On choice giveaways

There's been plenty worth criticizing about Scott Moe's combination of laughable demands of the federal government and refusal to take responsibility for anything his government is doing at home. But let's take note of yet another example of the Saskatchewan Party's fanatical focus on freebies for resource exploiters with no regard for anybody else:

The new document also includes at least one instance of the government walking back a decision made in the deeply unpopular 2017-18 budget — the choice to reinstate a $14-million provincial sales tax exemption for mining exploration and downhole drilling.

Of course, it was in that same budget that the PST was also added to construction - a move which continues to affect the ability of anybody in Saskatchewan to build literally anything. But any development of homes or businesses is apparently well down Moe's priority list compared to giveaways for oil drilling.

It was also the 2017 budget which shuttered STC. Concidentally, that required provincial grants of just under $14 million to help people and goods move all around the province - which is also apparently far less of a concern for Moe's Sask Party than handing subsidies to oil and mining conglomerates.

And the many other sectors which have seen direct harm from the Saskatchewan Party's cuts and choices - from film to restaurants to renewable energy - are still being told there's nothing for them. But the dying fossil fuel sector continues to be showered with incentives.

In other words, Jason Kenney isn't the only premier treating economic diversification as a negative while actively trying to become even more dependent on volatile resource prices. And the fact that resource exploitation is once again being given priority over people's well-being should confirm that nothing's going to change for the better until the Saskatchewan Party is ousted from power.