The creation of Enterprise Saskatchewan is meant to put politics into economic policy by making it look as if an "independent" body makes decisions on economic policy but that body consists of persons appointed by the Sask. Party government. In effect it will follow an economic policy most likely approved by the government since the members are appointed by the government. At the same time they group are unelected and not accountable to the electorate. If people complain to the government about its policies for example should it engage in privatisation the government could say it was an independent not a government decision. This provides a way of breaking promises but suggesting that Enterprise Saskatchewan not the government did the deed.
It will be interesting to see who is appointed. THe article does not indicate what the length of terms are and if members can be removed at will by the govt.
I always find it strange that there are complaints that economic decisions might be made for political reasons. When the decisions are government decisions they should be made for political reasons. These complaints are always code for the position that the decisions should always made in the interests of business! It will be interesting to see how many from each stakeholder group is named to Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Government introduces Enterprise Saskatchewan bill
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 | 9:38 AM CT
CBC News
The provincial government has introduced legislation to create Enterprise Saskatchewan, an agency that's supposed to take the politics out of its economic policy.
To fulfill one of its main campaign promises, the Saskatchewan Party led by Premier Brad Wall plans to appoint a board drawn from business, labour and other groups to deal with economic development.
The Saskatchewan Party says too often in the province's history, economic decisions have been made for political reasons.
While in opposition, the party criticized the then-governing NDP for announcing a Broe Industries ethanol plant that never opened and losing tens of millions of dollars in the Spudco potato-growing venture.
But Enterprise and Innovation Minister Lyle Stewart, who introduced the proposed legislation on Monday, said Enterprise Saskatchewan will change all of that.
It will identify so-called "barriers to growth," telling the government to remove them, he said.
Continue Article
"An example may be the length of time and difficulty and expense that it may take to register a corporation — that may be one of the first things that a business would notice," Stewart said.
The NDP has been critical of Enterprise Saskatchewan from the start, because it puts unelected people in charge of the economic development.
It says when the government chooses the board members — even from a variety of groups, including business and labour, universities and agriculture — the government ultimately sets the agenda.
Another criticism is that Enterprise Saskatchewan might provide the Saskatchewan Party with a backdoor way to sell off parts of the government.
"It is a recipe for privatization by stealth," New Democrat MLA Frank Quennell said about the bill to create Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Quennell noted that the legislation gives Enterprise Saskatchewan the right to transfer Crown assets, including people.
It also gives the board the right to buy and sell.
That means, for example, the government could transfer the phone company's home security business to the board and the board could sell it, Quennell said.
However, the government said it has already promised that the Crowns aren't for sale and the legislation doesn't change that.
Showing posts with label Enterprise Saskatchewan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enterprise Saskatchewan. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Enterprise Saskatchewan: Key to Wall's vision
It is not clear that the government will not still be setting economic priorities but it will be doing it indirectly through choosing board members that it trusts to implement the sorts of policies that it approves. If the board were to be chosen by the groups that are to be represented it would have more independence and could set policy that was less in line with the government desires but that is not too likely to happen. The Chambers of Commerce could elect their representative or representatives and the Sask Federation of Labour could also probably arrange some sort of election as could First Nations. Municipalities could do the same. I expect though that the representatives appointed will be appointed because the government sees them as adopting the sort of policies that the government desires. It is clear for example that there is no one going to recommend a new crown corporation that would compete with the big natural gas and oil companies. One good thing is that Enterprise Saskatchewan does involve co-operatives.
Monday » November 12 » 2007
Enterprise Sask. key to Wall's vision
Bruce Johnstone
The Leader-Post
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Enterprise Saskatchewan, Premier-elect Brad Wall's vision of how to manage the province's economic development, could be the biggest achievement of his administration. Or it could be his biggest flop.
It all depends on who Wall chooses to sit on Enterprise Saskatchewan's board of directors and, more importantly, how narrowly or broadly he defines its mandate.
For non-policy wonks, Enterprise Saskatchewan was first proposed by Wall after becoming leader of the Saskatchewan Party in 2004.
