The cake was cut, the self-congratulatory Facebook posts went out along with the news releases. Sept. 26 was a big day for Saskatchewan, for that was the day it was announced we have reached 1.1 million people.
You would be forgiven if you thought Premier Brad Wall might be breaking his own arm to pat himself on the back, but in this case, it's well earned. In an age where governments shy away from hard numbers as measures of success, this speaks for itself. People have voted with their feet, and chosen Saskatchewan. The next goal for the government? Another 100,000 by 2020.
The Sask Party has made a lot of political hay that this growth has occurred under their watch, although the inflection point seems to have happened at the tail end of the Calvert era.
A few years ago I had a brief discussion with the premier about what happens when we hit 100,000 people, namely, that we would need more hospital beds, preferably by building a new Plains Health Centre, a.k.a the Plains Hospital. Not long after that, the government coincidentally announced its intentions to build a new Plains Outpatient Care Centre - not a hospital, mind you, but not far off.
We haven't heard a lot since then, probably because these things tend to get studied to death before dirt is scratched. Can anyone say Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford? The difference here, I think, is that the Plains has long been a canard of rural spite for the NDP's closure of over 50 hospitals in the 1990s, including the Plains. Saskatchewan Hospital, on the other hand, was promised during the late days of the NDP tenure. Why would the Sask Party want to fill an NDP promise? In six years, they've conveniently failed to do so.
Hospitals are just one area where Saskatchewan will have to start spending money, coping with our newfound growth. We're not used to this.
Yes, folks, if we're going to celebrate our growth, we must also recognize the need to deal with it.
We're going to need to build more schools, more twinned highways, more interchanges, more bridges. To build these, we will need more people, and more houses to put them up in. This, in turn, will entice more people to come. Some people would call this a growing economy.
So far, we've been able to get by largely with what we have - an infrastructure for one million people. But that won't wash at 1.2 million, or 1.3 million. We're already seeing the Regina General Hospital coming apart at the seams. It's called Code Burgundy, when there simply are no more beds to put additional patients in.
Speaking on CJME on Oct. 1, Regina Mayor Michael Fougere noted the city used to have "rush minutes" going to and from work "but now everywhere you go, there's a backup."
"It's a testament of how many people have moved to Regina," he said.
Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison spoke of the "desperate need" to rebuild the downtown Traffic Bridge and a new north commuter bridge, so that a ride home from work is 10 minutes and not 45.
Until now, the Saskatchewan Party has largely been judged on its ability to grow Saskatchewan, its population and its economy. In the coming years, it will likely be judged on its ability to address that growth. Mayors across the province are now, more than ever, going to have their hands out to deal with infrastructure expansion instead of just maintenance.
While it's a challenge to deal with more, it sure beats having to stem the bleeding and dealing with less.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].
