Saskatchewan Becomes a Have Province

Hi guys, I've been avoiding you since you all became so agreeable last fall I had no one to argue with.

But now I need to clear some things up.

First of all, Saskatchewan's population is on the rebound, in part to the booming economy. So read the Leader-Post and keep up to date with your facts.

I'm not much of a G.W.Bush fanbut thanks to his f-ed up war the price of oil has made my little province a HAVE province.

Rev is right, if we can get a good buck for our cattle and our wheat this year we will out pace every other province's economy (besides Alberta).

THIS IS INTRESTING - I was at a Saskatchewan Party rally in some ritzy location in downtown Saskatoon a month or two ago and Brad Wall, the leader of the Saskatchewan Party clearly stated that this economic boom has "nothing" to do with NDP government's policies.

Apparently this is just a freakish occurrence, so don't give any credit to the 4 term NDP government. I was actually laughing at this point and wondering why Brad sends me these $150/plate tickets for free. It's tough to criticize a government that has turned our dirt poor province into a money machine. Great shrimp cocktail though, huge tiger shrimp. Thanks Brad.

I was also at the premier's dinner last month. I'm not a big fan of Calvert (doesn't he look like Martin Short) but he truly seems to believe in what he is saying. He's actually a religious minister of some sort, so its hard to dislike the little guy. The second place Canadian Idol Theresa Sequorka (whatever) was there. Now that she actually has two eyebrows she actually sounds a lot better to me.

Anyways, this AVAILABLE HOURS legislation is a great idea. Employees have been getting cheated out of fair hours and benefits because employers realized that if they employ more part-time people, they don't have to pay them the same as full timers (benefits included).

Now, I actually take pleasure in knowing that these business owners will have to take one less tropical vacation because they have to pay their employees fairly.

I believe that if you are using Saskatchewan people and Saskatchewan land to make a profit then you should have to share it with the people. What better way then to reward hard working people with fair wages.

If you don't like it, move to Alberta. There are plenty of entrepreneurs in this province who will see the market you left behind and be more then willing to spend 1 less week in Mexico in winter then you.

And for all you Saskatchewan folks who see your employers rallying against this legislation, isn't it comforting to know that they don't care about you or your family or your health? Oh well, this is a social-democracy at its best and besides the cold there is no where that I'd rather live.

Welcome back, Donny. The really funny thing about this new labour legislation is that everybody I've talked to there, including a few small business people, are saying that it won't cost them a cent or affect them in anyway whatsoever. They've just latched onto this as something to bitch about because they don't like the NDP.

I hear about students flooding out of Saskatchewan right out of high school, and it is true. I am one of them. The difference is I am going back. Some do it to get away from family because all they've seen is our province, while others do it for the quick buck in oil and get stuck there. It happens, but I think it's starting to change...

I see that changing too. There is a reason why so many kids have always left Saskatchewan...a lack of diversity in the economy. That's been changing slowly for decades. With some of the recent developments that's changing quicker than ever.

The additional hours idea is foolis.
While I agree we need to do something about employers who treat their employees like dirt, this is clearly not the best way to go about it. Its a law that rewards people who stick around at a job for a long period of time and do the bare minimum to not get fired while hard workers get nothing in return for their efforts. Businesses are going to be encouraged to fire the people who just do enough to get by; those are the same people who 'have to work 2-3 part-time jobs to make ends meet' (Deb Higgens personal corespondance with myself). I don't like rewarding lazy people. I don't know a single person who wants full time but can't get them; I'm constanting having my hours reduced in order to focus on school. Anyone who supports the gov't on this: give me one person that needs this legislation. I don't hate the NDP, infact I supported their bill to tax fast food, unfortunatly, they didn't.

Edit: I think a better way to go about this, if employers (ex. westfair foods) are using a bunch of part timers to prevent shelling out any real money, the gov't needs to back the unions against the employers. Small/medium businesses are going to be punished for the sins of a few. There has got to be a better way, and I applaud the NDP for doing this, but there has to be a better way.

There is nothing in the legislation that prevents employers from rewarding hard workers. Simply working through the unions does not help non-unionised employees.

I really wish we could find a solution that doesn't hurt small-medium sized businesses.
Other than that, I've worked for both a large company and 2 small-med businesses. The company treated me like shit as a lot tend to do. The small-med businesses (both over 50 people) were amazing people to work for, and they will feel a hit from it; which they don't deserve.

Will they? My friends in Saskatchewan don't think so. The fact is that if an employee is not doing their job they can still be fired. A person who does the minimum to get by is not looking for a promotion. They will get no more than cost of living wage increases. They will not be offered those special assignments that look good on a resume.

Yes, but hours a reward as well. If there are limited available hours I think the hardest worker deserves them; just the way I feel. I see this legislation being hammered through and I guess we'll see how it goes.

The person doing the minimum to get by isn't going to want those hours though. When I was scheduling staff the problem was always getting enough people to fill the shifts, not having too many.

According to woman I know in Saskatoon who owns a small retail business, "This won't affect me at all. The one bad employee I have never wants to work anyway." That matches my experiences too.

The lack of work ethic in the new generation has a lot to do with the "bad employees" that companies are forced to deal with as well.
I guess it's just a matter of being a revolving door, because our companies won't pay more than minimum wage anyway.
I'm thinking of getting out of business and going to become a professional stunt double for Catherine Zeta-Jones

People have been complaining about the lack of a work ethic in young people since we were eating mammoth steaks for lunch. If it was true we never would have progressed past that point.

The real problem does come from the companies. If they treated people decently we wouldn't have any labour laws because there would be no need. The creation of legislation is a reaction to a problem.

Well, if you have a bunch of employees that are just barely getting by then you have some serious problems in your company anyways. Current labour laws allow you a certain about of time to can any new employee without reason. I believe it is about 6 months but I have been in jobs where the probation period was one year. If you can't figure out that you've hired a lazy bum in 6 months then perhaps you're not smart enough to be in business anyways.

HERE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE: Other places, like Casino Regina (CR) to name one, has stacked their payroll with part-timers for the very reason we are talking about, to improve their bottom line. How do you think this effects their competition, the First Nation's Casinos? In order to make the same profit margins as CR they look at cutting back on full-time staff and bringing on more part timers. But the whole point of having these First Nation's run businesses is to create full-time jobs where people can feed their families.

The trend for hiring part-time workers where full-time workers could be employed must stop. Like I said, if your going to make a profit on the backs of Saskatchewan people, you should be prepared to give back to them.

Excellent example, Donny. The same can be said for most large retail chains. It causes a race to the bottom where people are working two or three part-time, no benefit jobs just to make ends meet. They feel, rightfully so, they are being screwed by their employers so they don't give 100%.

Well like I said, I have no doubt that this legislation will go thru, I just would like to see some protection for the small businesses (like the one I work for). Particularly resturants where it is necessary to have 30-38 hour a week staff due to the changes in business. I would like to see an exemption for resturants, or prehaps have full time be considered 35 hours or overtime pay not given until 45 hours. In a business where hours need to be flexible this could do some damage and needs to be changed. Honestly I would like to see this passed, just not in its presant form. All businesses that will be effected need to be considered.

Rev_Blair, your friend who runs a small business in S'toon runs retaill, correct? I doubt she has 50 employees so its not going to effect her one bit. Why doesn't she fire her 'one bad employee'?