REGINA - The opposition New Democrats made a point Tuesday of making everyone aware of what was in the Crowns’ annual reports.
The reports were released last Friday, but with three by-election campaigns going on in Regina and in Lumsden-Morse, and with government communications curtailed by legislation during the campaign period, the release was done with little to no fanfare, with no formal government announcement made on it.
It stood in stark contrast to last year when Minister of Crown Investments Corporation Don Morgan and officials from the various Crowns held numerous media conferences in the radio room of the Legislature on the annual reports in early July.
Instead of hearing from the minister and Crown leaders, New Democrats took the opportunity to hold their own news conference Tuesday at the Legislature, where Opposition Leader Carla Beck denounced the way the Crown annual reports were handled.
Beck said the reports were released with “no news releases, no technical briefings for journalists, and it meant no press conferences. And I think it’s absolutely clear why they chose to try and slip the financial reports by the public without any scrutiny or accountability. What these reports show is that under Scott Moe’s leadership, our Crowns are bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars in lost profit.”
The NDP also denounced what was in the reports, accusing the government of burying bad news such as a net loss for SaskPower in 2022 of $172.1 million. Beck also pointed out that last year the Crowns had a net total profit of $7.4 million, down over $350 million from the year before.
“Scott Moe and the Sask Party are charging you more and more to make up for their own colossal mismanagement. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that could keep costs low for working families. Instead, what we see are those families paying for this government’s mistakes… instead of owning their mistakes, what we see from this government is them trying to pull a fast one over on the public.”
Beck was flanked by opposition critics Trent Wotherspoon and Aleana Young at the media event, who continued their attack on the Sask Party over the issue of SaskPower's three recent power rate hikes in the space of a year.
Young in particular hammered the government on the issue, accusing the Sask Party of promising to “hike your power rates every single year until 2050.”
“We all know Scott Moe and the Sask. Party have done nothing when it comes to affordability and the cost-of-living crisis, and have no affordability plan, but honestly even I was surprised to see them come out and promise to raise your power bills every single year.”
Wotherspoon accused the government of being “desperate to hide their failures.”
“These reports that we are talking about have historically been released in the first week of July, accompanied with technical briefings as well with the media in press conferences. It’s all about basic accountability. The choice of Scott Moe and the Sask Party to try and sneak their failings past the people of Saskatchewan is just one more example of their lack of transparency, and their arrogance, when it comes to accountability. There’s no reason to have hidden these reports, other than the fact that this was a government that didn’t want Saskatchewan people to see their failings - failings that are costing Saskatchewan people millions of dollars.”
When the three Aug. 10 by-elections were called on July 13 the province had sent a note to media which outlined the restrictions in place on publishing and advertising by government institutions during a by-election.
According to The Election Act, 1996, publishing and advertising restrictions apply to any ‘government institution’ as defined in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
According to the Act, during a by-election in a constituency that includes, in whole or in part, a city having a population exceeding 20,000 inhabitants, no government ministry shall advertise or publish in any manner in that city any information with respect to the activities of the ministry. Pursuant to Section 277(4) of the Act, restrictions will be in effect for the city of Regina and the constituency of Lumsden-Morse.
When asked about those rules, Beck was not willing to let the SaskParty off the hook, suggesting the annual reports could have been made public prior to the by-elections.
"I absolutely think they they could have and should have released these reports before the by-election," said Beck. "I don't think they're fooling anyone here."
