On top-down communication

It's noteworthy enough that after the spring session of the Legislature, the Sask Party government felt the need to go back to the drawing board with a new - or at least reworded - set of mandate letters. And I'm not inclined to allow the Wall government to change the subject from its own incompetence (and the resulting movement for change) for too long.

But there are a few points from the mandate letters that themselves speak volumes about the Wall government's warped priorities. And I'll take the opportunity to highlight a few that stand out.

For now, let's take a look at one of the tasks found in the letter to Wall's own deputy minister, Doug Moen:

Facilitating coordination and delivery of all government communications by providing effective strategic direction and implementing a new organization model that better aligns ministry communications activities to the Executive Council.

Now, I'm not aware of anybody in Saskatchewan expressing concern that Wall wasn't quite controlling enough, or that the province needed more top-down messaging. But the instruction to Moen seems to signal that after a session where his government has been rightly slammed for refusing to consult or communicate with Saskatchewan citizens, Wall is doubling down on a Harper-style system where his office strictly limits what the rest of the government says and does. And it's doubtful that either the ministries or the people who deal with them will appreciate the move toward centralized control.