Thanks to Paige Shaw (née Hoglund) for passing this article my way:

So long, Saskatchewan

Monday, 13 September 2004
Kevin Steel

Stephanie Christensen carried the holy water at the headof theprocession, as the congregation walked up the hill fromthe church tothe graveyard. About 300 people, travelling from allover, hadgathered to celebrate the centennial of Our Lady Queenof Peace, apicturesque Polish Catholic church smack in the middleof the prairie,about 10 kilometres from the nearest town, Alvena, 50kilometresnortheast of Saskatoon. A slight breeze whipped up thesmell of theripening alfalfa from the fields encircling thechurchyard. The walkup to the graveyard from the red-and-whitetent--temporarily erectedbehind the old white building to shelter the travellersfrom the hotmidday sun--concluded the religious service with thishonouring oftheir departed ancestors, by sprinkling the holy wateron their finalresting places.

The 30-year-old Christensen travelled here this mid-Julyweekend withher husband, Darren, 32, from their home in Calgary, tohelp a livingancestor, her father, Al, who organized the event, byacting as analtar server during the liturgy and to take tickets atthe door forthe banquet in the Alvena community hall that evening.

It was a homecoming for Stephanie, the banquetespecially, as friendsand relations got reacquainted over a lavish meal, thesort ofrib-sticking country feast that churchgoing folks seemparticularlysuited to cooking up: roast beef with gravy, perogieswith sour cream,fried chicken with mushroom sauce, vegetable salads,casseroles anddesserts in abundance. Both the Christensens were raisedinSaskatchewan: Stephanie on a farm a few miles from thechurch, andDarren pretty much all over the province, following hisfather'scareer with the Federated Co-op. Both were glad to behome again, ifonly for the weekend. They just wish they could staylonger.

The couple readily admit that if they had theirdruthers, they'd comeback. It won't be long, they say, before they starthaving kids andthey'd love to be nearer to their relatives, and givetheir kids thesame sort of upbringing they had. "I probably could goback toSaskatchewan," says Stephanie, who has a business degreefrom theUniversity of Saskatchewan and works as a productmanager withBrenntag Canada Inc. "I definitely would take a pay cutand the taxesare way higher." The housing's cheaper, she says. "Butis there roomto move up in Saskatoon? How do I advance? How do Iclimb thecorporate ladder? There is no corporate ladder inSaskatchewan."

Her husband, Darren, is a design specialist with EvansConsolesCorporation. The Calgary company makes control rooms forlargeindustry and recently completed work for NASA, settingup the room atHouston Control from where they will monitor the nextspace shuttlemission. There is nothing comparable in Saskatchewan."What I do isbasically drafting, so I could move into piping or Icould move intocivil engineering," he says. "So if we were coming backhere, itdefinitely would be a career change in terms ofdirection."

As the couple started out on the 650- kilometre driveback to Calgary,they stopped at a fair in Saskatoon and bought a ticketto win a dreamhome. "If someone wants to give us a house, then we'dmove back, like,now," Darren says. "You have a few more options if youdon't have amortgage payment."

Unless their lucky number comes up, the Christensenswill remain amongthe many who have decamped Saskatchewan for greenerpastures. Lastyear, 4,223 more individuals left the province thanmoved there. Nextdoor in Alberta, meanwhile, there were 40,000 more newarrivals thandepartures. This year, Saskatchewan's population dippedbelow amillion for the first time since 1981. The province isbleeding todeath.

Saskatchewan was once one of the largest provinces inCanada. AfterOntario and Quebec, the nation's breadbasket was theplace to be,until it peaked in 1931, when 921,785 souls lived there.Then came adecade of economic ruin and drought--the GreatDepression, the "DirtyThirties"--and then things got really bad. In theforties, votersstarted electing socialist-style governments. Thepopulation hasflatlined ever since.

