Gov’t ‘jumped the gun’ on closing STC, says group

A group concerned about the Saskatchewan Transportation Co.’s closure is again demanding answers after the emergence of documents in which government officials raised questions about the decision after it was made.

According to Save STC, part of the broader activist group Stop the Cuts, an email and a briefing note obtained by the Saskatchewan NDP suggest shutting down the 71-year-old bus company would be more expensive than allowing it to continue operating at a loss.

“They jumped the gun, if you will,” Save STC spokesman Martin Wooldridge said. “They didn’t want to wait for (an estimated cost). It was just an arbitrary decision to close without any, I guess, consideration of all the repercussions.”

The documents, which the Opposition obtained through a freedom of information request, suggest STC’s closure could lead to higher shipment costs for patients, medical samples, drugs and equipment related to a host of government programs.

The email shows a top Ministry of Health official asking colleagues for their thoughts on the potential effects of STC’s closure two days after the government announced the decision in its 2017-18 budget.

NDP health critic Danielle Chartier said the documents show the government didn’t know what effects the decision would have — a charge Health Minister Jim Reiter denied, adding that private couriers will be able to pick up the slack left by STC.

Woodridge noted a proposal to shutter the Ontario Northlands Transportation Commission was scuttled after an audit revealed it could cost up to $820 million — more than three times the estimated savings from closing it.

“We just want to know what the numbers are,” he said, alluding to provincial auditor Judy Ferguson’s claim that she cannot investigate the cost of closing STC because the province has not provided a breakdown of its estimated costs.

Crown Investments Minister Joe Hargrave told Save STC in an Oct. 18 letter that winding up STC won’t be finished until 2018 and the situation is unique because no other province had a similar bus company.

“For these reasons, the total cost to complete the wind up has not been determined,” Hargrave said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

Government spokeswoman Kathy Young echoed Hargrave’s statements in an email Thursday afternoon, noting that the government was optimistic private couriers would fill the gaps left by STC and “that has started to occur.”

Asked whether it’s realistic to expect the province to resurrect STC at some point, Wooldridge said the costs of transporting goods and people in the province mean it may come down to a choice between subsidizing private companies or rebuilding a Crown corporation.

More importantly, the government should at the very least put the process of selling off STC’s depots and busses on hold until a more fulsome assessment of the decision and its effects can be made, he said.

The government remains unequivocal. Young said in the email that the province has “no intention of reinstating STC.”