As the former business development officer for the City of Swift Current, Wall has given a lot of thought about how the province can best manage its economic development function. And Wall believes government should not be setting the economic agenda as it has for the past 60 years.
In a paper called "The Promise of Saskatchewan: A New Vision for Saskatchewan's Economy," Wall wrote "governments of three different political stripes have allowed public sector solutions to eclipse the potential of private investment, innovation and entrepreneurship as sustainable economic development options for growth.''
Instead, he said, "the private, co-operative and non-government sectors must be the engines for economic growth, if it is to be sustainable, meaningful and avoid past failures.''
Enterprise Saskatchewan will operate as an "economic development partnership between government (provincial, local, First Nations), and the private, co-operative and non-government sectors,'' he said.
Wall described Enterprise Saskatchewan as "bold and innovative'' because "for the first time in Saskatchewan, government will cede significant control over the formation and implementation of economic development strategies to a broad partnership of economic stakeholders, with the full support of the premier and executive council (cabinet)."
One of the goals of Enterprise Saskatchewan would be to "identify and remove barriers to growth,'' including "non-tax barriers,'' such as "direct competition to business from various government agencies and Crowns.''
Naturally, this was seized upon by the NDP as a tacit admission that Wall will use Enterprise Saskatchewan to "privatize Saskatchewan'' by removing Crowns that are competing with the private sector.
This, despite the fact that the Saskatchewan Party's own policy manual says that a Saskatchewan Party government will "retain public ownership of our major Crown corporations.''
But Wall faces other challenges in implementing his economic development vision.
Even if Wall doesn't appoint "friends of the Saskatchewan Party'' to the board, as the NDP claims, a board made up of representatives of business, labour, municipalities, First Nations, and post-secondary education institutions will be, of necessity, a diverse group with competing, often conflicting interests.
While it may function well as an advisory group or sounding board for government policy, it will likely not function well as a decision-making body. And it will decidedly not function effectively as the manager of economic development policy.
What makes Tourism Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) effective as public-private partnerships is the industry focus of those organizations, specifically their boards of directors.
Most of the directors of STEP and Tourism Saskatchewan are drawn from companies in the exporting and tourism sectors. They, not politicians or bureaucrats, know best how to invest scarce resources in their respective sectors.
Having said that, the notion of any government "ceding significant control'' over the formation and implementation of economic development strategies raises some fundamental questions.
After all, whose money is it anyway? It's the taxpayers' and the government, as the elected representative of the people, is steward of those tax dollars.
Taxpayers have the right to be represented on the boards of directors of any agency that spends tax dollars. And having a director, preferably the chair, with a seat at the cabinet table is the best insurance that tax dollars are being invested in the public's interest.
- Bruce Johnstone is the Leader-Post's financial editor.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Monday » November 12 » 2007
Enterprise Sask. key to Wall's vision
Bruce Johnstone
The Leader-Post
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Enterprise Saskatchewan, Premier-elect Brad Wall's vision of how to manage the province's economic development, could be the biggest achievement of his administration. Or it could be his biggest flop.
It all depends on who Wall chooses to sit on Enterprise Saskatchewan's board of directors and, more importantly, how narrowly or broadly he defines its mandate.
For non-policy wonks, Enterprise Saskatchewan was first proposed by Wall after becoming leader of the Saskatchewan Party in 2004.
As the former business development officer for the City of Swift Current, Wall has given a lot of thought about how the province can best manage its economic development function. And Wall believes government should not be setting the economic agenda as it has for the past 60 years.
In a paper called "The Promise of Saskatchewan: A New Vision for Saskatchewan's Economy," Wall wrote "governments of three different political stripes have allowed public sector solutions to eclipse the potential of private investment, innovation and entrepreneurship as sustainable economic development options for growth.''
Instead, he said, "the private, co-operative and non-government sectors must be the engines for economic growth, if it is to be sustainable, meaningful and avoid past failures.''
Enterprise Saskatchewan will operate as an "economic development partnership between government (provincial, local, First Nations), and the private, co-operative and non-government sectors,'' he said.
