It pains me to write about PCS, but suffer I must.
Doyle said "I've got a place here." It does not mean he resides here, as did his predecessors. Many people have 'places' outside of their residences, be it Arizona, a lake cottage or any other locale.
"I have a car here." Ditto the above.
"I pay taxes here." PCS executives have always paid split taxes based on earnings in Canada and earnings in the USA. How much depends on the amount of time worked in each country.
He does get credit for increasing charitable and community contributions and a yet to be determined amount towards the STARS program.
Increasing employment opportunities is always good and with the corporation's growth it should be expected. What type of jobs remains to be seen. I was a little taken aback to read that the repatriation of executive jobs and/or creation of new jobs to Saskatoon will cost the provincial government - about $6 million over five years according to the report. But you can't fault a corporation for taking advantage of whatever is available to it. We all look to whatever tax exemptions we can find to avoid throwing more money into the black hole.
If I work on the adage "alls well that ends well" I guess I will focus on the fact the whole takeover saga ended with BPH creating an office here, they are proceeding with the mine development and eventually will become a major player in Saskatchewan. Competition is a good thing. It keeps the players sharp.
PCS has weathered its storm. Now Premier Wall must batten his hatches for the political maelstorm to come.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
There are a million different interpretations for what it means to reside in a community. Until everyone in society can agree on what it means there will always be criticism. What Link, Wall, myself and yourself would define as reside would all be different.
ReplyDeleteWhen would Doyle fulfill his obligations to Saskatchewan residency? If he lives here 9 months of the year? Pays his taxes here? Is involved in community charity events? Owns property? Attends social events? Spends his money here?
As long as he has an office here is that not enough? As long as he pays a proportional amount of his taxes here is that not enough?
PCS is not owned by Saskatchewan people and Doyle does not work for us.
Interesting but my definitions would be where your family resides is where you live and reside. Anyone know where that may be??
ReplyDeleteThis whole issue will be resolved when it is announced the the new PCS Multi-purpose Entertainment facility in Regina is a go.
How would one define the residency of snow birds or long term vacationers then? My parents have now retired and spend their winters in Arizona (end of Nov. to April), yet they consider themselves Saskatchewan residents. It is a tricky question to answer.
ReplyDeletePersonally, if he is attending social functions around town and actively involved in the community here I could care less if he spends half his time in Chicago or not. This is such a non-story, having the citizens of this province hold guns to executives heads and tell them they need to live here in order to do business here is a pretty bad message to be sending out in my opinion.
The potash resources might be owned by a company and its shareholders but they are the resource of the people of Sask and the province deserves the full benefit.
ReplyDeleteThe company promised the province the best way for us to get our benefit from those resources was to allow them to go public. In doing so they promised to keep the head office and especially the job of the CEO in Saskatchewan. For many years the company has flagrantly ignored those promises. Now it is time to ante up.
Having the executive jobs and head office in our province creates a ripple-effect of benefits. How did Alberta get to be so wealthy? The executives of the oil companies lived there and when they cashed in their stock options they bought new cars and houses. Then they donated personally to the community. Because they lived in Alberta their company supported local suppliers and they instituted local hiring policies. These executives are guardians of our resource and we should expect nothing less of them.
"The potash resources might be owned by a company and its shareholders but they are the resource of the people of Sask and the province deserves the full benefit."
ReplyDeleteHow does that make any sense?
Are they owned by the company or by the people?
If our government effectively sold OUR resources to PCS or other private companies that was a decision that was made. How can we now say something is of the people, but not really, but it should be?
This is just a smattering of greed from the Saskatchewan people. Now that we see what potash is worth we want a larger slice of the pie. Forget that we sold off that resource to PCS, cancel that deal and give us a better one.
Great mentality to have when you speak of the ripple effect of growing business in Saskatchewan. Yup Executives all around the world will flock here with attitudes like that.
This whole residency issue is completely embarrassing and unbecoming of a seriously economic player that Saskatchewan is purports to be.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that charade was exposed the moment Wall went nuts on the whole "strategic asset" nonsense last year.
Saskatchewan certainly should be getting its fair share in potash royalties.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Saskatchewan's fair share? We are paid millions of dollars while someone comes in and takes all the risks to mine the product, takes care of all the hassles of shipping and selling it, and takes on the responsibility of the workers, environmental impacts, etc...
ReplyDeleteAlso we set the royalties, so is this just greed that we want MORE and MORE and MORE? If we get more will it ever be enough?
We currently are paid very little for the profit that is being made so as the owners of the product we should do a review of how much royalties we should be receiving. When we have hospitals closing and school funding being delayed while Bill Boyle is being paid billions because of our potash it is time for a review.
ReplyDeleteThat is such flawed logic. But not for the expertise and guidance of Doyle PCS would not be in the position that it is in. No offence, but if you were CEO PCS would be going under. Also if you want Doyle to take a significant pay cut then he'd likely leave and again someone without the business savvy and connections would be coming and doing a worse job for less money. Doyle is paid in stock options primarily, so his wealth is a reflection of how well he leads the company. Quit being jealous because someone in life has it better than you.
ReplyDeleteIt is not Doyle's responsibility to keep hospitals open or fund schools, although he donates in inordinate amount to local charities to help do just that.
Once again, these royalties were negotiated with the Province, the government of the day was clearly of the mind that they were fair. Just because the company has become rapidly successful under the current CEO don't start thinking that we are entitled to more and more of the pie.
God can some people be greedy.
Anon 8:49.
ReplyDeleteRoyalty rates were negotiated with the government of the day when potash prices were much lower and now that they are much higher and projected to continue as such it is wise to review our royalty rates. A change in royalty rates would be at potash not simply the Potash Corporation but all companies which make a profit off of our resource.
Anon 9:47, the point is they were negotiated. Would you equally stand strong if prices were to have fallen and the companies came back to the province and said "our profits aren't where they need be because of drops in prices, we need a better deal so we can make more profits"? I don't think any Saskatchewan resident would agree to renegotiate in those circumstances, but there is an outcry that because there is more money involved we want a bigger slice.
ReplyDeleteHey why even stop at potash, let's look at every other contract and agreement the government has signed and rip those ones open too looking for more ways to extract as much money we can from the other party. I bet we could find at least a dozen other agreements that would be more lucrative than renegotiating potash. Screw our reputation or potential future investment, it is all about extracting as much as possible right now from anyone we can.