FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release – June 18, 2008

Government exposes hidden agenda for SaskPower

The Saskatchewan Party government of Brad Wall has revealed its true, Tory-blue colours this week by announcing the first steps in the privatization of SaskPower, says the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.

"Their hidden agenda has been exposed,” says CEP President Dave Coles. Brad Wall and his clone, Stephen Harper are bent on making sure that SaskPower and other Canadian resources are used to line the pockets of corporations, rather than to meet the energy needs of Canadians.”

"The announcement that the government will invite private power producers to submit proposals to build new generating stations to generate power that SaskPower would purchase is the first step toward dismantling a treasured Saskatchewan resource,” adds Wendy Sol, CEP’s Western Region Administrative Vice-President.

“This means higher electricity costs for everyone,” she says. “Privatizing generation is a first step towards private distribution.”

Sol says that people might be swayed by government arguments that this move is cost-effective but the evidence shows otherwise. “Private investment in electricity will make the whole system unstable. Investors will only finance projects when they are satisfied that high electricity costs will ensure profits,” she says. 

“Maintenance and safety are also compromised by profits. Worse, as more and more of the electricity is generated by private companies, SaskPower loses its own in-house expertise.

“We’ve seen this happen in other jurisdictions. You can’t be a little bit privatized – once they start down this road the Saskatchewan Party will destroy a valuable Saskatchewan resource.”

CEP, Canada’s largest energy workers’ union, represents about 705 workers at SaskPower, and 150,000 workers across Canada.

For more information please contact:

Dave Coles CEP President     Cellular: (613) 299-5628 E-mail: dcoles@cep.ca

Wendy Sol Administrative Vice-President 203 – 275 Broadway Avenue Winnipeg, MB  R3C 4M6 Phone: (204) 988-1402 Cellular: (204) 791-2409 E-mail: wendysol@mts.net