Trickle-up politics

Saskatchewan's election campaign is officially underway, and so too is the Sask Party's campaign to transfer wealth upward as quickly as they can get away with. Just look at the numbers behind their supposed help for students:

Two programs are proposed.

One would give students graduating from high school up to $2,000 to use on tuition fees at any post-secondary institution or recognized training course in the province.

It would cost $4.6 million in the first year, the Sask. Party says.

The second program piggybacks on the federal Registered Education Savings Plan and would add 10 per cent to what parents are contributing, to a maximum of $250 a year.

The Saskatchewan Party says that program will cost around $11 million a year.

So a student whose parents can't afford to contribute to an RESP gets a grand total of $2,000 toward his or her education - an amount which is already less than the tuition increases caused by the Sask Party's decision to stop freezing tuition levels. Meanwhile, a student whose parents can afford to to max out their RESP contribution limits will receive up to a tidy $7,000 (plus returns on the RESP) - ensuring that those who need help the least get the most. And even the raw cost estimates involve substantially less than half as much funding for the universal benefit as for the one targeted toward wealthier families.

Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that Wall is governing for the benefit of the few. But the question is whether the many will recognize how they're being left behind.

[Edit: fixed wording.]