Wall described Enterprise Saskatchewan as "bold and innovative'' because "for the first time in Saskatchewan, government will cede significant control over the formation and implementation of economic development strategies to a broad partnership of economic stakeholders, with the full support of the premier and executive council (cabinet)."
One of the goals of Enterprise Saskatchewan would be to "identify and remove barriers to growth,'' including "non-tax barriers,'' such as "direct competition to business from various government agencies and Crowns.''
Naturally, this was seized upon by the NDP as a tacit admission that Wall will use Enterprise Saskatchewan to "privatize Saskatchewan'' by removing Crowns that are competing with the private sector.
This, despite the fact that the Saskatchewan Party's own policy manual says that a Saskatchewan Party government will "retain public ownership of our major Crown corporations.''
But Wall faces other challenges in implementing his economic development vision.
Even if Wall doesn't appoint "friends of the Saskatchewan Party'' to the board, as the NDP claims, a board made up of representatives of business, labour, municipalities, First Nations, and post-secondary education institutions will be, of necessity, a diverse group with competing, often conflicting interests.
While it may function well as an advisory group or sounding board for government policy, it will likely not function well as a decision-making body. And it will decidedly not function effectively as the manager of economic development policy.
What makes Tourism Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) effective as public-private partnerships is the industry focus of those organizations, specifically their boards of directors.
Most of the directors of STEP and Tourism Saskatchewan are drawn from companies in the exporting and tourism sectors. They, not politicians or bureaucrats, know best how to invest scarce resources in their respective sectors.
Having said that, the notion of any government "ceding significant control'' over the formation and implementation of economic development strategies raises some fundamental questions.
After all, whose money is it anyway? It's the taxpayers' and the government, as the elected representative of the people, is steward of those tax dollars.
Taxpayers have the right to be represented on the boards of directors of any agency that spends tax dollars. And having a director, preferably the chair, with a seat at the cabinet table is the best insurance that tax dollars are being invested in the public's interest.
- Bruce Johnstone is the Leader-Post's financial editor.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wall: Next Sask. election on Nov. 7, 2011
It seems my election prediction may be off by one seat but it may be a while before the final results are in.
Although fixed election dates seem to be a reasonable action, it seems that Wall is bound to move quickly on more questionable policies such as his Enterprise Saskatchewan group. This group could steer the Saskatchewan economy in a very right wing direction. It remains to be seen if NDP fears were warranted.
New Sask. premier sets fixed election dates
James Wood
CanWest News Service
Thursday, November 08, 2007
REGINA -- Fresh from a major victory in the provincial election, Saskatchewan premier-designate Brad Wall is making plans already for the next one.
To keep a long-standing party promise of fixed election dates, the Saskatchewan Party leader announced Thursday morning that the next election will be held on Nov. 7, 2011, exactly four years after Wednesday's provincial vote that saw the NDP swept from power after 16 years.
"My goal is to have this legislation, and some other legislative items, ready for discussion in a December session of the Saskatchewan legislature," said Mr. Wall, looking relaxed and confident as he spoke to reporters in the Opposition caucus room.
Other key items the new government expects to move on early include new balanced-budget legislation and establishing Enterprise Saskatchewan, a new public-private partnership of stakeholder groups that will oversee economic development in the province.
"We are in the process of identifying now which ones we can move on quickly, immediately and which ones may need legislative support," he said.
Wall met with outgoing NDP Premier Lorne Calvert on Thursday morning and said Nov. 21 has tentatively been set as the swearing-in date for the new Saskatchewan Party majority government.
Just how many Saskatchewan Party MLAs will be sworn in is still uncertain, however. Mr. Wall said that the deputy returning officer in Meadow Lake had advised the party that one poll count had been reversed -- that former Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison, running for the Saskatchewan Party, now had a 17-vote lead over veteran NDP cabinet minister Maynard Sonntag.
Absentee ballots still need to be counted and nothing is official.
If Mr. Harrison's lead holds, the Saskatchewan Party will hold 38 seats in the legislature to the NDP's 20.
In a wide-ranging news conference, Mr. Wall said the Saskatchewan Party still wants the same equalization deal as other provinces when it comes to natural resources, which would mean more federal dollars for Saskatchewan.
