AVOID RE-RUNNING CONSERVATIVE MISTAKES
During the troubled years of Devine Conservative government in Saskatchewan, the then-Premier went to New York City to tell Wall Street that this province “has so much going for it, you can afford to mismanage it and still break even”.
He also claimed “the world is having a recession, but Saskatchewan has decided not to participate”.
I’m sure his listeners, back in the 1980’s, were impressed – by the natural wealth of Saskatchewan, certainly, but not by the short-sighted recklessness of its government at that time.
Now, 20 years later, Saskatchewan is on a roll. Thanks to a global boom in commodity prices, our economy is no longer “below-average”. By many national indicators, we’re now leading the pack!
So how do we keep things rolling in this “new” Saskatchewan?
For one thing, we cannot repeat the foolishness of the 1980’s which left the province a laughing-stock, saddled with debt. We need to anticipate the trends and priorities of the 21st century, and get ahead of them.
One new global reality is world-wide demand for less carbon pollution in how we use fossil fuels. The greatest economic success will flow to those who use their brain-power to lead the race for cleaner technologies.
To get the incentives right, we should cut taxes on income, investment and innovation to spur higher disposable incomes and greater productivity. There should also be a market price established for pollution and waste.
In such a business context, billions of dollars for new “green” investments are going to flow to where the need and the opportunities are greatest. That place should be Saskatchewan.
We can show the world how to run a truly “smart” resource-based economy that’s built for lasting success – one that is knowledge-intensive, competitive, growing, environmentally-sound, and profitable.
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