UPDATE

On December 17, the provincial government changed its mind on changing the provincial logo. Our letter to Premier Wall and Deputy Premier Krawetz follows, with our original December 13 news release underneath.

Dear Premier Wall and Deputy Premier Krawetz:

On behalf of myself and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, I offer my thanks for keeping the wheat sheaf as our provincial logo. Ultimately, the original decision to change it was too tough to swallow after public statements condemning NDP expenditures on logos.

It takes humility to make a public change of mind and I am glad you were willing to do so.

We hope you will never change your mind on throwing more money at our province's pulp mills (or its ski hills). We recently delivered almost 6000 petitions to Minister Gantefoer calling for a legislated ban on direct government investment in the economy. We are glad your government has been consistent in its stance so far, and we hope it will be willing to legislate these intentions in the future.

We will lobby for restrictions on use of the Growth and Financial Security Fund, similar to what we proposed in the past regarding the Fiscal Stabilization Fund. These will appear in our pre-budget submission.

Have a joyous Christmas and happy New Year. I look forward to meeting with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Lee Harding

DECEMBER 13 NEWS RELEASE: CTF to Sask Government: Keep the Sheaf!

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the government of Saskatchewan to halt its plans to change the provincial logo.

"Changing this logo is inevitably going to cost a lot of money," says CTF Saskatchewan Director, Lee Harding. "Our logo is fine as it is. We remain the breadbasket of Canada, and our logo reflects that in a simple and stylized way."

"Just last month, Brad Wall told the province in a televised advertisement,
'Too often governments do things that just don't make sense, like spending a million dollars on this new government logo-Government should make more sense than that.' I couldn't agree more. What changed "

"The government's decision to ignore the previous logo and use the Saskatchewan coat of arms in the meantime creates another unnecessary expense, as the multicoloured and detailed coat of arms appears on government documents and business cards, only to be changed again later."



"In 2006, Ontario broke with 42 years of tradition when the governing party's favorite ad firm restylized the provincial logo for $219,000. Thousands wrote to protest, saying they liked the old one better. If our province follows suit, design costs are just the beginning. Placing the new logo on government buildings, vehicles, road signs, driver's licences, and documents will cost untold millions."

"Alberta has had their logo longer than we have and sees no need to change it. Let's pay off our debt like they did and not waste money on rebranding ourselves."

"This government has said 'Actions speak louder than words.' Unfortunately, these actions are different from their words."

"I sincerely hope the premier thinks twice and keeps the sheaf."