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听 听 听 听 听 听 Far be it for me to suggest the Saskatchewan Party government shouldn鈥檛 do something about high civil service wages.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Generous wages to certain public sector workers is something I have occasionally harped on since Premier Brad Wall came to power a decade ago.

听听听听听听听听听听听 One of the first orders of business for new health minister Don McMorris was a 36-per-cent raise over four years for the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) in the spring of 2008.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Tales of the behind-the-scene negotiations are legendary. One such story claims the nurses鈥� bargaining team had walked away from the table happy with the deal they had when government negotiators came back and sweetened the deal even more.

听听听听听听听听听听听 What is a matter of record is that this was highest wage settlement in provincial government history.

听听听听听听听听听听听 And there have been a few other generous settlements in the Wall era.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Consider the Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 rather generous treatment of SaskPower workers at a time when it was pumping $1.6 billion into carbon capture at Boundary Dam and rest of were paying for all-too-often nine-per-cent increases in our electrical bills.

听听听听听听听听听听听 But can you really blame nurses or power workers for getting whatever they can at the bargaining table?

听听听听听听听听听听听 After all, nurses and power workers do work damn hard for their money and often under circumstances that a lot of us wouldn鈥檛 tolerate.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Moreover, many of these people are likely your neighbours or friends, especially in rural Saskatchewan.

听听听听听听听听听听听 But here are a couple of other we things we should keep in mind in relation to this across-the-board wage freeze.

听听听听听听听听听听听 First, nurses and power workers aside, the vast majority of public sector workers like teachers, snowplough operators, and so on have not received massive hikes.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In fact, wage settlements are one of the few areas of government costs where Wall and company have generally kept the lid on spending.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Really, the problem is countless other expenditure decisions made in the past decade.

听听听听听听听听听听听 After all, it鈥檚 always easy to justify spending.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The billions upon billions spent on roads, schools and hospitals 鈥� all part of what the Saskatchewan Party called an 鈥渋nfrastructure deficit鈥� left behind by the previous government 鈥� are obviously good things that benefit everyone.

听听听听听听听听听听听 But is the government鈥檚 job to simply give people absolutely everything they ask for?

听听听听听听听听听听听 Obviously not. Even in times of boom 鈥� like in 2008 when the government was building infrastructure and handing out a generous settlement to the nurses 鈥� there is only so much money to go around.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Well, there is no boom right now. But we are still paying for the nurse salary increases, the cost of the roads and so on.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In fact, Saskatchewan hasn鈥檛 been booming for some time. But that didn鈥檛 stop the government from borrowing $1.7 billion in the last two budgets, borrowing that has contributed mightily to today鈥檚 $1 billion deficit.

听听听听听听听听听听听 And let鈥檚 be clear that money went to building, not to public sector workers who are now being told to either accept a wage freeze or accept layoffs.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In the case of many such public employees 鈥� including Saskatchewan nurses 鈥� the government is asking them to forego wage increases they have already negotiated.

听听听听听听听听听听听 That鈥檚 why public employees and others find it galling that the Wall government is trying to convince the public that the problem is public service employee wages. Notwithstanding the wage settlements nurses and power workers, wages aren鈥檛 why we have a big deficit.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Similarly, while these are tough times for oilpatch workers, that has nothing to do with nurses or electrical workers or any public sector employees.

听听听听听听听听听听听 If anything, it鈥檚 a distraction from other issues and solutions to the deficit jackpot the Saskatchewan Party now finds itself in.

听听听听听听听听听听听 For this, the Saskatchewan Party only has itself to blame.

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