Do You think Saskatchewan will be the next Alberta?

[A4Regina]

With the population going back up again, do you think Saskatchewan is starting its "alberta" type of boom?

[Xelebes]

Well it's being said that Saskatchewan will finally experience a greater economic gain than Alberta mostly because all the investment has been placed and people are holding off until investments become built and the sort. They're now looking at Saskatchewan because the money shakers are still looking for places to invest.

[Greco Roman]

And then once they are finished with both Alberta and Saskatchewan, they'll move right on into Manitoba; saving the best for last.

[ExcaliburKid]

Sask has just as much, if not more, oil as AB, but why no development? The only reason the pop. is increasing again, is ex Sask folks made their mint in AB, sold their half mil. homes, and returned to reap the cheap housing benefits back in the motherland. Thats my take, anyway, as an ignorant Albertan

[circle33]

/\ I think there is a bit more to it than that, but there is no doubt Alberta's bounty is playing a large role in the current Sask. boom.

[lubicon]

Sask will likely (and hopefully) continue to improve it's economy but I don't ting you will see growth like you do in Alberta. Despite it's abundant natural resources and potential there are a number of factors that will hold it back IMHO:

1. Rapidly aging population. The average age in Sask is greater than Alberta and growing older at a rapid rate. This is accelerated by the number of young people moving out (if this trend can be reduced or reversed it will help). This will put an ever increasing strain on social services (which are taxpayer funded) meaning higher and higher taxes as the proportion of population that is working shrinks and the financial burden is placed on fewer and fewer workers.

2. Relatively high First Nations population. I believe it's one of the highest per capita populations in Canada. Not to be too negative here but the unemployment rate if very high in this demographic and a lot of them are moving to the larger cities. As in example #1, they put an ever increasing strain on services while contributing very little to payig for these services.

3. The mindset of Sask just does not seem to be condusive to an Alberta style boom. It just seems that people there want to rely on the government to provide for them much more than in Alberta. There is less of an entrepeneurial spirit in Sask it seems. My in laws live there and ALL of them work for the Sask government and are quite happy to do so. One even quite a great private sector job to go work for SaskTel as she didn't like the fact that she had to work OT once in awhile.

I don't mean to paint everone in Sask with the same brush but it's how I see it in general.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Sask will likely (and hopefully) continue to improve it's economy but I don't ting you will see growth like you do in Alberta. Despite it's abundant natural resources and potential there are a number of factors that will hold it back IMHO:

1. Rapidly aging population. The average age in Sask is greater than Alberta and growing older at a rapid rate. This is accelerated by the number of young people moving out (if this trend can be reduced or reversed it will help). This will put an ever increasing strain on social services (which are taxpayer funded) meaning higher and higher taxes as the proportion of population that is working shrinks and the financial burden is placed on fewer and fewer workers.

2. Relatively high First Nations population. I believe it's one of the highest per capita populations in Canada. Not to be too negative here but the unemployment rate if very high in this demographic and a lot of them are moving to the larger cities. As in example #1, they put an ever increasing strain on services while contributing very little to payig for these services.

3. The mindset of Sask just does not seem to be condusive to an Alberta style boom. It just seems that people there want to rely on the government to provide for them much more than in Alberta. There is less of an entrepeneurial spirit in Sask it seems. My in laws live there and ALL of them work for the Sask government and are quite happy to do so. One even quite a great private sector job to go work for SaskTel as she didn't like the fact that she had to work OT once in awhile.

I don't mean to paint everone in Sask with the same brush but it's how I see it in general.

Replace the word "Saskatchewan" with "Manitoba" and 90% of what you say is also valid for Manitoba. It's all about the mindset of people and the demographics, especially the aging population and the natives.

Let's hope this changes soon.

[Mayor Quimby]

I hope, we never become like Alberta. Who wants another Texas in Canada, anyways ?

[1ajs]

lol quimby good point lol sask needs to be just sask and keep doing its thing....

[The Jabroni]

Haha, wow. I don't think Saskatchewan wouldn't be the next Alberta, but I don't doubt it either. It can surprise buttsecks all of us and explode into booming times just like Alberta for all we know. It does have the next best thing to oil, like Uranium or corn. There are markets for that too you know.

