SaskTel and SGI want to be roommates

SaskTel and SGI want to move in with each other. The Crown Corporations are pursuing the idea of combining their head offices. The companies say their current head offices in downtown Regina are close to 50 years old. A partnership will explore putting them together in SaskTel's head office on Saskatchewan Drive. Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison supports the decision. He says SaskTel's building is almost double the size of SGI's office and could accommodate the extra people. He also says the move would help SGI employees who were forced out of the office when their building flooded in August. It really meant that a lot of folks are working from home right now because of the damage that's been done to floors 11, almost to the basement. So we're going to be working through that process, looking at what that option would look like with everybody being in the SaskTel building. This move is sure to set off alarm bells for people in this province who believe that this government is taking yet another run at our crown corporations. So for the record. Will the Premier commit that this move will not result in a single lay-off or the sale of either crown? The NDP have been making the same claim now for 19 years, Mr. Speaker. No crowns have been privatized and none will be privatized, Mr. Speaker. Opposition NDP MLA Alina Young says the move would be a misdirection of Crown funds. We're hearing huge concerns already in Regina, concerns about job losses, for which we heard no guarantee in the House, concerns about sell-offs and privatization, again, which we heard no guarantees of in the House. All I can see is that the government is guaranteeing efficiencies. SaskTel says it will explore design requirements AND IDENTIFY PROJECT COSTS OVER THE COMING MONTHS. Bonnie Allen, CBC News, Swift Current.