Saskatchewan Party's True Colors Starting to Show
Just ask the media.
It starts out with Brad Wall's Childhood:
If there was any indication Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall had a political future, it could be his childhood interest in the board game Poleconomy ... the game with the not-so-catchy title, initially launched in Canada with the support of the Fraser Institute think-tank.
And then there is the whole "promises, shmomises" angle:
Saskatchewan is now a "have" province, enjoying a prolonged commodity boom. Could its economy use any help? Actually, yes. Unfortunately, what it needs most, the SaskParty promised not to deliver: wide-scale privatization...With a booming economy at his back, Mr. Wall should spend some political capital and dare to aim high--even if it means breaking a campaign promise or two.
And then there is oil royalties:
Saskatchewan‘s current tax for extracting oil is considered less generous to oil companies than Alberta‘s, but Saskatchewan‘s premier-designate Brad Wall says he‘d like to change that
The Pulp Mill deal:
Saskatchewan's new government plans to re-examine a multimillion-dollar plan to redevelop a pulp mill in the northern city of Prince Albert.
Tilma? check:
It may have been Mr. Calvert's NDP that copped its right-wing-phobic campaign strategies from federal campaigns like Mr. Martin's. ... The Prime Minister has already begun throwing Ottawa's muscle behind traditional federal priorities: developing infrastructure and fostering interprovincial economic harmony by promoting east-west trade, a single market regulator and harmonized sales taxes, while backing away from centralized social policies.
Planning a purge of the civil service:
But the need for change goes beyond the need for fresh thinking and fresh thinkers. After one term in office, a government seldom has a strong grasp on its levers. After two, it should have. After three, it becomes difficult to tell the government apart from its bureaucracy. Prejudices harden, constituencies of entitlement-holders and -seekers form, the polity comes to have interests so vested that dissent is weakened. In short, it's unhealthy, as even Albertans appear to be starting to realize.
The media is already starting to lay the groundwork for Brad and Co. to rip off that sheep's clothing and reveal the wolf.
