The Opposition NDP is raising concerns because the government may still be using the controversial Bill 40 as a way to privatize Crown corporations.
Originally, Premier Brad Wall said Bill 40 would be repealed in a Facebook video posted Tuesday afternoon. Since then, he’s gone on to say a portion will be repealed, specifically the definition of privatization.
This section says up to 49 per cent of a Crown corporation can be sold to a private partner.
The other major part of Bill 40, allowing for the government to wind down a Crown and sell the assets, will remain. This was the legisaltion used to wind down the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.
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“We think that definitionally, a wind down should be available to this government or future governments,” Wall said.
“Obviously, there’s not very many examples of our Crown corporations that would ever be candidates for that because they make money.”
Wall said that the Crowns are not for sale, as outlined by the Crown Protection Act. However, interim NDP leader Nicole Sarauer remains skeptical.
“This is just the premier’s attempt to try to get through the backdoor what he couldn’t get through the front door. He’s trying to privatize the Crowns, and that’s all that it is,” she said.
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As for where the concern is coming from, Sarauer said that the Saskatchewan Party didn’t campaign on “selling off” STC in the last election, and now that Crown corporation has been shut down.
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The definition of privatization is being removed because Wall said while that definition works for the World Bank, it is not the definition agreed upon by Saskatchewan people.
“It takes the overwhelming anger of the people of Saskatchewan to get them to backtrack on these things,” Sarauer said.
Wall, along with then-minister responsible for SaskTel Dustin Duncan, have been open that talks with Canadian telecoms took place over the summer about potential partnerships with SaskTel. However, Wall reaffirmed that those talks never yielded a serious offer.
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