Going down with the ship

There have been many comparisons between Premier Brad Wall and former premier Grant Devine over the years. Most notably, how each of them managed to rack up mounds of debt, paying out favours of party friends and supporters, while maintaining a primary target on privatization.

While Devine didn’t manage this very well, it would appear that Wall has succeeded on many levels. The only difference is he isn’t going down with the ship, like any good captain ought to. He gleefully racked up our provincial debt through P3 partnerships and questionable land transactions during the biggest boom time in our history.

He’s successfully managed to introduce controversial legislation that opens the road to the privatization of crown corporations. He managed to close the long-standing Saskatchewan Transportation Company, through a sneaky, albeit apparently legal, sell off and shut down. He also successfully made us the only province without a film employment tax credit and with a tax on insurance premiums.

Now…he’s gone. Poof. Vanished into thin air.

A responsible ship captain would have remained on board while the ship sank, but not Wall. He’s smart enough to jump ship even before the iceberg cometh. These poor souls are left on board, drinking and dancing, thinking nothing is wrong with the ship and gleefully going on their merry ways.

Don’t think there hasn’t been warning signs though. From the Why Tower Road Group, to the Saskatchewan PC Party, to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, to lawsuit after lawsuit, the warning signs have been aplenty.

When that iceberg hits – and rest assured it will, folks – will you be one of the thousands remaining on board, or will you have jumped ship like so many of us have already, realizing that the captain is no longer anywhere to be found, and all he’s left for us is a dummy at the wheel in captain’s clothing.

Donald Neuls
Coppersands, Sask.