MIKE CUTHBERTSON
News Writer

A recent Canadian Union of Public Employees poll of Saskatchewan residents found strong support for increasing minimum wages and reducing taxes on the poor. The poll also showed major support for increasing royalty rates on resource companies that move their head offices out of Saskatchewan.

Nearly four out of five respondents supported increased royalty rates. It seems as though the people of Saskatchewan know we are a resource-rich province and that we have just begun to tap the vast potential of our resources. Yet such wealth is threatened by foreign investors who already comprise a large share of the market.

Last year saw Brazilian mining company Vale looking to develop in the province. Likewise, Potash One had many of its properties purchased by a German firm last year. The most notable of these takeovers came in August, when Australian company BHP Billiton attempted to purchase PotashCorp, the world’s highest-capacity potash producer, for $40 billion.

CUPE Saskatchewan president Tom Graham believes the poll echoes this sentiment that “most residents believe resource companies need to contribute more to Saskatchewan’s economy,” stated Graham.

Nevertheless, the Saskatchewan people do not have authority over how foreign companies operate and are directed. It remains up to shareholders of companies like PotashCorp and the federal government to green-light foreign buy-outs.

Graham also notes there is “little public support for massive tax breaks for these highly profitable companies.”

Take for example Minnesota-based Mosaic Company, which last year received $11.6 million in tax breaks for developing potash mines in Saskatchewan. These breaks are meant to encourage growth in the businesses so that capital will trickle down to the Saskatchewan people at large.

A majority of respondents to the CUPE poll agreed with the statement “The government is not doing enough to ensure that, while our economy grows, Saskatchewan remains affordable for ordinary families.”

Along these lines, 71.9 per cent of respondents supported the government raising Saskatchewan’s minimum wage from $9.25 an hour, the minimum rate for the past two years. Saskatchewan’s minimum wage is competitive with the other prairie provinces. Alberta’s minimum wage is only $8.80 while Manitoba’s is $9.50.

Furthermore, in 2007 the provincial government promised to bring the minimum wage more into alignment with the cost of living. However, resource driven wealth appears to be unevenly distributed between companies and the poor, or public perception, at least, is that. The results of the poll reveal that Saskatchewan’s economic growth is not being felt by everyone.

To come into line with public opinion, the provincial government needs to acknowledge skepticism of foreign investors, and benefit the poorer segments of the population with tax cuts and wage increases.

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image: Ishmael N. Daro