Sask. Party tries to distance itself from controversy

As bad as it looks to have the Saskatchewan government's tire-recycling contract literally go south to a California company that retained a former Saskatchewan Party heavyweight as a “consultant lobbyist,” there may be an even bigger problem.

That problem is that this government now uses third parties filled with friendlies to take the fall for its own bad decisions.

Let us begin with the story of the province's former tire recycler, Saskatoon's Shercom, which says it was excluded from bidding on a contract for the southern half of the province.

The single successful bidder was Crumb Rubber Manufacturing (CRM) of Stockton, Calif. — the company that retained former Sask. Party finance minister Kevin Doherty as a consultant lobbyist.

Unfortunately, the Byzantine nature of the lobbyist act makes it difficult to say what this means or whether it's just the NDP throwing out a juicy political name in the legislature, after raising similar concerns about Doherty lobbying for a private Calgary surgical company that received a government contract.

While the lobbyist registry indicates Doherty was registered as a lobbyist for CRM, his employer, Prairie Sky Strategy of Calgary, issued a statement on Friday clarifying that he is a “`consultant lobbyist' as defined by the Saskatchewan Lobbyist Registry. Mr. Doherty has had no involvement whatsoever with the Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan's (TSS) decision to have a `southern tire processor.'”

Moreover, Environment Minister Christine Tell rightly pointed out Thursday that her government has handed all matters related to the bid to TSS, which has decided the province needs north and south tire collection depots, notwithstanding that industry players suggest there's only enough business for one such facility in the province.

Certainly, Shercom CEO Martin Strangeland is troubled by this. He has called it “egregiously unfair” and says his company was “stabbed in the back in our own backyard” and can only “marvel at the stupidity.” And Strangeland used to work for a Sask. Party minister.

It's about here where the rubber hits the road: The government's penchant to appear arm'slength while still controlling everything.

It's surely unquestionably bad news that, as NDP MLA Meara Conway notes, we will see “a net loss of 60 jobs, and potentially more” after the transfer of the contract from Shercom to CRM'S new recycling centre in Moose Jaw.

Yet we were told by Tell on Thursday that this is neither the government's problem nor even its decision.

In fact, Tell said her only role is “regulation,” adding she hadn't even read the TSS report, but understood the TSS had “environmental concerns” over transporting all used tires to a single processing location in Saskatchewan.

Asked where the excess tires are now going, Tell initially said they were being shipped out of province. Interestingly, Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce CEO Jason Aebig tweeted on Thursday that his chamber raised concerns a year ago that “scrap tires were being shipped to CRM'S plant in Alberta in violation of the Ministry of Environment's own guidelines and TSS'S mandate.” (Later, the government clarified that “all tires are going to CRM for processing” although “a few may be stored at staging areas, temporarily.”)

One reason Aebig 's advocacy was so noticeable is that we don't see much pushback against the government anymore — especially from supposed arm's-length, third-party entities whose job it is to sometimes push back.

And there is the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) that's been stifled since former CEO Scott Livingstone's still-unexplained departure and healthy severance. The SHA hasn't since been very vocal ... especially after Moe said we'd never again have COVID-19 restrictions.

Since the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission pushed back on Bill 137, Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre has replaced the entire commission.

One can argue that the government browbeating the Saskatchewan School Boards Association during the teachers' strike fits into this pattern.

And now the government-appointed TSS is solely responsible for this tire contract?

Even beyond the burning rubber in the legislature, there may be a bigger problem.