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It was about three years ago when I proposed to the federal government what we believed to be an environmentally salutary way to get some oil workers back to work.

The month before, oil prices had fallen to their lowest in over a decade. The commodity price downturn was already a protracted misery. Energy-sector workers were not working, related small businesses were shutting down, rainy-day savings of independent contractors were drying up. The situation, for families and the provincial balance sheets, was dire.

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Against that backdrop, Saskatchewan taxpayers and businesses, like all Canadian taxpayers, were paying into the federal equalization program. Our share was about $500 million annually. Alberta taxpayers were kicking in approximately $2 billion to the program. Under the current formula, there was no prospect of Saskatchewan and Alberta getting anything back from equalization any time soon — if ever.

The situation, for families and the provincial balance sheets, was dire

I believe the people of Saskatchewan were, for the most part, fine with that. There’s a certain psychological lift that comes with a “have” status. But if nothing else, we hoped that our troubles, combined with our contributions, might leave Ottawa of a mind to help out if the opportunity arose.