But he said he could not comment on whether his government will continue the constitutional challenge over equalization filed by Mr. Calvert's government against the federal Conservative government until he sees the legal opinions.
"I believe there is an imperative for the federal government to be investing in the priorities of Saskatchewan," he said.
Mr. Wall did say that a Saskatchewan Party government will drop the province's financial support for agricultural groups that have challenged the federal government's push to scrap the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on barley sales.
jwood@sp.canwest.com
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Although fixed election dates seem to be a reasonable action, it seems that Wall is bound to move quickly on more questionable policies such as his Enterprise Saskatchewan group. This group could steer the Saskatchewan economy in a very right wing direction. It remains to be seen if NDP fears were warranted.
New Sask. premier sets fixed election dates
James Wood
CanWest News Service
Thursday, November 08, 2007
REGINA -- Fresh from a major victory in the provincial election, Saskatchewan premier-designate Brad Wall is making plans already for the next one.
To keep a long-standing party promise of fixed election dates, the Saskatchewan Party leader announced Thursday morning that the next election will be held on Nov. 7, 2011, exactly four years after Wednesday's provincial vote that saw the NDP swept from power after 16 years.
"My goal is to have this legislation, and some other legislative items, ready for discussion in a December session of the Saskatchewan legislature," said Mr. Wall, looking relaxed and confident as he spoke to reporters in the Opposition caucus room.
Other key items the new government expects to move on early include new balanced-budget legislation and establishing Enterprise Saskatchewan, a new public-private partnership of stakeholder groups that will oversee economic development in the province.
"We are in the process of identifying now which ones we can move on quickly, immediately and which ones may need legislative support," he said.
Wall met with outgoing NDP Premier Lorne Calvert on Thursday morning and said Nov. 21 has tentatively been set as the swearing-in date for the new Saskatchewan Party majority government.
Just how many Saskatchewan Party MLAs will be sworn in is still uncertain, however. Mr. Wall said that the deputy returning officer in Meadow Lake had advised the party that one poll count had been reversed -- that former Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison, running for the Saskatchewan Party, now had a 17-vote lead over veteran NDP cabinet minister Maynard Sonntag.
Absentee ballots still need to be counted and nothing is official.
If Mr. Harrison's lead holds, the Saskatchewan Party will hold 38 seats in the legislature to the NDP's 20.
In a wide-ranging news conference, Mr. Wall said the Saskatchewan Party still wants the same equalization deal as other provinces when it comes to natural resources, which would mean more federal dollars for Saskatchewan.
But he said he could not comment on whether his government will continue the constitutional challenge over equalization filed by Mr. Calvert's government against the federal Conservative government until he sees the legal opinions.
"I believe there is an imperative for the federal government to be investing in the priorities of Saskatchewan," he said.
Mr. Wall did say that a Saskatchewan Party government will drop the province's financial support for agricultural groups that have challenged the federal government's push to scrap the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on barley sales.
jwood@sp.canwest.com
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Enterprise Saskatchewan
THis is from Buckdog.. The description is not clear about how exactly the group is to be set up. If Buckdog is correct the group would have a great deal of power and not be just an advisory group. The description seem to bear out his account. This would be much more than such groups as the North American Competitiveness Council for exmple who advise the Canadian, Mexican, and US govts. and met with them at Montebello recently. The Enterprise group will be part of any North American energy and economic organisations. I wonder how this fits in with their objections to TILMA? This implies as well that they would be part of the SPP groupings.
Some of the aims sound quite good but the details will be important.
'Enterprise Saskatchewan' - The Saskatchewan Party's Plan To 'Contract Out' The Role Of Government
Tucked away in the platform document of the Saskatchewan Party, is a section that describes the creation of a new agency of the provincial government. Their plan entails gutting the current Department of Economic Development and the creation of a new body of appointed individuals who would advise a future government on legislative, regulatory and budgetary requirements. In other words, the overall role of the government and the legislature would be moved to an unelected body known as Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Here is an excerpt from the Sask Party platform document:
"A Saskatchewan Party government will create Enterprise Saskatchewan,a new public-private partnership between government, business, labour, First nations, municipalities, post-secondary institutions and economic stakeholders. Enterprise Saskatchewan will be Saskatchewan’s central economic development agency.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan will act as the lead agency for developing a long-term provincial labour force development strategy to ensure Saskatchewan has enough well-trained workers to fill jobs and sustain economic growth in our province.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan teams will review key sectors of Saskatchewan’s economy, to identify barriers to growth and make recommendations to government for their removal.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan will consistently act to measure and report on Saskatchewan’s tax and regulatory environment to ensure that Saskatchewan’s economy remains competitive within the New West.
