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Saskatchewan residents have yet to enter the ‘very excited’ phase for the tsunami of pre-election announcements from the provincial government.
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Phil Tank • Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Published Sep 13, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
Premier Scott Moe attends the groundbreaking event for Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s new campus, Joseph A. Remai Saskatchewan Polytechnic, in Saskatoon. Photo taken in Saskatoon, Sask. on Monday, August 26, 2024. Photo by Michelle Berg /Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Election season is always marked by announcements.
But the Saskatchewan Party government is taking that to the extreme. As of Wednesday, Saskatchewan’s government issued 43 news releases during the first 11 days of September, an average of about four a day.
That’s not the party sending all those news releases; it’s the provincial government through employees who are paid by taxpayers, presumably to provide legitimate information to the people who live here.
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During August, the province sent out 76 news releases, so it’s on track to smash that number in the month before a provincial election is expected.
You expect a little chicanery by a party in government when it comes to the legitimacy of announcements on the cusp of a campaign, but we seem to be witnessing a spurious new standard.
Yet, rather than impressing voters with its accomplishments, Saskatchewan’s current government may be calling attention to a decided lack of achievement with the dubious nature of some of these so-called news releases.
A handful of the 43 releases sent this month repeated the same message for different communities — that the same government that is planning a new police force is also spending more money on existing municipal forces.
The latest editions of these, using the same made-up quotes attributed to Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Paul Merriman and Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre, were aimed at Weyburn and Estevan.
Another Wednesday news release touted that canary seed exports topped $100 million last year. It sounds very impressive, but no details are offered on whether that’s particularly noteworthy.
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However, according to the website for the commission that handles development of canary seed, annual exports are usually about $100 million.
Late last month, the province held a news conference to mark that the project to build a parkade at Regina’s General Hospital was 80 per cent complete. Since when does 80 per cent represent a significant milestone?
Construction was supposed to be complete by November, but is now scheduled for “late 2024,” according to the release.
Regardless, that event included Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Everett Hindley, whom the release quoted as being “very excited.” Hindley may be the only person who gets excited over 80 per cent completion.
But stop the presses. Last Friday, the province alerted the population to the fact that the project to expand the front entrance at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon was … drum roll please … 25 per cent complete.
That project is expected to be done a year from now, so obviously this is just a taxpayer-funded promotional message without a shred of urgency — unlike the lack of beds for patients admitted to the emergency room at St. Paul’s.
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Only one news website appears to have parroted the province’s intended message on the incomplete hospital projects.
Never mind unfinished projects, however. Also Friday, the province trumpeted that schools planned for Regina and Saskatoon were “moving into the procurement phase of construction.”
The government is now anxiously waiting to see if Taylor Swift will endorse this procurement phase.
SaskBuilds and Procurement Minister Terry Jenson — yes, a minister of procurement apparently exists — was quoted in the release as being “excited.” Just excited? A minister of procurement only gets “excited” about the procurement phase?
Maybe when the schools reach the 80 per cent complete phase, that will be upgraded to “very excited.”
On Monday, the province proclaimed that the Battleford District Care Centre project has advanced to the business case phase, which essentially means the project is not close to starting.
In the news release announcing this history-making phase, Jenson is quoted as being merely “very pleased.” Jenson is undoubtedly saving his excitement for years from now when the project reaches the procurement phase.
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If only the taxpayers who pay for all these announcements could summon the same level of enthusiasm for incomplete projects and future plans. Future communications staff will be earning their salaries to find an adjective that describes a minister’s feelings when a project is actually completed.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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