聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 For most of us, it鈥檚 an easy and simple solution to ask Saskatchewan public servants to do their part to tackle the province鈥檚 billion-dollar deficit.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But for Premier Brad Wall, it鈥檚 also a problem of his own making.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Consider the wages at SaskPower.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 According to the 2015 to 2016 Crown Payee Disclosure 鈥� the detailed spending report for our publicly own Crown corporations including wages 鈥� 1,797 of 3,777 SaskPower employees were earning more than $100,000 a year. The total payroll was $344.8 million in 2015 to 2016, so the average wage was $91,289 a year.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Just a decade or so earlier in 2004, there were only 164 SaskPower employees earning six figures a year, or an average of $73,509 per year.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So in about a decade, SaskPower payroll has nearly doubled and the average SaskPower wage has increased 24 per cent.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Of course, most of it occurred under Wall鈥檚 watch.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And it can be argued that SaskPower employees haven鈥檛 done nearly as well as other public servants like Saskatchewan鈥檚 registered nurses.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Notwithstanding the Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 introduction of its Essential Services legislation (later struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada) in 2008, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) was greeted by a 36 per cent or more wage increase over the next four years from the newly elected Wall government. Nurses鈥� contracts since have been more in line with the two or three per cent annual wage increases of SaskPower employees.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But you are getting the picture.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The last budget report of the NDP government in 2006 and 2007 had operating expenses of $7.7 billion, which was about $3.7 billion more than when the NDP took power 16 years earlier.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, according to the mid-year update for the 2016 and 2017 budget, government spending in a decade has doubled a $7 million increase in government spending to $14.7 million.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The political issue isn鈥檛 so much that employee wages make up 60 per cent of government spending, as Wall correctly observed in a series of year-end interviews with reporters.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The issue is that it was Wall鈥檚 government that was fully responsible for wages and government spending increasing even more rapidly in the past nine years than they were increasing under the previous administration.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 hope there鈥檚 goodwill and good faith on the part of provider unions and managers and people that work in the public service to realize that even what鈥檚 小蓝视频 paid right now might not be sustainable,鈥� Wall told The Canadian Press.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎t some point, I think we have to determine in the long-term interest of the province, do we engage in layoffs or rollbacks鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 always happen in government. Maybe we need to have that conversation and see if we can avoid what might be dramatic layoffs.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This is likely true. But can Brad Wall make the argument 鈥� in good faith 鈥� when it was his government negotiating these huge wage increases in the past decade?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In the case of the 2008 36 per cent increase given to the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, it was deemed an unnecessary move even at the time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, Wall has been even more generous in the wage increases he has paid to individuals on his own staff in the past decade, many of whom have seen fantastic increases in pay for nothing more than a change in job title.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And then there is the little matter of Wall increasing the legislative assembly by three more 小蓝视频s.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Credit Wall for acknowledging that he knows this move will be unpopular.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚鈥檓 not prepared to sort of kick this can down the road like provinces used to do in the 80s or even like some are doing today,鈥� he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But if layoffs or wage cuts are now necessary, they have been made necessary by Wall鈥檚 own decisions.
