Essential Services

I've said it before, but it's a point I think bears repeating: the Sask Party is an unholy alliance of hard-line Conservatives with a bunch of blue Liberals. Wall is trying very hard to keep the soft and chewy Liberal face on his party for the public's benefit, but after being sidelined for 16 years, the hard, crunchy Conservatives are spoiling for a fight; they want action, dammit, and they want it now.

So, to keep his party from breaking apart before reaching the ultimate goal of kicking the NDP out of power, Wall has had to make some assurances to his hard-line supporters: we'll privatize industry, we'll cut social services, we'll bust those unions. Just give us your vote and relax. And knowing they couldn't win government on that platform, they've had to tuck those hard, crunchy parts away, fooling the public into thinking the Sask Party was soft and chewy all the way through.

Unfortunately, some of those nuts he's hidden are starting to show through.

In a media scrum earlier this week, Rob Norris politely give the answer "I'll have to get back to you on that" to the question, "What groups have you consulted with over this proposed essential services legislation?" Of course we found out later that the answer was none, because, as Norris again so nicely explained, the legislation has been in the works for over a year -- without any kind of stakeholder

I'm sure SUN is going to be pretty happy about this.

So how about another round of applause for Rob Norris, who's too stupid to brief himself on his portfolio and too stupid not to release more of the Sask Party's hidden agenda to the media.

There's a long list of people talking about Wall's and McMorris's backpedaling on this issue, in addition to articles in the Leader-Post, CBC, and the Canadian Press -- hell, even Mandryk chimed in with something negative -- so I don't think I can break any new ground. But communication is clearly lacking in the Sask Party caucus right now -- partly because of inexperience, partly because of incompetence, and partly because there are simply too many secrets they need to keep.

Labour is on the Agenda

Session starts again on Dec. 10, and Wall has already said Labour is on the agenda. His need to get this out of the way so soon means something is in the works. So much for Larry Hubich's request for compromise:

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich said he'll be looking to the government to consult broadly before any changes are made, adding the labour movement is prepared to be respectful and "engage in compromises."

"If that's the approach that the new government wants to take then I think they'll see a favourable response from the labour movement," Hubich said, who has written the premier to request a meeting between labour leaders and cabinet.

"If they're not interested in that approach, then they shouldn't be surprised at the kind of response that might ensue."
(Leader-Post, Nov. 23)

No Larry, they're clearly not interested in that approach. Barely a month after the election and they're already going into session? Who could they have possibly consulted?

What's more concerning than their clear agenda to change the labour laws is the hidden agenda Rob Norris lets out of the bag:

When asked about the planned changes to labour legislation, Norris said there is a need to "rebalance relationships."

But the minister said he couldn't detail which relationships or the changes that need to occur until he was more fully briefed about his new portfolio.
(Leader-Post, Nov. 23)

Rob is clear that there's a need to rebalance the relationship between labour and management, but he apparently doesn't know where or what that imbalance is. If he's saying this just to toe the party line on labour, then he's an idiot. If he shed some more light on the Sask Party's hidden agenda, which is more likely, then he's an idiot and a liar.