Lack of government accountability a big problem

saw with the recent dump of Crown annual reports.

The Crown Investment Corp. (Saskatchewan’s holding company for our public utilities) made a paltry $7.4 million in 2022-23 consolidated net earnings compared with $361 million in 2021-22.

Provincial Viewpoint

Murray Mandryk

The unwillingness of politicians and bureaucrats to held accountable for the spending of our tax dollars is becoming rather alarming.

Reasons for such concern at the municipal, provincial and federal level are all too numerous of late ... although many will argue that this has always been the case.

But it does seem especially bad lately, as we

According to this year’s CIC report, those consolidated earnings were “$242.5 million under target.”

It’s massive blow to the Crowns, and government that somewhat relies on Crown dividends to supplement the running of line departments.

(Perhaps one place where we have become more accountable - and there have been positive advancements since the low ebb of accountability in the 1980s - is the Saskatchewan Party government’s decision to move away from general revenue fund budgeting that allowed the previous NDP government use Crown surpluses to claim the books were balanced.)

According to the CIC report, the biggest reason for the CIC’s profit decline is “a $172.1-million loss at SaskPower, which was a result of increased fuel costs driven by improved economic conditions.”

Higher natural gas prices and increased coal burning was “also contributing to the decrease in earnings: along with increased storm maintenance and overhaul costs, small modular reactor feasibility studies, and higher interest rates on debt.”

As for other major Crowns: SaskTel made $104 million (about the same as the previous year); SaskEnergy, made $59 million in 2022-23 compared with $158 million in 2021-22; and SGI posted a $24-million profit, compared with $82 million in the previous year.

Crown Investment Corp. Minister Don Morgan did cite the same problems at SaskPower as mentioned in the report and “more frequent severe weather events, inflation, supply chain pressures, and labour market issues” that cut into SGI’s profits.

Unfortunately, we’ll just have to take his word for this because there was no chance this year to question Crown officials as is done every other year.

In fact, there really wasn’t even an opportunity for reporters to peruse or ask technical questions in advance this year.

As noted by NDP Opposition leader Carla Beck: “There were no news releases no technical briefings for journalists and it meant no press conferences.”

The “reason” for this is because the province is in the middle of three byelections - two in Regina and one just outside Regina - where Elections Saskatchewan rules has rules about government advertising or using the avails of office to promote itself.

But this is largely a silly excuse to skirt accountability.

The Crown annual reports could have and should have been released one or two months before the by-elections as they normally are.

But even so, news conferences or briefings could still have been held in Saskatoon or outside Regina during the byelection.

That would have been the accountable thing to do and government accountability is something we’re not seeing anywhere these days.

Regina City Council has just received a $90,000 consultant’s report saying it was really no one’s fault (except perhaps for a junior employee of Regina Exhibition Associated Ltd.) that senior managers allowed the launch of the failed $30,000 “Show us your Regina” Experience Regina tourism campaign.

Across the lake at the legislature, no one is to blame for the $11.6million out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit by Brandt Properties that thought it had the authority from someone in the Sask. Party government to start building a fourstorey office complex in Wascana Centre.

Like the Global Transportation Hub land flip or the $1.6-billion Regina bypass, no one is being held to account.

This seems to be trend of late.

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