Centralization Getting Worse

The first leg of the “Round Our Way” 2009 Summer Tour has focused on Southwest Saskatchewan and has seen us visit 10 different communities covering over 1500km, including Maple Creek, Shaunavon, Assiniboia, Gravelbourg, and Ponteix. During our visits we have met with local political figures, public officials, businesspersons, Liberal members, and dozens of people in coffee shops and campgrounds. With the diversity of interests we see from everyone, it is interesting how a common theme has developed during our visits.
 
The biggest issue I have been hearing time and time again is a concern about the increasing centralization of services which really hurts local communities who are looking to be sustainable. During the 1990s and 2000s the NDP turned its back on rural Saskatchewan. The regionalization and centralization of Health and School regions really took its toll on rural communities as services were lost and facilities were closed.
 
It’s hard to attract new people to your community when your school is being closed down and your hospital is crumbling.
 
There was hope that the Wall conservatives would understand this when they formed government. Alas, like in most other areas, they have simply proven to be NDP- lite. Not only have they not reversed the trend of centralization, they have even made it worse with Enterprise Saskatchewan. The elimination of the Regional Economic Development Authority (REDA) program means that local communities have been deprived of an effective tool for local economic development. REDAs were always driven from the ground- up and were consistent with my own philosophy that strong community development should be driven by the grassroots (just like in politics).
 
New organizations called Enterprise Regions have been created to replace the REDAs. They are much bigger, no longer require local investment, and the list of “do’s” and “do-not’s” from Regina is much, much longer (and those of us who are familiar with REDAs already know that list was long enough to begin with!). Each new organization is managed from a CEO in a centralized office in the region.
 
It is a travesty that rural Saskatchewan has lost yet another weapon in its arsenal in the fight for sustainability and prosperity in the 21st century. Communities are losing the ability to self- determine. With the strong pull to urban centres growing every day, robbing communities of the ability to make decisions that directly affect them is like tying one arm behind their back.