Closure of STC underlines flaws in Wall’s thinking
Saskatchewan’s citizens will be facing — and questioning — the fallout from last week’s slash-and-burn provincial budget for a longtime to come.
In that context, the closure of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company is just one of many plans that stands to transform Saskatchewan into a less-connected, less-functional province. But it’s worth examining how the STC announcement highlights the largest flaws underlying Brad Wall’s decision-making.
First, there’s the Saskatchewan Party’s prioritization of political perceptions and message control over any remotely defensible use of public resources.
On budget day, STC service was suddenly suspended without any warning, nor any public explanation.
It was only after the budget was released that an explanation was offered: STC had been taken out of commission so that its employees could be shut away in meetings, allowing the government to serve up its spin on the announcement unopposed.
Beyond the disruption to work and travel, the result was an unnecessary expense, as the public was left on the hook to pay for alternate transportation for STC riders. But apparently we all have to sacrifice to fund Wall’s communications priorities.
Second, there’s utter dismissiveness toward the needs of people — or at least, anybody who counts on public services.
Most obviously, that can be seen in Minister Joe Hargrave’s callous disregard for the importance of STC in allowing residents of smaller communities to seek health care and other services.
And it’s hardly a mark of government efficiency if our struggling health-care system is being expected to foot a new, higher bill to transport patients.
Third and on a related note, there’s a glaring lack of recognition as to how different pieces of Saskatchewan’s public services fit together.
Among the Saskatchewan Party’s other controversial cuts in the budget was the slashing of funding to libraries. The government is claiming that our province’s problems somehow include an excess of libraries, and that the ones we have should abandon community support functions in favour of solely providing access to reading materials, including through interlibrary loans.
Yet even within the government’s narrow view of libraries, our provincial inter-library loan system relies on STC to transport materials.
And so closing down STC only damages the government’s own stated view of our provincial library system.
Similarly, there’s been no explanation as to what will happen to other public bodies and non-profit organizations that benefit from STC’s presence, including through in-kind donations of rides and delivery services that have sustained their ability to operate throughout the province.
But apparently the likes of Canadian Blood Services or the Canadian Cancer Society didn’t rate any consideration by Wall’s government.
All of which leads to the final theme underlying the destruction of STC: the Wall government’s fervent belief in the profit motive above all — no matter how petty any profits might be compared to the public services at stake.
Part of the government’s messaging around STC’s elimination is to express “concern” about competition with private parcel delivery companies.
By the government’s own account, the profitable parts of STC include the parcel delivery service (which relies on the infrastructure from the broader STC system), and two out of 27 bus routes.
Which means that it’s unlikely many of the same services will be taken up — and that any commercial potential figures to be extremely limited.
In sum, in a budget that’s supposed to be about tough choices, we’re footing an unconscionable bill for Wall’s desire to give commercial parcel delivery businesses priority over rural residents and cancer patients. And we’ll be best served if Wall’s governing mindset hits the road long before STC.
Fingas is a Regina lawyer, blogger and freelance political commentator who has written about provincial and national issues from a progressive NDP perspective since 2005.
His column appears every week.