Photo by Gail Chin
The Council of Canadians Regina chapter opposes Bill 40, which was passed in the Legislature on April 26 and received Royal Assent on April 27.
Global News reports, “The Saskatchewan government [has] passed Bill 40, which defines the term ‘privatization’ and allows for up to 49 per cent of a Crown corporation to be sold. …The bill follows the World Bank definition of privatization. …Opponents say this bill allows the government to sell-off Crown corporations through the backdoor.”
The CBC further explains, “Bill 40 creates a legal definition of privatization that allows the partial sale of a Crown without requiring a vote of support from the people of the province. Up to 49 per cent of each Crown, such as SaskTel and SaskPower, could be up for grabs to private shareholders, without technically being ‘privatized’.”
The Crown corporations most likely at risk:
1- Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) was created in 1945 by Tommy Douglas and his CCF government. It now includes the Saskatchewan Auto Fund (a financially self-sustaining public auto insurance program) and SGI Canada (that sells property and casualty insurance in five provinces).
2- SaskPower was established in 1929 by the provincial government. It has the exclusive right and the exclusive obligation to supply electricity in the province, except in Swift Current and most of Saskatoon.
3- SaskTel was established in 1908. It was created because the private sector wasn’t interested in delivering service to low-profitable or non-profitable areas of the province.It now has an infrastructure that serves over 1.4 million customer connections.
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) has stated, “Decade after decade, our Crowns have served Saskatchewan people well. They’re the reason we have some of the lowest utility rates in Canada, and reliable service in remote and rural areas. The Saskatchewan Party wants to sacrifice those advantages for a one-time windfall, to dig themselves out of the financial mess they created — and they don’t want to let Saskatchewan people tell them otherwise.”
Just after the passage of Bill 40, Unifor called on Premier Brad Wall to disclose why he was in such a hurry to make Bill 40 law, especially given an election promise to keep Crown corporations public.
By May 2, the Regina Leader Post reported, “All three of Canada’s major telecommunications companies [Rogers, Telus and Bell] have registered to lobby SaskTel officials. …All three companies potentially have a vested interested in meeting with [SaskTel minister Dustin] Duncan and SaskTel officials …Duncan told reporters last week he met a representative from a ‘major’ telecommunications company and Bill 40 was discussed.”
By May 3, the CBC had reported, “Wall said ‘of course’ the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance has been in meetings about a potential partial sale of the Crown corporation.” And yesterday, CBC noted, “The minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance [Joe Hargrave] says the company’s CEO has met with representatives from 11 companies in recent months to talk about a partial sale of the Crown corporation.”
Among various actions, the Regina chapter participated in the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour-organized ‘Rally to Stop Bill 40 and Stop the Cuts!’ on April 8 that took place in front of provincial Finance Minister Kevin Doherty’s constituency office.
Council of Canadians chapters in Saskatchewan continue to oppose Bill 40 and the provincial budget that was tabled on March 22.
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