But it's not just the large number of people that areleaving, it'sthe type of people who are leaving. The young, theskilled, the highlyeducated; it's the wage earners who are looking for abetter life. Theprovincial government's own out-migration figures showthat by far thelargest demographic exiting are those between 24 and 29.More thanhalf of all outward migration consists of individualsbetween the agesof 15 and 40. Retirees and those soon to be retireddon't mindstaying. It's just that there are fewer and fewerworkers to pay thetaxes that will cover their pensions and their risingmedicare bills.

For many of the young people who haven't yet left, itmay just be amatter of time. "It's pretty much all we talk about,"says AlexAdolph, a 22-year-old civil engineering graduate fromthe Universityof Saskatchewan. "Every Saturday we scan the employmentsection of thepaper, looking for a job so we can stay here." For thetime being,she's working the summer as a receptionist at the ElkRidge Resort, aworld-class golf course situated in the tall aspenforests nearWaskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park. "But thejobs justaren't here," she says. "And the ones that are here, alot of them aregovernment positions, highways and that." Adolph wantsto get intostructural engineering. "No one is building anything inSaskatchewan,"she says, "And the few that do build, hire engineeringfirms fromCalgary anyway." In the fall, Adolph is heading toAlberta's biggestcity, a trip that's quickly become an annual traditionamongSaskatchewan's graduating class. Last year, a clothingstore near theuniversity promoted a sale using the slogan: "Look goodwhen you getto Alberta."

John Gormley, a talk-radio host on Saskatoon's CKOM anda formerProgressive Conservative MP, calls it the doughnuteffect. "There's agreat big hole in the middle," he says, referring to thegeneration ofworkers leaving the old and the young behind.Saskatchewan has one ofhighest proportions of kids under the age of 19 inCanada, along withfolks over 65 years of age. "It's almost like aDiaspora," saysGormley. "There are a couple of hundred thousand peoplein Calgaryfrom Saskatchewan easily, and Saskatoon has 225,000."

It's not uncommon, of course, for young people to wanderfrom home insearch of a little worldliness. "But the point was, whenyou wereready to have your babies and settle down, hopefully youwere able tocome home and then import what you've learned from yourexperienceabroad," says Gormely. "It just pains me to no end thatthey decide tohave their children and buy their real estate and setdown their rootsin Alberta. Because once you have children and set downroots, it'smuch harder to move back."

But without economic growth, Saskatchewan's productivegenerationfaces the same problem as the Christensens--in order tomove here,they have to sacrifice their careers. "And," saysGormely, "the NDPjust doesn't get it on growth."

For proof of that, one needn't look far--just a fewhundred mileswest. In 1905, Saskatchewan and Alberta were cut out ofthe sameprovisional district of the North-West Territories, andwere made intoprovinces at the same time. They both enjoyed steadygrowth for thenext few decades. Saskatchewan even outpaced Albertamore often thanthe other way around. After the economic devastation oftheDepression, voters in both provinces elected populist,anti-capitalistgovernments. And, in both provinces, the charge was ledby fiery,prairie preachers: William "Bible Bill" Aberhart ledAlberta's SocialCredit party to a landslide victory in 1935, taking 56out of 63seats. In Saskatchewan, T.C. (Tommy) Douglas and theCo-operativeCommonwealth Federation (CCF) took power nine yearslater.

But Alberta's dalliance with centrally planned economiesdied withAberhart, when he expired in office in 1943. Thepolicies of SocialCredit--which included extravagant plans to create anAlbertancurrency and pay Albertans a guaranteed wage of $25 amonth fornecessities, among others--never took hold. But a fewhundredkilometres east, Douglas, and the CCF's socialism,endured. The partywould rule for 20 more years, even after Douglas himselfleft theprovince for federal politics in 1961. There has beenthe oddcaretaker government, but the CCF--which merged with biglabour in theearly sixties and was rebranded as the NDP--is, withouta doubt,Saskatchewan's natural governing party. It has ruled forno fewer than44 of the 60 years that have passed since Douglas wasfirst elected.

