Advocates of low potash royalties are claiming that New Democrats fared poorly in Saskatchewan's recent election because they proposed higher potash royalties. Of course, potash companies and their boosters would like the NDP to give up this cause. Doing so would be a political mistake for the party and a disservice to the people of Saskatchewan.

Most polling indicates that most Saskatchewan residents support collecting more from potash companies. So, why didn't the NDP get more traction on the issue? In politics, timing can be everything.

I have argued that ideology makes you stupid and if you have power it makes you dangerous. One of the best examples is the idiocy of more and more tax cuts with the supposed goal of making Canadian business internationally "competitive." First, tax rates regularly come about sixth or seventh down the list of factors that actual CEOs look at when deciding whether or not to invest. For large firms, the tax bill often makes up less than two per cent of total costs. Secondly, huge amounts of the revenue raised by taxes actually go to things that actually do make Canadian business internationally competitive: advanced education, efficient infrastructure, abundant energy supply, Medicare (and the healthy workers it maintains), a stable society.