BY MURRAY MANDRYK, THE LEADER-POST MARCH 4, 2015
The big advantage the Saskatchewan Party has is that it doesn't have to do much to convince its legions of supporters that it deserves a third consecutive term.
Admittedly, this was exactly where Saskatchewan was 16 years ago, when the Roy Romanow NDP government - fearing little from a fledging Sask. Party splitting support with the still-existing Liberals - saw no reason to be contrite. Instead, it was simply easier to sell the notion that all problems were due to the corrupt and incompetent Progressive Conservatives the NDP had ousted.
Similarly, Premier Brad Wall's Sask. Party is hardly now threatened by an NDP Opposition that is still adrift.
So, sadly, the Sask. Party government also has had very little reason to acknowledge or even seriously review what it has done wrong.
Why would it? No matter how seemingly disingenuous or sometimes downright ridiculous its explanations have been, the government is amply rewarded by its supporters, who are far too eager to give it the benefit of the doubt.
And one has to look no further than its lean explanations to see where this has become a big problem.
In anticipation of the NDP raising lean's cost and effectiveness on the first day of the spring sitting (the Opposition actually waited until the second day), the Sask. Party government proclaimed it has saved $125 million in health since 2008.
Now, saving $125 million is nothing to sneeze at. Kudos to real savings wherever they are found.
Unfortunately, the kindest thing one can say about Health Minister Dustin Duncan's numbers on lean savings is that they are badly in need of perspective.
For starters, since lean began in 2008 we have spent $33.6 billion on health (including this fiscal year) so that $125 million saved is about onethird of one per cent.
There again, a saving is a saving, so let us credit Duncan for the $50 million saved on blood products. And let us really credit him for finally acknowledging Monday that the lion's share of those savings actually were initiated by Saskatchewan health workers before the $40-million-plus contract with John Black and Associates.
However, Duncan then went on to credit Black for savings on everything - including the design of the Moose Jaw hospital, Children's Hospital in Saskatoon and North Battleford hospital. Really? Black was paid $633,000, $625,000 and $895,000 for his role in planning the Children's, Moose Jaw and North Battleford hospitals, respectively. And while Duncan says, this is all part of the $40-million-plus contract this seems passing strange given that the Children's Hospital was designed was well before Black signed the four-year deal.
More to the point, the Children's Hospital had to be redesigned because the original lean design was unworkable.
This came at additional costs to taxpayers and there are a lot of additional costs the government doesn't mention when it either talks about Black's contract or lean's supposed $125-million savings.
During the supposed ban on nonessential travel until the end of March, we will still be making seven trips (20 health professionals per trip) to tour a Seattle hospital and an airbag factory in Utah that use lean principles. Duncan admitted Tuesday this will add an additional $1.25 million to JBA costs, but said the government chose not to cancel them because there would have been a penalty for cost of the JBA course tuition/plant tours.
However, the NDP noted Tuesday the government did cancel a trip to a northern health conference in Stoney Rapids because that was deemed non-essential for Health Ministry officials.
What has been essential is significant health ministry lean-related travel. However, a reply to an Opposition freedom-of-information request said it would take 177 hours to determine the costs of just eight health officials who made 140 trips on lean and/or other matters.
That said, the NDP noted in Tuesday's question period that JBA had no problem clocking nurses on what was called "the Great Canadian Pillow Hunt", right to down to: "Nurse turns around - one second."
More to the point, we have do not any costing for all this additional travel for workers' training - whether it be hunting for pillows or touring car part plants in Utah. Nor does the government factor in the ongoing costs of Kaizan promotion offices.
These costs are likely in the millions.
Duncan simply chalks it up as professional development, although he admitted to reporters after Tuesday's question period that normal health-care professional development wouldn't include costly tours of Utah airbag factories.
But is anyone questioning that? Not really. The Sask. Party will continue to enjoy the benefit of the doubt on lean - regardless of how ridiculous its justifications are.
Mandryk is the political columnist for the Leader-Post.
