Moe and his party must be held accountable

The problem with relying on the Saskatchewan legislature — any parliament, for that matter — is that it’s designed to focus only on the here and now.

One of the many things that this COVID-19 pandemic has exposed is that we are going to have to take a hard look at our raw-resources-based economy in the wake of current devaluation of our exports and the disruptions of supply chains.

Premier Scott Moe’s noble goals in Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan that include 50 per cent more exports, a 25-per-cent increase in oil production to 600,000 barrels a day, 100,000 more jobs and 1.4 million people all by 2030 have pretty much been blown up in the first few months of 2020.

What things are going to look like in the future is a big and important discussion — perhaps too big and too important to be confined to the narrow parameters of the in-the-moment legislative sitting debate.

So why, then, is it so important to recall the legislative assembly right now? Can we not do without all the squabbling and cheap political theatrics from both sides that are mostly about scoring points in the lead-up to the election when there’s so many important things to consider?

Well, that the government is now making so many decisions without either legislative scrutiny or any real accountability is precisely why we need the Saskatchewan legislature to be sitting.

Forget for a moment that we don’t have a budget that is technically and legally required or that we are running up a 2020-21 deficit somewhere between $1.3 billion and $3.3 billion that will not only destroy any immediate Saskatchewan growth, but may also hamstring our province for decades to come.

Ironically, what this pandemic has exposed is how much government affects our very livelihoods and existence.

My Leader-post colleague Arthur White-crummey wrote a fascinating piece on the government decision-making process that, as of today, allows us to get haircuts but not tattoos or manicures or will allow us to go to the gym before the arena or the curling rink.

Wrong choices have surely been made in the Re-open Saskatchewan plan, although we can both understand and forgive many of these missteps. As Moe and others running governments elsewhere have become fond of saying, nobody has ever shut down a modern economy and then reopened it again.

However, this should mean more accountability — not less.

Why your livelihood should remain shut down while your neighbour’s business can open is a perfectly legitimate thing to ask. So are questions like why libraries remain closed while bookstores can be open.

What most needs to be questioned, however, is why a small inner circle of executive council (cabinet ministers and appointed staff of the premier) should be allowed to make these decisions in a private, closed-door manner without having to go before the public that elected them.

Hairdressers went back to their places of work this week, but MLAS who made this choice, for some reason, didn’t? That’s just messed up.

Surely, governing politicians need to account for their choices in the here and now. Why is the government not in the legislature right now telling us why we aren’t seeing roads being repaired when fewer people are travelling on them?

Contrary to the utter nonsense we’ve heard from Moe about other legislatures not sitting, Manitoba and Alberta are returning to full legislative calendars. But the real problem is Moe has left this in the hands of a renowned power tripper, Government House leader Jeremy Harrison, who is clearly placing his joy of political game-playing above accountability or the real problems of people.

Thursday, Harrison waited until 9:55 a.m. — five minutes before the NDP’S 10 a.m. news conference in front of the legislature — to respond to the so-called “negotiations” on terms of reopening the legislature. Childish games. Why people struggle to understand the significance of the legislature is because we elect people like Harrison who view it as their private playpen.

Whatever leeway the public has afforded under these unique circumstances has now been exhausted. The Saskatchewan Party government needs to respect the legislature and the work that now needs to get done there. Mandryk is political columnist for the Regina Leader-post and Saskatoon Starphoenix.