Legislative Report, 14 October 2004

Although the NDP government will soon release the full details of how much it paid out to claimants in its out of court settlement in the SPUDCO case, the tale of the government’s failed potato venture is far from over. This week, the public will find out the exact amount of the SPUDCO settlement. NDP Minister Peter Prebble says taxpayers can expect to be on the hook for millions, and that’s on top of the almost $30 million they have paid out so far in losses ($28 million) and for the government’s legal fees ($1.2 million).

Once the NDP has made public what the settlement figure is, it is incumbent on Premier Lorne Calvert to hold a public inquiry into how the NDP’s potato venture out at Diefenbaker Lake could have gone so horribly wrong. If public policy makers don’t know what went wrong with SPUDCO, what’s to prevent such a disaster from happening again?

Taxpayers have a right to know who was responsible and what went wrong in the SPUDCO case. After all, the NDP government lied to the people of Saskatchewan for six years, claiming the SPUDCO deal was a ‘partnership,’ when in reality, it was 100 per cent government owned. As a result, the government exposed Saskatchewan taxpayers to maximum risk, and when the bottom fell out of SPUDCO, taxpayers were left with a $28 million loss. And even though Premier Calvert publicly apologized for misleading the people of Saskatchewan, his government has never fully accounted for how SPUDCO failed so miserably.

By settling out of court, the NDP government is able to escape any further public scrutiny in the SPUDCO affair. Taxpayers have paid far too much to let the NDP go without a full explanation as to exactly what went wrong. The NDP owes it to the people of Saskatchewan to hold a public inquiry into the SPUDCO case and to finally set the record straight. This inquiry should be headed by a judge from out-of-province and the inquiry must have full legal authority to call witnesses, including elected representatives such as the Premier himself.

Premier Calvert said he was committed to transparency and full accountability when he admitted the NDP lied to the people of this province. He can live up to his commitment if he holds an inquiry. If not, he is simply breaking his word to Saskatchewan people once again.

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