Dear Editor
(An open letter to Premier Scott Moe)
With the financial upheaval we are going through, we are about to be gifted $500 each. This gift will be received by every Saskatchewan resident providing they have reached 18 years and above. Should we be happy or disappointed with this spending of Saskatchewan taxpayer dollars?
Your business has had a good year, your bank account is left with extra cash. In the world of free enterprise let me suggest the following options be considered:
• (Dividend) Pay down your debt; with the provincial debt being what it is, the prudent move, pay down the debt.
• (Dividend) Carry forward largess into the next tax year; use for operating the government of Saskatchewan. Having money carried forward from previous year would reduce need for high-level taxation. Reduce provincial tax levied on your citizens for a year.
• (Dividend) With a reduced need for a given amount of money, reduce the provincial sales tax a proportional amount for one year.
• Now, here’s one the elite have brought up for a long time; how about starting a reserve fund often referred to (special on the prairies) as a rainy-day fund?
Those are just some of the intelligent actions a businessperson would consider.
Now let’s look at this matter from the sitting members (called members of the legislature) point of view. In this case it’s so obvious what the member has in mind. How can we use this windfall to improve our chances of getting re-elected? When a government handout is tied to age 18 and beyond, they are blatantly buying your next vote. The liberal socialist tinge has permeated through the conservative ranks. Remember the marriage that created the Sask. Party, now masquerading as a business-friendly soiree but operating like the socialists they banded together to throw out of power to give us a better governmental approach.
In closing let me make it abundantly clear why this handout is an embarrassment to the average, intelligent-thinking Saskatchewanian.
An 18-year-old still in class in mama and daddy’s basement on social services payola has contributed zero to the provincial economy, but the only thing of importance to those keeping the chairs warm on Legislative Drive is their vote come next election. Ladies and gentlemen of the house, surely you have better to offer.
Harry Zamonsky
North Battleford
