Nipawin - November 12, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis
I couldn't more strongly disagree with the list of credits Helen and Lloyd Baker attributes to Roy Romanow's government as reported in The StarPhoenix dated November 9. I show below the other side of the so called Roy Romanow's list of credits:
debt	- - - - - -	In 1991 our Government had a debt of $17.56 billion and today in 2000, this same Government has a debt of $18.98 billion. The government has been advertising a current debt of $11.50 billion as a result of a fragmentary public accounting system. The Provincial Auditor has stated in his 2000 Fall report that the Government's finances remain fragile and that the Government currently makes public financial planning and performance information focused on the General Revenue Fund. This information is not sufficient to understand the state of the entire Government because it excludes about 40% of Government activity.
Credit rating	- - - -	Any boosting of Credit rating for our Government is due to the spin-doctoring of our governmental politicians to boost revenues from both public assets and social well being. And this is why the Government has a balanced budget, a balanced budget at the expense of an increased public debt, and at the expense of an increased social depravation for our children and underprivileged people.
health care	- - -	There is no vision in Saskatchewan health care, if there is a vision it is a paper vision. Our health care system is dysfunctional as our health care workers and medical specialists leave the province, and as more spending in reducing surgical waiting lines have the opposite effect of increasing these waiting lines.
local film	- - -	If there has been a booming of the local film industry it has been a booming at the expense of other industries such as agriculture and at the expense of public services such as education and provincial highways.
synchrotron	- - -	In a socially disrupted province, our Government chose to expand the brick and mortar research industry with the building of the $175-million synchrotron rather than embrace the new Knowledge Economy and new information technologies.
tax burden	- -	There is a growing consensus among financial and policy analysts that last Spring's budgetary tax reform will have an overall effect to increase the tax burden of taxpayers.
economic growth	- - -	For the past year ending October 2000 Saskatchewan experienced the lowest economic growth of any other province and 'The Daily 2000-10-30' report by Statistics Canada has stated that the rate of economic growth in Saskatchewan continued to slow (+1.1%).
labour force	- - -	The labour force participation was 511,400 people in October 1999 and it was 509,600 in October 2000 as per 'The Daily for: 2000-11-03' report by Statistics Canada. Therefore, there is an indication that more people have left the province in the past year.
employment	- - -	The number of people employed in Saskatchewan was 485,900 in October 1999, and they were 486,100 in October 2000, that is after one year we find an increase of employment of 200 souls, an increase of employment while people continue to leave the province.
Romanow's Government has the credit to have the best spin-doctors of the country. It is sad to realize that instead to wake up to the reality of an economic and social decadence, many privileged people still prefer to believe the phony economic indicators and phony news releases churned out by this Government's propaganda machine.