REGINA - The opposition New Democrats were again roasting the provincial government over a reported $353 million decrease in Crown profits.
At a media event on the steps of the Legislature Friday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck and critic Erika Ritchie were accusing Premier Scott Moe of dodging media questions over the financial losses.
“The government doesn’t want to talk about the historic mismanagement of our Crowns, especially during a byelection,” said Beck.
“But I do know that the public deserves transparency, and they deserve accountability when it comes to your tax dollars. And I think frankly, this lack of accountability shows how little respect they have for the people, Saskatchewan that they think they can miss their targets by almost $250 million and not have to answer for it.”
This latest NDP attack came on the heels of last week's release of Crowns annual reports by the province, done quietly on a Friday afternoon without accompanying news conferences featuring Minister Don Morgan or Crown corporation officials.
The Sask Party response this week has been to refer to Election Act rules prohibiting government announcements during the current by-election campaigns in Regina. But Beck noted the government has still been able to hold other ministerial media conferences outside of Regina.
The NDP also demanded answers to a number of their questions about the Crowns performances, asking: how the Sask. Party missed their projected profit target by $243 million; why operating and salary costs at CIC - umbrella company for Crown corporations - increased 13 per cent in the last year; and why did Premier Moe take $237 million from the Crowns into the General Revenue Fund, “forcing families to pick up the tab for his mismanagement through three power bill hikes in the year.”
The NDP also held a separate media availability Friday, in which they slammed the government over the latest numbers showing a loss of 5,700 jobs last month. The NDP again accused the government of having the “worst job creation record in the country.”
SaskParty hammers NDP for “negativity” in radio ads
While the NDP has held a number of news conferences in Regina this week criticizing the Moe government, the Sask Party has been on the counter-offensive in radio ads running for the provincial by-elections happening August 10 in Regina Coronation Park, Regina Walsh Acres and Lumsden-Morse.
The Sask Party ads took aim at the NDP for a negative tone. They featured Premier Moe asking “why is the NDP always so negative?” and adding “Regina Walsh Acres should have a positive voice working for you to make life better, not someone who does nothing but complain."
Beck said she’s heard about the ads, but pointed out “there is a lot that we, I, have been positive about.”
“Where I talk about being out around this province, I really do get filled with so much pride about the people that we see out there — just the grittiness, the community spirit that we see in communities right across the province. Where I do get negative, where I will talk about things that I see that make me very frustrated and frankly many people in the province very frustrated, is where I see a government that would rather cover up their mismanagement by pointing fingers… sometimes accountability feels like negativity to this government.”
