A report from the Economic Development Commission suggests that our city has lost nearly half of all public service jobs while cities like Saskatoon and Prince Albert have experienced increases.

The closure of Valley View is a significant factor, and so was the closure of the downtown SaskTel office. Now there are multiple positions that have been eliminated at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Moose Jaw North MLA Warren Michelson is providing some answers for why our city has lost so many public sector jobs in the last decade. He says they can't justify having public sector jobs spread across the province, when such jobs could all be done in one office. At one time, that made sense as an economic stimulus, but right now, money is tight.

"I think in years past that was the indication of the government many years ago that they wanted to diversify and to assist rural communities as much as they could," Michelson said.

He added that he routinely raises the same concerns that the city has when he speaks with other government officials, but he also advocates for provincial assistance to try and draw private sector investment to the city as an attempt to create new jobs.

"As much as I possibly can we always represent the interests of Moose Jaw first and foremost," Michelson said. "But in some circumstances we have to understand that the economic impact for the province is to be fiscally responsible and do things as efficiently as we possibly can."

He added that when he took over as MLA that they did things more efficiently where they could and where it made sense.