On politicized decisions

Murray Mandryk is right to point out that the Wall government is injecting a massive amount of politics into the dealings of potash companies in Saskatchewan, handing a massive subsidy to Mosaic even as it calls for a review of a possible takeover of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan by BHP Billiton. But it's worth noting that its meddling was entirely predictable.

Keep in mind that the Sask Party has set an explicit goal of fabricating a "visible culmination" of its plans to cater to big business. And Mosaic is the first company mentioned by name in that effort:

A list of final investment decisions...in 2010 and 2011 includes:
* Accelerate the final Head Office decision of Mosaic Corporation...

And that decision has indeed been accelerated - by a handout of tens of millions of dollars to an already-profitable corporation. Which makes this the most glaring example yet of the Wall government not only picking winners and losers, but showering public money on the former. And that in turn makes the decision to then hire a Sask Party-friendly consultant to make sure that the selected loser isn't even allowed to play something less than surprising.

Of course, there are also legitimate reasons to want the PCS takeover to be thoroughly reviewed based on the question of whether a takeover is actually in Canada's best interests. But the Sask Party has already made it clear that its top priority is instead the insistence on holding Brad Wall's choice of photo ops before the 2011 election regardless of how much cost there is to the public. And that narrow short-term focus ensures that in the long run, it's the citizens of Saskatchewan who will lose out.

(Edit: fixed wording.)