Privatizing a Province

Paul G. Thomas is a professor of Political Studies at the University of
Manitoba.

According to the co-authors of this valuable book, the Devine
government’s two terms since 1982 have involved a dramatic shift
toward a neo-conservative ideology and agenda in a province with
Canada’s strongest tradition of social democracy. Reflecting the
province’s difficult economic circumstances and a preference for
market solutions, the Devine government set out to dismantle the
government’s role in economic and social development. The private
sector would be the main, if not the sole, engine of growth. Crown
corporations would be privatized, department services would be
contracted out, the rights of trade unions in both the private and
public sectors would be withdrawn or restricted, and “workfare”
would replace welfare. All these changes were launched with considerable
ideological fervor, which was linked to the social conservatism of the
new Christian Right, sometimes known as the Moral Majority. While the
Conservatives promised greater efficiency in government, many of the
initiatives were tainted by corruption, patronage, and an undermining of
the parliamentary accountability. To say that the Devine revolution is
permanent would be premature, the authors conclude, but they acknowledge
that Saskatchewan’s political centre shifted to the right during the
1980s, to the point where the New Democrats were forced to downplay
their commitment to public ownership.

The authors, who clearly support the earlier social democratic
tradition of Tommy Douglas, did not set out to write a balanced
treatment of the Devine record. Sources for the book appear to have been
mainly newspaper clippings. They might have produced a more devastating
critique had they dealt directly with the claims the Devine government
made in official documents and glossy promotional material.