The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Lyle Stewart wants the Saskatchewan government to get out of the business of being in business. The problem is he canÕt find a way, as StewartÕs Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation must find a home for $150 million public dollars by the next election. This woeful tale begins with the NDP. In 2003, it decided to create Investment Saskatchewan (IS) to deal with government investment in private enterprises. Thus, IS inherited unenviable shares in SpudCo, MindÕs Eye, and the Meadow Lake Pulp Mill. At present, IS has its fingers in 40 different companies, with investments totaling $381.5 million. Nevertheless, some moves are pending. Stewart says itÕs as good a time as any to sell off its most valued asset Ð 49 per cent of shares in Sask Ferco. Buoyed by excellent profits, the fertilizer company gave the province a dividend of $31.6 million last year. Other ventures are harder to leave behind. In February, Stewart said he also wanted the province out of Big Sky Farms. In 2000, the province helped bankroll two hog barns at a cost of $15 million. By now, IS owns 62 per cent of Big Sky with $30.5 million equity in the company. Times have never been worse for the hog industry. High input costs and an oversaturated market pushed the provinceÕs number two hog producer, Stomp Farms, to file for bankruptcy protection. Big Sky Farms is, of course, the number one producer and enjoys the backing of the provincial treasury. Last year, IS committed another $3.7 million more to Big Sky Farms Ð though that money has yet to go to the company. Even if Big Sky can stay afloat without the extra cash, the existing taxpayer tab is bad enough. The federal government recently culled 10 per cent of the nationÕs breeding swine at a cost of $50 million. Our provincial government has further pledged $440,000 to process the hogs so the pork will go to food banks. While this gesture is noble, it only completes an unfortunate cycle where government invested in pig barns, flooded the market, paid for sows to be culled, and then to be processed. The only thing that stinks worse than pig barns is the failed legacy of government investment. LetÕs hope that after the next election, the Sask Party will get out of these ventures altogether.
