed by positive signs in the oil sector where there were double the number of wells drilled in in the first three months of 2017 (856 wells drilled) compared with 2016 (399).
鈥淎n increase of more than 450 wells drilled is an optimistic indicator for our oil industry and, by extension, Saskatchewan鈥檚 economic outlook for the year ahead,鈥� Energy and Resources Minister Dustin Duncan said.
But perhaps most hopeful were the 2,000 more jobs in March 2017 compared with March 2016; the second consecutive month in which Saskatchewan has seen a year-over-year job increase.
鈥淪askatchewan鈥檚 economy is strong and resilient and the job numbers today are an encouraging sign,鈥� Harrison was quick to state.
Of particular significance was the increase in trade jobs (6,900), professional, scientific and technical services jobs (6,000) and manufacturing jobs (3,700).
Also, full-time employment increased 6,000, which is a welcome sign.
But this takes us to the dilemma for Wall鈥檚 Sask. Party government, now hacking away at
regional libraries and town and city budgets and the Saskatchewan Transportation Company about to see its last fares.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 All of these severe cuts and closures were premised on a long-term struggling oil-based economy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If it now seems that the oil sector is recovering along with employment, especially in critical areas like manufacturing. So were the all the draconian budget measures really necessary?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Wall and company are right to argue the budget and the economy are two different things, but there is little doubt that austerity measures were tied to economic problems, especially those in the oil sector.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Remember all the talk that public servants should be willing to take a 3.5-per-cent pay cut because of all those unemployed in oil? Well, what happens now that those in the oil field are starting to be rehired?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, many of these cuts hammered away at the heart of both Saskatchewan鈥檚 rural and urban infrastructure, leaving people to wonder what will be left.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Wall and his government are in a situation where even good news isn鈥檛 quite as good as it once was.
