Friday 2 May 2008

Sask. Party government in the 'Hip Pocket' of business

An article in the May 2, 2008 edition of the Regina Leader-Post by James Wood reveals that the Sask. Party got a whopping $3.02 million in donations from Corporations during the 2007 fiscal year: (Sask. Party beats NDP in election fund raising).

The article is based on the annual reports of financial disclosure posted and now available on the Elections Saskatchewan web-site.

You can download a copy of the Sask. Party annual report here: SP 2007 Report
To compare, you can download a copy of the NDP's annual report here: NDP 2997 Report

CBC reports that RAWLCO gave the Sask. Party more than $100,000.00.

My favourite part of the Woods article is reproduced below:
"The financial documents come just weeks after the Saskatchewan Party accused the NDP of being puppets of organized labour for its reliance on union donations -- $165,999 in the 2007 documents.

University of Saskatchewan political scientist David McGrane said it was a dangerous argument for the Saskatchewan Party to make given its dominance in business money.

"It's easy to turn that around now and say the Saskatchewan Party is in the back pockets of the corporations ... like it's been said before, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," said McGrane with a laugh in an interview Thursday."

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I really don't think that this is much of a surprise for anyone. The Sask Party is openly more business friendly than the NDP. The difference lies in the fact that the Sask Party realizes that what is good for business is also good for the vast majority of Saskatchewan people.

Larry Hubich said...

Andrew,

Thank you for participating in this blog. In response to your comment:

What is good for people, is good business.

Ron Mullin said...

Larry....I am glad that you are now showing your true political feelings...no point trying to hide the fact that you are an NDP supporter....we all knew!

I would have to agree with Andrew that what's good for business is good for people for after all people don't create the jobs, they fill them...it's the business men/women who risk all to create the jobs for the people to fill.

For years Saskatchewan had depended on government job creation but those jobs don't produce value in the long term. It just adds more to your tax burden and God knows how bad that became in Saskatchewan.

A more balanced business/labour climate will produce more jobs overall and it should be good for your members in the long run....more jobs for all.

It appears that after many years of stagnation Saskatchewan is finally waking up....a more balanced labour climate can only aid in encouraging growth.....don't go into this period of growth with one hand tied behind your back because when it ends it may be a long time before another one comes.

Anonymous said...

Now this is humorous. 'After many years of stagnation', geez ron where ya been? Things were booming around here at least a year before the frat boys were elected.
What's good for business is good for people? What people would those be? Business people is the obvious answer. And business people rarely risk 'all'. Too often government is the first place they run to to get a bail out when the business plan turns out not to be lined with gold.
Seems obvious to me that the Sask Party frat boys are Big Businesses' Bitch, they are clearly seen that way by themselves and the companies that support them. Corporations ain't giving the frat boys that kind of money because Brad has a nice smile, are they?
That Rawlco gave them $100,000 fully explains why we still have to listen to that Sask Party apologist Gormley.
This so called 'balanced' labour legislation is in my opinion nothing but services for money spent by the members of the various business associations and their members.