Credit where credit is due

Credit where credit is due.

The article from the Globe and Mail speaks very highly about the turnaround of Saskatchewan's economy and the current boom that it is experiencing. There are, however, detractors, pointing to the rising costs of housing and consumer goods as more and more people come here to work and live. These detractors give credit to the NDP for laying the groundwork of this boom, however they place blame for all of the social ills squarely on the Saskatchewan Party. Clearly, there needs to be credit placed where credit is due.

It is true that the NDP laid the groundwork of the current boom by making changes to the tax and oil royalty structures. This would seem to lead one to believe that it is a given that tax cuts regardless of how they are done are a good thing. Leave us be honest though, that the NDP would not have made these changes if they didn't have the Saskatchewan Party breathing down their necks in the polls. The income tax changes came as a result of the Vicq Commission and followed many other provinces in Canada. The royalty changes took a page out of the Saskatchewan Party's own playbook, as did the PST cuts in 2006. Yes, that is right folks, the NDP implemented these ideas from across the aisle not because they thought they were a good idea, but in order to hold onto power in the following provincial election.

Of course, more credit where credit is due - the NDP ruled 75% of the time during an 80 year period where the population of the province remained relatively stagnant and the resources of the province remained largely under utilized, and the labour laws allowed unions to tighten their grip over many sectors of the economy.

After all, let's give credit where credit is due.