Should I Keep Writing This? Or Is It Time To Walk Away From Saskatchewan?

I'll do what I always do - let you folks guide my decision.

Today, I am saddened have to make an announcement to make regarding the future of the Our Sask community and the sustainability of this platform.

Firstly, let me express my utmost gratitude for your continued support and engagement. I have been pouring my heart and soul into creating content that I believe adds value to Saskatchewan lives. However, as many of you know, I constantly face challenges in maintaining momentum and ensuring a sustainable future for this platform.

The Substack model revolves around the support and engagement of its audience. It's a space where independent writers like myself have the opportunity to connect directly with readers like you, free from the constraints and influences of mainstream media news platforms.

With the most humblest of apologies to friends and former friends in the Saskatchewan media, the news scene in the province today is non-existent. Its decline started years ago with petty infighting between reporters and outlets about “exclusives”, with certain Saskatchewan newsrooms refusing to follow and amplify important stories because they didn’t like the reporter who broke it first.

Today, there’s seemingly an outright refusal in Saskatchewan newsrooms to tell any stories that take time, effort or don’t fit into the media outlet’s revenue-model or chosen narrative. The slightest hint of pushback from the Sask Party government is cowered against, given it is, without a shadow of a doubt, the single-largest source of advertising revenue for Saskatchewan media companies.

All I’ve ever wanted to do is tell the truth; to provide you with what I believe are important facts about what’s really going on with the Sask Party and Government of Saskatchewan. I have, often to my own detriment, poured my heart and soul into creating what I believed to be valuable and informative content. To say doing this alone, which I’ve always done, is a challenge, is a gross understatement.

Unfortunately, I have reached a point where I need to address this issue head-on, or I need to move on.

I committed myself to writing about Saskatchewan full-time about a year ago. I left the country to do so, because the harassment I endured in the province for doing this work honestly nearly ended my life. That, combined with cost of living in Saskatchewan made it impossible to stay and keep writing, so I moved.

Moving down here I cried for the entire flight, cause I was leaving everything and everybody I knew and loved, just so I could keep going. I’m crying now as I write this, because I still want to do this, but the reality is I’m no farther ahead today than I was on that plane.

For every subscription I gain, three or four more fall to expired credit cards, insufficient funds or yes, just outright cancellation. I get it - people are broke and have other priorities, but I don’t have the time or energy to commit to marketing efforts. I’m working alone to provide complex, highly-researched and analyzed information for one of the tiniest regionalized populations in the Western world: one million people.

By the way, that tiny population rate - which will never reach a meaningful number in our lifetime - is what makes it so easy to hurt and destroy each other in Saskatchewan. If I keep going with this, I’ll elaborate on that theory sometime, but trust me, it has merit. The way people treat their fellow residents in Saskatchewan is not sustainable.

My paid subscription rate has been stagnant. I’m still facing ongoing harassment and death threats, as recently as just a couple weeks ago. That, combined with the fact that Saskatchewan seems more like a lost cause than ever, leaving me feeling like what I’m doing has had almost no positive impact on anyone or anything, has caused me to pause to determine whether I need to see the writing all over my own wall and quit.

So put simply, I’m going to leave my future in your hands. There are a few ways you can lend a helping hand making this decision - that of whether or not I should keep going.

1. Consider Upgrading to a Paid Subscription.

By choosing a paid subscription, you not only gain access to exclusive benefits and premium content but also contribute to the financial sustainability of our Substack. It would make a tremendous difference if each subscriber decided to support this platform with a small monthly fee.

It may seem counterintuitive, but I want you to know that I want to be here and I want YOU to be here too, so I’m reupping a subscription discount, which you can access via this link until October 7, 2023:

You can renew even if you’re not expiring, it will simply tack on to the end of your current period.

2. Share and Promote This Substack.

Word-of-mouth recommendations are invaluable in helping OurSask grow.

If you find value in the content I write, I kindly ask you to please, spread the word among friends, peers, or anyone you think may find it helpful. Every new subscriber counts and will contribute to a stronger, more engaged community.

3. Private Donations.

For those who wish to show additional support beyond a subscription, I offer the option to make private donations through direct deposit e-transfers to tammyrobert@live.ca. These contributions, no matter how small, directly impact the quality and quantity of content I can create, ensuring that your interests and needs are met. I do not and will not ever accept corporate sponsorship.

Your opinion and input matter to me. It is through your support, feedback, and engagement that our community can grow and thrive. I am open to any suggestions or ideas you may have that would foster a sustainable future for this endeavor.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate this journey together. I hate writing these appeals, which are predictably, continually thrown back in my face as evidence that I’m all kinds of terrible things, including a failure. But, your continued and unwavering support means the world to me, and I remain committed to delivering content that I sincerely hope adds value to your lives. I want to keep working together to shape a brighter future for Saskatchewan… I just need to know that you do as well.

With all the warmest regards,