In that time, the NDP has created a plethora of Crowncorporations andco-operatives. Every Canadian knows that Douglas was thehero ofnationalized medicine. But take the same economicprinciples that havemade medicare a growing and uncontrollable burden on thenational taxbase, and imagine them infecting every corner of what,in mostprovinces, might be more appropriately called theprivate sector.That's Saskatchewan. The province directly ownscompanies in the watermanagement business, electricity, grain production,natural gasproduction and distribution, insurance, banking,livestock breeding,telecommunications and even information technology. Itis a wholesalerof consumer goods and has even competed in the retailsector with itsSaskatchewan Government Trading, set up to compete withHudson's Bayin the fifties, to ensure citizens could get a fairprice when they'reshopping. The government has tried its hand runningresourcedevelopment companies that harvest the province's richstocks ofpotash, uranium, forest products and petroleumupgrading. It is, forall intents and purposes, an economy planned in Regina.

Today, Alberta has more than three million people--threetimes thepopulation of Saskatchewan. But the NDP continues to winelectionsthere.

Geographical determinists invariably argue thatAlberta's wealth is astroke of luck. That it is well situated and has oil andgas inabundance. But, as it turns out, the oil and gas do notstop at thefourth meridian. Saskatchewan has equal, if not greaterreserves offossil fuels and other resources than its westernneighbour. Itsupplies 20 per cent of the country's oil and gas. It'salso beenblessed with the largest potash reserves in theworld--attractingbuyers from as far away as the Middle East--as well asthe largesturanium deposits. Recently, the world's largestkimberlite deposits(the volcanic rock that carries diamonds to the earth'ssurface) wereuncovered directly east of Prince Albert. And there's areason theflag of Saskatchewan is yellow on the bottom and greenon top,symbolizing the tremendous agricultural lands that formthe southernhalf of the province--the breadbasket of Canada--and theforestednorthern half, with timber resources that easily rivalAlberta's insize.

Despite all of its untapped wealth, and despite thegovernment'scontinual claim that they have a balanced budget, theprairiesocialist stronghold maintains its position as ahave-not province inConfederation, on the receiving end of half-a-billiondollars inequalization payments from Ottawa every year, proppingup badgovernment policy decisions that keep the economy fromachievingself-sufficiency.

"The political structure in Saskatchewan just hasn'tbeen promotingthe province for the last 40 years," says Dennis Mainil,owner ofJerry Mainil Ltd., an oilfield construction andmaintenance companyfounded in 1961 by his father. "And the corporate taxstructure justisn't conducive to letting business grow." Over the lastfew years, afew resource development firms managed to get Regina'sOK to begindeveloping the Weyburn oilfield and other areas alongthe southernedge of the province. "The oil and gas money has openedthe eyes ofsome young voters," says Mainil, referring to the lastprovincialelection in which the NDP managed a bare majority of oneseat over theconservative Saskatchewan Party, thanks to their supportin thecities. "The rural areas are trying to grow but theurban areas justkeep knocking us down," Mainil says.

Jason Clemens, fiscal policy director at the FraserInstitute, aVancouver-based, free market think-tank, says that thislate in thegame only three things will save Saskatchewan fromitself. The first,not surprisingly, is some fiscal discipline."Saskatchewan needs tocut spending; not freeze it, not slow it down," Clemenssays. Lastyear, Saskatchewan spent $8,000 per capita--27 per centmore thanOntario and just four per cent less than Quebec. Withspending cutsmust come tax cuts, says Clemens, especially oncorporate tax, whichhas to be competitive with neighbouring provinces.Currently,Saskatchewan's effective corporate tax is 36.6 per cent,the highestin the country.

Business is also scared off by the fact thatSaskatchewan has thesecond most rigid set of labour laws in all of NorthAmerica, just abit more liberal than Quebec. "Saskatchewan has one ofthe worst jobcreation rates over the last five years in all of NorthAmerica," saysClemens. If the province has any hope, he adds, it needsemployers towant to hire people.

