A campaign backed by the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour is claiming 496 people in the Battlefords have signed a petition opposing privatization.
The Own It! Campaign and the SFL claimed 17,247 signatures in total, which they delivered to the provincial legislature. In a news release issued Monday, organizers are claiming it shows Saskatchewan residents want to stop the selloff of Crowns and public services.
“The broad support for this petition clearly shows that the government doesn’t have a mandate to privatize and take away the benefits of strong Crowns and public services,” said SFL president Larry Hubich.
In the news release issued Monday, they took aim at the government’s plans to privatize 40 liquor stores and allow 12 new private stores.
The release claims the government “has released a list of 36 public liquor stores it plans to close in rural Saskatchewan, and Battleford is on that list.” The release claims “if the government moves ahead with its plan to close Battleford’s public liquor store, five local jobs will be lost.”
“The jobs of public liquor store workers help keep communities strong,” said Hubich. “When workers are paid a living wage, they have money to spend in local businesses.”
However, the government has stated the Battleford liquor store will stay open even if no private buyer is found. In an interview with the News-Optimist, Minister for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Don McMorris said even if there were no bidders, “we would keep the government store going. We wouldn’t take service away from a community.”
The SFL release also took aim at the use of the public-private partnership (P3) model to build the new Saskatchewan Hospital with an integrated correctional facility.
“While a new facility is good news for North Battleford, P3 hospitals and correctional centres have a track record of being badly built,” their release stated. The release pointed to Abbotsford Regional Hospital and the Toronto South Detention Centre as examples.
“People in the Battlefords know what’s at stake, and that’s why they’re saying no to privatization,” said Hubich in the release. “Saskatchewan families want to secure a strong future for their kids and grandkids here and that includes keeping our Crowns and public services in public hands.”
