麻豆视频

The provincial government has backed away from Bill 40, the contentious legislation that would have allowed the government to sell up to 49 per cent of a Crown corporation, allowing the government to avoid a referendum to allow the sale to proceed.

The government says it has repealed the legislation because it wasn鈥檛 popular with Saskatchewan residents. That might be the case, and it might be a reason for the decision.

If the government can get a private partner to purchase a minority stake in a Crown corporation, and get fair market value in the process, then why not do it? Generate some revenue for the provincial coffers, and use that money for hospitals, schools, highways, social services and the other programs that the government has to provide.

Use that money to atone for the mistakes of this year鈥檚 budget, such as imposing the provincial sales tax on insurance premiums and taking away money from municipalities.

In theory, it鈥檚 not a bad idea.

But you have to wonder if the government was having a hard time finding partners for this concept.

What kind of private company is going to want to partner with government? There are stark differences between the way things are done in the private sector and the public sector. And it likely wouldn鈥檛 take long for a private company to become frustrated with the government鈥檚 way of doing things.

And to top it all off, that private company doesn鈥檛 get to have a majority stake in the company.

It would have been crazy for any company to agree to the arrangement, even if the investment was in a Crown corporation that was viable and profitable.

The companies that would have enough money to invest into a Crown corporation like SaskTel or SaskPower didn鈥檛 get that money by being stupid. They earned their profits by making smart and calculated investments.

And even if some within these companies might think a 49 per cent stake in SaskTel is a good idea, shareholders would be quick to block such a move.

Maybe the government really wanted to sell 49 per cent of SaskTel, for example. Maybe they had some discussions, and some feelers of interest from investors. But we doubt the government would have had serious negotiations.

Do you really think the government would have backtracked on this legislation if they were close to a deal to sell 49 per cent of SaskPower?

Saskatchewan鈥檚 Crown corporations played a critical role in the development of this province. And some still have an important role to play.

But they have also stymied investment in the province by the private sector. In the case of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, it was becoming a money pit when it wound up operations this year.

We applaud the government for pulling the plug on Bill 40. But not for the reason they gave us.聽