When the government announces yet another "public consultation" you can be sure of two things: very little "consultation" will actually take place and it won't be cheap.

Earlier this year the Saskatchewan government announced its Centennial Summit aimed at "celebrating our past and exploring our future." In attendance were big wigs from government and the private sector. The purpose was to provide feedback to the government on how to develop the Saskatchewan economy.

This writer attended the Summit in an effort to get the views of Canadian Taxpayers Federation supporters on the record, and to observe the event first hand. The $500,000 price tag was steep, and we wanted to see if there would be value for it.

I left the summit feeling optimistic because the mood in Saskatoon that week seemed to be for significant change. It was quite a sight to see Cameco president Gerald Grandey relate how opening a uranium mine in Saskatchewan is substantially more expensive and take ten times longer than in other jurisdictions.

He told Summit-goers that Saskatchewan's proven uranium reserves are equivalent to 16 billion barrels of oil - enough to make Saudi Arabians green with envy. Why then does our uranium industry account for 1,500 jobs and not 5,000 Grandey suggests it has much to do with - and this is no surprise - taxes and regulations.

Fast forward eight months and the province has now released its "Saskatchewan Action Plan for the Economy" based on "what they heard" at the summit. I'm sorry to say that the report is short on both actions and plans, and reaffirms the widely-held belief that public consultations are little more than taxpayer-funded exercises in public relations.

The so-called "actions" outlined the report use verbs such as "foster," "support" and "work" but lack prepositions such as "by" which commonly denote a measurable "plan."

When the report finds its way to the meat of the issue - taxation - it once again disappoints. The very first "action" listed is "receive the recommendations of the Business Tax Review Committee and continue to improve business tax competitiveness."

It's like the Seinfeld rental car scene-anyone can "receive" recommendations but the important part is "implementing" the recommendations. And it didn't take an expensive summit to tell the government that our business tax rates are the highest in the country and need to be reduced - they've been told that for years.

It gets scary when the report reaffirms the government's commitment to direct investment in the economy: "Through Investment Saskatchewan, invest in provincial companies that show growth potential."

That's all we need - more Spudcos. And note that the province will determine who shows growth potential and who does not. Those that don't meet the province's sniff test will be doomed to compete with companies that actually do qualify for government largesse. Yeah, that's great for sending a signal that Saskatchewan is open for business: "come to Saskatchewan and compete with the government!"

The simple fact is we don't need more high-minded platitudes from our politicians. We need action on taxes and regulations and we need to know when these actions will be undertaken.

For the record, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation recommends the province phase out the corporate capital tax, eliminate the PST on business inputs, and reduce the corporate tax rate to 11.5 per cent with no special rates for specific sectors of the economy.

Note to government: Let us know when you get it done.