[Brokenhead]

If the world stops using oil and start using hydro and windpower Maniotba will be the King (possibly northern Quebec too).

But I do hope Saskatchewan and Manitoba ecomonies continues to grow.

[ReginaGuy]

Originally Posted by lubicon

3. The mindset of Sask just does not seem to be condusive to an Alberta style boom. It just seems that people there want to rely on the government to provide for them much more than in Alberta. There is less of an entrepeneurial spirit in Sask it seems. My in laws live there and ALL of them work for the Sask government and are quite happy to do so. One even quite a great private sector job to go work for SaskTel as she didn't like the fact that she had to work OT once in awhile.

Actually Saskatchewan has the highest rate of small business owners in Canada, per capita. Surprising, but true

[Rob D]

I've heard that Saskatoon considered to be one of 10 cities in North America under 500,000 population to watch out for regarding boom type growth. It is basically the transportation hub for Saskatchewan, on the doorstep to northern mining as far as services go, surrounded by potash mines, headquarters for the world's largest uranium company (Cameco), etc. Saskatchewan is rich in many minerals and a lot of those commodities are starting to climb significantly in value. Uranium is going to be a real hot commodity as China is looking for a secure source to supply several dozens of nuclear power plants that are under construction or being planned.

I can see Saskatchewan doing very well economically if the mindset of the province changes enough to let it happen. When I lived there it seemed a lot of people wanted government control of everything and some would even have liked walls around the province so to speak. Not too much looking at the big picture from what I recall. Saskatchewan absolutely has what it takes for major growth. I doubt you will see Alberta type growth necessarily, but then again believe me, I don't think you would want it to end up like it has here in Calgary. Way too much of a "good thing" IMO.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by ReginaGuy

Actually Saskatchewan has the highest rate of small business owners in Canada, per capita. Surprising, but true

Probably due to the amount of small towns littering the whole landscape with the lack of any major urban centre in the whole province.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

Probably due to the amount of small towns littering the whole landscape with the lack of any major urban centre in the whole province.

... and all the farmers are considered businesses....

Yet an NDP government??

Saskatchewan has more government than any other province. Sasktel is even still government corp .. come on guys the 80's are over.

Sask needs a good pro-business govenment. That would really help the local business community to develop and expand.
.

[CCF]

Originally Posted by newflyer

... and all the farmers are considered businesses....

Yet an NDP government??

Saskatchewan has more government than any other province. Sasktel is even still government corp .. come on guys the 80's are over.

Sask needs a good pro-business govenment. That would really help the local business community to develop and expand.
.

Yeah...a pro-business government like Devine and the Conservatives.

No thanks.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by CCF

Yeah...a pro-business government like Devine and the Conservatives.

No thanks.

Grant Devine was a socialist wearing a blue tie. He loved Big Government. He built a bunch of fancy new government builings you will know better as downtown Regina.

No I mean one which will look to expand the economy.. and reduces governemnt waste.

[Dalreg]

I'll stick with what we currently have thank you. If I wanted the stress of working huge hours to pay for an over priced box, I would move to Calgary.

I would like a FOURTH option on the poll. None of the above/other.

Because I honestly HOPE it doesn't turn into the next Alberta.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by Dalreg

I'll stick with what we currently have thank you. If I wanted the stress of working huge hours to pay for an over priced box, I would move to Calgary.

I would like a FOURTH option on the poll. None of the above/other.

Because I honestly HOPE it doesn't turn into the next Alberta.

Alberta is a oil dependant economy .. I'd vote no thanks too.

But to suggest that having a strong economy means working longer hours you don't know what you are talking about.

People who work with big oil get more days off than you'd imagine. Last year I knew many companies who gave many employees fridays off... and most offer an extra week of holidays to attract workers. Hours worked is really an industry specific issue. Since Saskatchewan really does have many large corporations , you must have fallen for some untrue stories.

No a stronger economy generally just means higher wages and retaining population. Paying off the debt is also a big deal as well. Saskatchewan pays plenty in debt charges, which could be used in other ways.

[newflyer]

In order for Sask to be anything like AB it must imbrace the free market system. Something it seems very threatened to do.

Maybe its the fear of working too many hours.