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Some recent statistics seem to show that the Sask. Party’s economic development strategy is in a bit of a shambles.

So what exactly is the government’s economic development strategy? As Premier Brad Wall said in a tweet to supporters earlier this year: “Rather than gov picking winners & loser(s) we’ve focused on creating right biz climate. Result? Record job & pop growth.”

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Unfortunately, the economic climate, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), is kind of cloudy these days. Statistics Canada reported Thursday that Saskatchewan’s economy had negative growth or a contraction of 1.4 per cent in 2015.

This was the third-worst performance in the country, next to Alberta, which suffered a 4.0 per cent contraction and Newfoundland and Labrador, which saw a 2.2 per cent decline.

It’s no coincidence that all three provinces have large oil and gas sectors, which have been in the tank since the price of oil tumbled from a high of US$107 a barrel in June 2014 to a low of US$26 in February before recovering to around US$46 recently.