NDP Leader Ryan Meili on June 9, 2021. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

By CKOM News

Reveal cost of rebranding Crowns and scrap those plans, says NDP leader Ryan Meili

Jul 31, 2021 | 5:34 PM

NDP leader Ryan Meili is calling on the government to jettison its plans to rebrand the province’s Crown corporations.

Meili said the party submitted a freedom of information request to SaskTel, getting a partial response that explained the company needs more consultations before documents can be released. He believes those documents would offer details including how far along the plan is.

Rebranding Saskatchewan Crowns is unnecessary and costly, according to Meili. He said marketing companies are expensive and once designs are decided, a rebranding would require signage to be changed, vehicles to be given new decals.

“The Sask Party needs to come clean today with the details of this vanity project including the total amount of money wasted so far,” he said. “And they need to come clean with their true agenda when it comes to Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations.”

When speaking to reporters this week, Meili cast the rebranding plans as a sign that the SaskParty intends to sell off the Crowns.

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He brought up the dissolution of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and pointed to past instances where it appeared the government was readying for privatization.

“Back in 2017, the Sask Party met with 11 different potential buyers for SGI, they met with potential buyers for SaskTel, and when times are tough, the first thing they try to do is sell off the things that we all own together,” Meili said.

If Crown logos and colours are changed to resemble the SaskParty’s, he says that could make it easier to sell the companies right under the public’s nose.

“If it’s all one brand all one colour, suddenly you can start selling off divisions have that without saying you’re actually privatizing.”