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Rural Saskatchewan takes a hit in cabinet shuffle

Rural representation took a hit in Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 cabinet shuffle. One might argue this doesn鈥檛 mean much.

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Rural representation took a hit in Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 cabinet shuffle.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One might argue this doesn鈥檛 mean much.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After all, the 51-member Saskatchewan Party government caucus consists of 30 rural members of the legislative assembly (小蓝视频s) as of the April 4 vote. Rural representation remains a backbone of this government.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And as a matter of fact, nine of Wall鈥檚 new 17-member cabinet - still the majority - come from seats outside the four major cities.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But with everyone in the province likely to take a financial hit in the spring 2017 budget, all areas of the province will be fighting to ensure it isn鈥檛 its ox 小蓝视频 gored by the knife of government cuts.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This may be where rural Saskatchewan should take notice of the cabinet changes.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Essentially what happened in last week鈥檚 cabinet shuffle was Wall replacing six cabinet members (including rural 小蓝视频s Don McMorris, Bill Boyd, Herb Cox and Nancy Heppner) with five different members (of which only Wood River鈥檚 David Marit is a truly rural 小蓝视频).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The government might argue that Bronwyn Eyre, the new Advanced Education Minister of Saskatoon-Stonebridge-Dakota, is a rural 小蓝视频, but that鈥檚 just silly.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As stated, this means the rural cabinet compliment is down to nine, which is still a slim majority, but one that doesn鈥檛 exactly reflect the ratio of rural 小蓝视频s in the government caucus.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Of course, such numbers are all relative to other factors.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For starters, some portfolios are more important, and major ministries like energy (where Dustin Duncan is now minister), health, (Jim Reiter), economy (Jeremy Harrison), government relations (Donna Harpauer), environment (Scott Moe) and, of course, (the Premier) are now all represented in the provincial cabinet by rural 小蓝视频s.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, some portfolios are also more important to rural residents than others. Besides key areas like the economy, energy and health, we still have Lyle Stewart in agriculture, former Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) president Marit in highways, and even Greg Ottenbreit in rural and remote health.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The fact that we still have this second health minister portfolio is a little surprising.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Asked to explain his reasons for dropping Jennifer Campeau (who had been the lone Indiginous member of his cabinet), Wall stressed that one less minister translates to a $450,000 saving (That saving consists of cabinet minister鈥檚 salary, the obligatory six political staffers, etc.).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As such, it can be argued that other demographics in the province like the First Nations community took a bigger hit than rural Saskatchewan did. It may even say a little about what this government considers as most important when it comes to portfolios.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Also, several rural 小蓝视频s received Legislative Secretary appointments, including Lori Carr (renewable resources and energy), Fred Bradshaw (environment and forestry), Hugh Nerlien (public service commission and public sector bargaining), Steven Bonk (economy) and Warren Kaeding (agriculture).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sure, it鈥檚 not a ministry, but it is the next best thing (even if it is unpaid). It is an added voice.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Finally, the old adage that all of us are just one step off the farm applies to cabinet as well.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So when you think of a good Blaine Lake-boy like Ken Cheveldayoff - who returns to cabinet as minister for Parks, Recreation and Culture - you don鈥檛 necessarily think of him as solely the representative of Saskatoon and Willowgrove.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Also compare the rural representation we now see in the Wall cabinet with the NDP cabinets in days of yore when there were only one to three rural ministers. There is no comparison.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But it is a tad strange how - like the rest of the province - the Saskatchewan Party government is becoming more urbanized.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Gone are rural stalwarts like Rod Gantefoer, Ken Krawetz, June Draude, Bob Bjornerud and now Boyd and McMorris.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That鈥檚 a lot of rural cabinet experience no longer in cabinet.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It is a bit of a hit.

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