SaskTel officials not commenting on potential sale

Facebook group formed to keep Crown corporation publicly owned

There is no For Sale sign on top of SaskTel’s head office building in Regina.

And, if the government is to believed, there is no offer to buy the Crown corporation.

A spokeswoman for SaskTel said Thursday that it “will not be commenting on a potential sale.”

Yet, there is already a group formed with the aim of keeping the company a public one.

Within a day, the Facebook group had more than 1,000 followers. Its description said the group was “here to spread information in support of keeping SaskTel as a Crown Corporation.”

Such fervour, despite no sale being on the immediate horizon, was caused by Premier Brad Wall earlier this week.

The premier, in what seemed like a trial balloon being floated to gauge public reaction, said earlier this week that “we may get an offer” to sell SaskTel.

Wall is firm on the notion no such deal would go through without public approval. Of course, there is no offer right now and Dustin Duncan, the SaskTel minister, says it isn’t for sale.

Still, the premier knew what he was doing when he dropped the line about a potential offer to reporters in Regina on the same day he shuffled his cabinet. He even left the door open for the government potentially advocating in favour of a sale.

Critics are doing everything they can to let the premier know exactly what they think of his latest balloon.