Whether today鈥檚 provincial budget release includes prospects of聽 a new round of forced amalgamations of school divisions and health regions, it might still be a prime time to broach the topic.
Couple that topic with the one about whether these boards should have appointed or elected members, and the citizens of Saskatchewan could have some pretty lively debates.
We have had ample time to assess board work undertaken by appointed bodies such as the regional health authorities and the elected teams, as witnessed in the school division settings. We prefer the election model for several reasons, that could be brought forward in future editorial renderings but, for now, the focus will remain on potential amalgamations of these bodies as well as the possibility of, once again, approaching the subject of some consolidation of rural municipalities.
The idea of having government-appointed yes-men and women carrying out government-directed edicts is simply seen as a non-democratic process, no matter how much make-up a government can apply. Using the lack of interest from voters as a reason, is a mugs game. All a school division or health region needs is a local hot topic, and voter interest is awakened in a flash. And, if there isn鈥檛 a hot topic for the electorate to focus on, there is still preference for the election model, even if the voter turnout is less than five per cent. Democracy is democracy and appointing board members isn鈥檛. Choose one.
Coupling school division elections with civic elections and voter interest naturally increases. That too, has been proven. We expect the same would be true of health boards, if they were given the opportunity to elect someone.
The subject of further amalgamation could raise a lot of interest. Should these divisions and regions be made even larger than they already are? How big is too big? Is Saskatchewan headed into a new era where education and health files will be handled through boards in Regina and Saskatoon only with the news and action plans trickling down into the rural sectors?
What about media scrutiny, public perception and transparency in the nether regions? Might we encounter a situation where if the question isn鈥檛 raised in either of those two centres, then there is no question?
With an increasing flow of population toward these two cities, this sort of amalgamation could be coming down the pipeline.
Does Saskatchewan really need 28 school divisions or 14 health regions? Or should we have two of each? It would certainly make life easier for the CEOs and provincial administrators-in-waiting. They would get what they wanted and never even have to leave the city to impart the wisdom of their ways to the great unwashed in rural Saskatchewan.
As far as rural municipalities are concerned, we can only say that surely the time has finally arrived when even the staunchest of the 鈥渓eave them alone鈥� advocates are seeing the absurdity behind trying to maintain viable RM administrations with a diminishing number of voters, councillors and administration teams. Saskatchewan still has close to 300 RMs. That could easily be cut by 70 per cent through common-sense approaches on regional fronts by the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and the councils themselves, if the will is there.
We were there a couple of decades ago for the first attempt at RM amalgamation which was met with a firestorm of negativity. We wonder if that same level of stubbornness exists today?
We will only know if and when the subject is brought to the forefront, preferably through their elected body with the willingness to conduct the dialogue. 聽 聽
