REGINA – News that Information Services Corporation is being sold to a Quebec-based buyer has received a negative reaction from the Opposition.
At a news conference Wednesday at the Legislature, Young accused the government of breaking their word on ISC. That follows news that Plenary Americas LP is acquiring 100 per cent of the Class A Limited Voting Shares of ISC (Shares), though the province will retain its Golden Share keeping the headquarters in the province.
“This is a government that is treating taxpayer money as monopoly money, and all we have to do is look at the most recent news on how they sold off ISC,” Young said.
“When they first privatized ISC, the Sask Party promised the government would always continue to own 29 per cent of the shares. They promised it would be a publicly traded company. They promised it would always operate with public interest at heart. Now they're breaking their word and they're selling off what little we have left, and this is after refusing to answer any questions or hours in committee because they were speculative about a sale to a fully private Quebec-owned company, only to discover this week that ISC has been sold off to the same fully private Quebec-owned company that we were not allowed to ask any questions about.”
Young said the government has now “opened the door to massive heat hikes by out of province investors who are looking for a steady, reliable income stream, and will not be entrusted in what's best for Saskatchewan people in keeping housing affordable, in ensuring that registering a business remains competitive and that our data remains secure.”
Young characterized the buyers as “entrusted in what's best for their investors, and that is increasing profits.”
In speaking to reporters, Young further slammed the government’s Information Services Corporation Amendment Act, 2026, which was passed prior to the recent Legislature session being concluded.
“There is no evidence this company will have any obligation to keep ISC structures or fees intact,” Young said. She also said they got no answers on keeping data in the province.
“Again, in speaking with lawyers, in speaking with stakeholders in this field, there is no evidence to suggest that anything in the legislation will keep people's data, the ownership data that is in Saskatchewan from being sold or combined with other data sets,” said Young.
“This is the upside for companies like this, right? What you can do with that data. That where the opportunities for growth are, and I think that should be incredibly concerning. We saw in the committee, I think one of the key points of clarity that we did grapple our way towards is that there is nothing to prevent this company, the new owner of ISC, frankly, from selling this asset to another company, even if it is foreign owned, even if it is state owned, and that should be of significant concern to anybody who is doing land transactions or registering property in Saskatchewan.”
Minister Harrison points to opportunity to direct funds to health care infrastructure
In speaking to reporters in Saskatoon Wednesday, Minister for Crown Investments Corporation Jeremy Harrison was asked about the sale of ISC to Plenary.
Harrison said they had had “a lengthy public discussion around this” and that the government had initially indicated support for the board-led strategic review that took place. Harrison also said the government had been prepared to look at recommendations that came from that strategic review if they met certain criteria.
“And the overriding criteria was, was there going to be benefit for the people of this province? In fact, we even strengthened the legislation to make sure that there was going to be in-statute commitments around the head office location, commitments around the data, the location of the data, making sure that that would be domiciled here in this province, and the intellectual property of the company legislating the Master Services Agreement as well.”
Harrison said they did receive a recommendation from the board late last week on ISC.
“We reviewed the recommendation in line with the statutory provisions. Also in line with commitments that were made and you've seen those publicly made by both Plenary and ISC about continuing the brand identity, about growing the company from Saskatchewan, about looking at further investment in jobs in the province as well. All of that really added up to a very much a positive scenario.”
In addition, Harrison said, there is “really going to be a premium paid for the shares,” which he said is “going to result in a $277 million profit for the province, which we are then going to be putting into health care infrastructure.”
Harrison said from their perspective, in “real world health care infrastructure for the people of the province, we thought that was a pretty good opportunity. And because of the offer was in line with the parameters that we had laid out, we have been publicly supportive.”
Harrison indicated a further announcement will come from the Minister of Health on that investment. Details are few, but Harrison did indicate that an example of what they are looking at was when the government divested SaskFerco back in the late 2000s and put proceeds to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital project.
Harrison also acknowledged there is still a process to go through to close the deal for ISC. “There's a shareholder vote, but we will be voting to support the deal going forward.”
As for whether he expects a smooth transition for ISC to the new ownership, Harrison said that was in the hands of ISC, which Harrison emphasized is a “publicly traded, but private company” that the government held a minority interest in of 29 per cent. He did not foresee there being any disruption for the future operations of ISC.
As for how Crown Investments Corporation would maintain oversight, Harrison pointed to the legislative changes brought in on the Golden Share, in which “we are going to be entitled to having two directors on the ISC board — even though we will no longer be a shareholder in the company — along with that Golden Share, which is what makes it legally necessary for the company to maintain its head office in the province," as well as the Master Services Agreement being legislated to 2053. Harrison adds that "all of the data, all of the intellectual property, will be located by law here in this province as well.”
With files from Jon Perez