-A Saskatchewan Party government will ensure that Saskatchewan people reap the benefits of our energy resources by:
-Ensuring the continued, sustainable development of Saskatchewan’s conventional oil and oil sands resources;
-Working with the federal government to develop a national energy grid to increase provincial revenues from power exports; and
-Ensuring Saskatchewan is a member of North American and international energy and economic organizations.
-Facilitate direct partnerships between post-secondary institutions and industry to address training needs in growth sectors of the economy;
-Develop a long-term provincial initiative between First Nations, post-secondary institutions and industry to increase the number of First Nations workers in the labour force; and -Increase training and employment opportunities for apprentices, including reviewing the current journeyman to apprentice ratio in consultation with industry and labour.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
When you look at the 'role' of Enterprise Saskatchewan, it is pretty easy to see that it is the 'contracting out' of the responsibilities of the provincial government - giving responsibility to an appointed group!
It will allow an unelected body to determine if labour legislation is a 'barrier' to the growth of the private sector. It will allow an unelected body to determine if Saskatchewan's Crown Corporations are a 'barrier' to the growth of the private sector.
It's the ultimate in contracting out!
Some of the aims sound quite good but the details will be important.
'Enterprise Saskatchewan' - The Saskatchewan Party's Plan To 'Contract Out' The Role Of Government
Tucked away in the platform document of the Saskatchewan Party, is a section that describes the creation of a new agency of the provincial government. Their plan entails gutting the current Department of Economic Development and the creation of a new body of appointed individuals who would advise a future government on legislative, regulatory and budgetary requirements. In other words, the overall role of the government and the legislature would be moved to an unelected body known as Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Here is an excerpt from the Sask Party platform document:
"A Saskatchewan Party government will create Enterprise Saskatchewan,a new public-private partnership between government, business, labour, First nations, municipalities, post-secondary institutions and economic stakeholders. Enterprise Saskatchewan will be Saskatchewan’s central economic development agency.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan will act as the lead agency for developing a long-term provincial labour force development strategy to ensure Saskatchewan has enough well-trained workers to fill jobs and sustain economic growth in our province.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan teams will review key sectors of Saskatchewan’s economy, to identify barriers to growth and make recommendations to government for their removal.
-Enterprise Saskatchewan will consistently act to measure and report on Saskatchewan’s tax and regulatory environment to ensure that Saskatchewan’s economy remains competitive within the New West.
-A Saskatchewan Party government will ensure that Saskatchewan people reap the benefits of our energy resources by:
-Ensuring the continued, sustainable development of Saskatchewan’s conventional oil and oil sands resources;
-Working with the federal government to develop a national energy grid to increase provincial revenues from power exports; and
-Ensuring Saskatchewan is a member of North American and international energy and economic organizations.
-Facilitate direct partnerships between post-secondary institutions and industry to address training needs in growth sectors of the economy;
-Develop a long-term provincial initiative between First Nations, post-secondary institutions and industry to increase the number of First Nations workers in the labour force; and -Increase training and employment opportunities for apprentices, including reviewing the current journeyman to apprentice ratio in consultation with industry and labour.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
When you look at the 'role' of Enterprise Saskatchewan, it is pretty easy to see that it is the 'contracting out' of the responsibilities of the provincial government - giving responsibility to an appointed group!
It will allow an unelected body to determine if labour legislation is a 'barrier' to the growth of the private sector. It will allow an unelected body to determine if Saskatchewan's Crown Corporations are a 'barrier' to the growth of the private sector.
It's the ultimate in contracting out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)