Moose Jaw -
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has made no bones about his desire to lure more people into the province and he has done so by going to the country's largest province - Ontario.
It's made sense for Wall. Why not go to the land that has the most people, and therefore has more high quality people to poach for the provincial workforce? At the same time, Ontario has taken a kicking lately after losing 160,000 jobs since October.
And so far, there has been some success, with Wall recently hosting a lunch for 86 Ontario families that have moved to the province since a job recruitment push last fall.
While 86 families - translating into approximately 200 to 300 people - may not seem huge to a province of 10 million, it means a lot to a province one-10th that size.
As well, it says to people throughout Canada, including Ontario, that there are jobs to be found in Saskatchewan.
So, I had to take Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's recent dismissive approach towards Wall's poaching with a bit of laugh.
There was McGuinty on Tuesday dismissing Saskatchewan's effort to lure post-secondary graduates from Ontario by offering $20,000 in exchange for them moving here and staying for seven years.
Instead of claiming to worry about Wall stuffing the pockets of Ontario grads full of filthy lucre, McGuinty said his competition is the United States. The premier said worrying about little ol' Saskatchewan would be taking his "eye off that ball."
Uh-huh. Here's a premier who is in charge of the province that has long been one of the main economic engines of this country only to see its status drop severely under his command. He would be admitting defeat to the rest of the province, and the country, if he claimed that yes, he did not like mean ol' Mr. Wall poaching his prized pupils after subsidizing their post-secondary education.
Ontario has always had this complex that it is above the rest of Canada. Many Ontarians are more worried about comparing themselves to the U.S. than the other provinces because the U.S. is bigger and flashier. Plus, comparing themselves to Americans makes Ontarians feel better than if they were compared to, say, Saskatchewanians.
It would be a significant come-down to admit being on par with Saskatchewan, let alone in worse shape, and McGuinty is not going to gouge his province's morale any more than the economy has already damaged it. As long as he doesn't admit there's competition, then he and the rest of the province can carry on with the superiority complex.
But the rest of the country knows better and we can't help but snigger watching Wall cherry pick Ontario grads like a vulture on a carcass. McGuinty may not be willing to admit it, but this latest assault by Wall bruises his and his province's collective ego.
Jason Small can be reached at 691-1255.
