Privatization was the issue on the minds of people attending a town hall meeting Monday night at Don Ross Centre.
The meeting was hosted by Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) Local 397, whose union includes SGI employees.
It was one of a number of meetings planned for around the province, including Lloydminster, Kindersley and Meadow Lake.
The aim was to mobilize opposition to the privatization of Crown corporations in the province.
The meeting was called in response to Bill 40, the province’s legislation on the definition of privatization. A petition was available at the meeting for people to sign opposing the bill.
According to the union, that legislation would allow the government to wind down, dissolve, or sell-off up to 49 per cent of the shares in the Crowns, without consultation or a referendum.
That provision raised the ire of speakers at the Battlefords meeting. But there was also opposition expressed to the wide range of policies of Premier Brad Wall and his government, such as proposals to rollback wages 3.5 per cent and to have public sector employees take unpaid days off to address the deficit.
“We’ve witnessed how the government has mismanaged the funds of Saskatchewan,” said Kim Wilson, president of COPE Local 397, who pointed to SmartMeters, the addition of three MLAs, the privatization of liquor stores, the rising costs of the Regina bypass and other issues.
“It’s time that the people of Saskatchewan stand up to the current government and tell them we don’t support any of this,” said Wilson.
Shelley Boutin-Gervais, president of UNIFOR Local 2-S, raised concerns about the possible privatization of SaskTel.
She pointed to SaskTel’s major investments into rural and remote areas, and said “you wouldn’t see this from Bell or Telus headquartered in another province.”
Boutin-Gervais questioned why the government would even consider selling off a profitable Crown like SaskTel.
“This is a desperate move from a government who has mismanaged the finances of the province and is desperately trying to get out of this situation.”
The meeting was held on the same day that the provincial government announced it was contracting 12 Saskatchewan-based suppliers for cleaning services in government businesses.
The move was billed by the government as saving $3.5 million annually. According to minister Christine Tell, all the companies are agreeing to hire existing employees.