Finally, like Alberta before it--though to a much moreseriousdegree--Regina must get out of the business of being inbusiness.Crown corporations make up at least 12 per cent of theeconomydirectly, and still much more through the CrownInvestmentCorporation, which holds equity stakes in myriadprivate-sectorenterprises that are not listed as government owned."You look at allthe literature worldwide, whether it is in developingcountries ormodern countries, and what you see consistently is thatgovernment-owned businesses underperform their marketequivalents interms of job creation, in terms of investment rate,productivity andso on," says Clemens.

But, unlike in Alberta, there just isn't the politicalwill currentlyto whittle down Saskatchewan's bloated government. Manyresidents havedeveloped a taste for it. But unless it happens soon,the entireprovince will continue to collapse under its own weightas itstruggles to keep up with rising expenditures and ashrinking taxbase. "In the last budget in Saskatchewan, theyincreased taxes andthey increased spending and the outflow of workers andyoung peoplecontinues," Clemens says. Saskatchewan has the secondworst dependencyratio in the country--the number of non-taxpayers versustaxpayers.The rising cost of corporate tax will not only keepinvestment away,it will actually drive businesses out. "And you get to apositionwhere those who are in the province are looking at aneconomic basethat can't sustain the programs that are actuallysubsidizing them,"says Clemens. Time is running out. With enough time,Regina will beable to implement changes more gradually, over four orfive years, andinvest in areas that might help citizens and workersdisplaced in theprocess. If not, when the breaking point arrives,internationalmarkets will immediately slash Saskatchewan's bondrating and theprovince will suddenly find itself unable to borrowmoney. After that,says Clemens, "you have to do it in six months, nomatter who youdisplace."

Mark Langefeld has a lot of reason to be upset withSaskatchewan'sgovernment. In the late 1990s, the former wildcatterstarted up theLake Diefenbaker Potato Corp. to cultivate tubers in theareas ofOutlook and Cutbank, approximately 100 kilometressouthwest ofSaskatoon along the Diefenbaker Reservoir. AfterSaskWater, theCrown-owned water utility that was spearheading theproject, failed tofind any investors to pay for the promisedpotato-storage facilities,growers like Langefeld went bankrupt. The province lost$28 million,and Langefeld and 70 other claimants are suing for over$100 millionmore in damages.

But instead of pointing the finger at politicians,Langefeld says helays the blame for all the province's messes at the feetof voters,who, he says, get the government they deserve. "No onein thisprovince really likes to see anyone get ahead," he says."They wanteverybody to be in the same shit pile. And from that,any of youryouth or any of your 30- to 40-year-old people who tryto really breakahead and become entrepreneurial, they are reallycrucified in thesesmall towns and distrusted. If anyone makes any money,theyimmediately think skulduggery."

The spring provincial budget only cemented inLangefeld's mind howstubborn and small-minded the majority of his fellowcitizens are.Little, if any, investment was put aside for educationand jobcreation. There was, however, a meagre plan to cut somespendingthrough the closure of 90 hospital beds provincewide."It amounted toa miniscule amount of money," he says. "But, wow, wasthat ever aproblem. It was in the news, people were out signingpetitions."Ultimately, he concludes, his neighbours "are veryself-servingpeople. Regardless of how they say they arecompassionate andopen-hearted with their money, they are greedy. Theydon't care whattheir kids are inheriting here. They don't care thatthey have nojobs. All they care about is that they've got their damnmedicare andtheir status quo."

He says it's that sort of mentality in the provincethat's driving thenext generation away, as much as the lack ofopportunity. "The kidssee right through it, and they leave because they justdon't want togrow up being that way," he says. He has three sons, allof them offin different parts of the country at college. They won'tbe comingback, says Langefeld, except to visit.

"Young people like change, and Saskatchewan has beenunable to come togrips with change," says Garnet Garven, who is dean ofthe businessfaculty at the University of Regina, but likes to jokethat he's inthe export business, since so many of his graduatesleave. "When theprovince can't even consider changing its time [mostSaskatchewanianshave resisted the switch to Daylight Savings in summerfor decades]it's difficult to overcome bold experiments. Governmentis tryinghere, but their solutions are created in the old modelsof constrainedand planned growth. They are trying to show there areopportunities inco-ops, they create short-term employment, but unlessyou have avibrant economy, you can't afford to do that."

