‘The tens of thousands who left Saskatchewan no doubt did so to escape our economy’s scorching heat,’ writes Nial Kuyek.
A headline in the April 8 edition of the Regina Leader Post reads: “Province sees 4,300 fewer jobs, rising unemployment.”
The Saskatchewan Party government’s 2023-24 Budget carries the bold title: “Growth That Works For Everyone.” This alleged growth clearly hasn’t filtered down to most Saskatchewan families.
An Angus Reid poll released April 6 revealed that 51 per cent of Saskatchewan respondents said they were in either “bad” or “terrible” financial shape. That is the highest figure among all provinces.
Angus Reid also found out 79 per cent of Saskatchewan respondents have cut back on discretionary spending — again the highest rate in Canada. Fifty-five per cent have delayed making a major purchase (e.g. house, car), highest in Canada.
If Saskatchewan’s economy is scorching hot, one shudders to think how families will cope when it is performing poorly.
People are leaving Saskatchewan in droves in recent years. Statistics Canada shows interprovincial out-migration as follows: 7,829 in 2021-22, 7,174 in 2020-21, and 11,412 in 2019-20.
Interprovincial out-migration has exceeded in-migration for the past nine years. The tens of thousands who left Saskatchewan no doubt did so to escape our economy’s scorching heat.
Moe should spare us his flaming rhetoric and focus on getting Saskatchewan back on track.
Nial Kuyek, Regina
Poilievre and his fatal flaws
Federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s fatal flaw is that he simply can’t resist shifting his pronouncements from the obvious to the ridiculous.
The latest example is his urge to see the social media platform Twitter add a “government-funded media” tag to CBC news accounts, as it has similarly done with other public broadcasters in Britain, Australia and the U.S. (where there is National Public Radio).
But after stating that this “transparency” is important because “Canadians deserve the facts,” he can’t help but declare that this would “officially expose” the CBC as “Trudeau propaganda, not news.”
This is also why these voters will also work to see that Poilievre never becomes prime minister. If Poilievre wants to target “government-funded” institutions and programs as illegitimate, voters should also be wary of any future fever dreams about defunding government-funded public services like health care and education in favour of commercially run private for-profit enterprises.
Mervyn Norton, Regina
Trudeau’s Jamaican holiday a problem
Justin Trudeau and his family spent the holiday season at a luxurious estate in Jamaica belonging to a wealthy family that made a large donation two years ago to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
Someone out there, who truly believes in the ideals of the Liberal Party of Canada, should buy Mr. Trudeau a dictionary and highlight the definitions of words such as appalling, disgraceful, inexcusable, disgusting, unscrupulous, reprehensible, despicable, deceitful, hypocritical, sleazy, disingenuous, unprincipled, arrogant, pompous, condescending, egocentric and unethical.
Pierre Poilievre’s attack-dog polices and America-styled vitriolic criticism makes it difficult to support the current Conservative Party.
Lloyd Atkins, Vernon, B.C.