Back at the Elk Ridge resort, where Alex Adolph, theyoung engineeringstudent, was spending the summer, biding her time beforepacking upand moving to Calgary, the owner, Arne Petersen, is oneof the few whohave come back to Saskatchewan. And he's discoveringwhy. The resortbusiness is something of a second career for the67-year-old Petersen,born in Wadena, Sask., who made his money manufacturingoriented-strand board in Edmonton and Macon, Ga. In hisautumn years,with a wealth of experience and some seed capital,Petersen has comeback to invest in his home province, help build theeconomy, createsome jobs and, with any luck, make a little money doingit.

His resort boasts 18 beautifully kept holes of golf,with another nineunder construction, a clubhouse, a pro shop and afirst-classrestaurant. There are condo rentals available, and areashave been setaside where large, privately owned vacation homes arebeing built.Alberta Premier Ralph Klein dropped by in August 1998,following theFirst Ministers Conference in Saskatoon, for a fewrounds of golf.Afterward, Klein, in one of his famously expansivemoods, threw hisarms around Petersen and asked, "Arne, why the helldidn't you buildthis in Alberta?" Says Petersen: "I told him I wish Iwould have."

From the start, he says, his project has been tangled upin red tape,held up by bureaucrats who took as long as two years togive him thepermission he needed for certain projects.

"And Saskatchewan certainly has a lot of bureaucrats,"Petersen jokes."I think if they hire another ten of them, the NDP willnever loseanother election."

Petersen had big plans for the resort. A 78-room,five-star hotel ison the agenda, as well as a 6,500-room spa and 64 morehotel-stylecondos with underground parking. "The Fairmont Group [theToronto-based luxury hotel chain] has been veryinterested in ElkRidge, and I wanted them as a partner," Petersen says."If thegovernment would have changed in the last election, theyprobablywould be partnering with me right now. But they justdidn't like thesocialist government."

Petersen says that, despite the impossiblecircumstances, he's goingto stick it out. That sort of vision andentrepreneurship isn't rareamong Saskatchewanians, it's just rare among those whohappen to livehere. For the rest, life's too short and there's justtoo much waitingfor them a few hours west on Highway 1.

Anyone who's driven that route--across the fourthmeridian, away fromRegina and towards Calgary--knows that it's a verydifferent road thattakes you out of the province than the one that takesyou in. Bothprovinces have twinned the TransCanada, but theeastbound trafficdrives over what used to be the old single-lane highway,and the roadwasn't properly repaired on the Saskatchewan side whenit went double.A large, unsightly and unsafe crack runs for miles downthe centre.Heading west, the double lane is new and the road issmooth and even.As you drive it, it doesn't take long to realize thatit's a loteasier to leave Saskatchewan than it is to go back.

I read this article as someone who loves Saskatchewan, someone who grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and would like nothing better than to live there for the rest of my life. I also read this article as a young, educated professional who cannot find work in his home province.

The article contains a lot if implicit bias towards capitalism. You can see that it measures a province's success by how many people it has and what kind of business opportunities are available. A lot of the things it highlights as a problem (like a lower population), are things that I value when compared with a busy metropolis like New York or Toronto. By the same token, it's obvious that these things are hurting the province and its people, and are driving people like me who want to stay in the province away.

Is what we generally refer to as "capitalism" better than what we generally refer to as "socialism", or vice-versa? I don't have a definitive answer to that question. What I can tell you is that for the last 70-odd years, the people of Saskatchewan have given a mandate to the NDP (a socialist party) to control the province's government and its direction. I can also tell you that a majority of both the people I grew up with and the people I went to university with have moved away from Saskatchewan, because while there are certainly reasons to leave, there are simply not enough reasons to stay.