Sask. government closing cafeteria that lost $100K
A cafeteria run by the Saskatchewan government that lost more than $100,000 last year is being shut down.
Nov. 4 will be the last day for the Prairie View cafeteria at the T.C. Douglas Building in Wascana Centre.
The building is home to provincial Ministry of Health officials as well as the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
"The cafeteria had been operating at a loss," Troy Smith, the executive director of corporate services with the central services ministry, said in an interview.
"We looked at potentially other options to, you know, improve profitability, and failing that, the decision was made to close the cafeteria."
In the last complete fiscal year — 2015-2016 — the cafeteria lost $103,000, he said.
$75K earmarked for closure
Three employees are affected by the closure, smith said.
Last week, Premier Brad Wall's cabinet authorized spending $75,000 in connection with the shutdown. The money will be used for severance payments and vacation pay, Smith said.
It's not the first time province has closed cafeterias. Two others were closed in 2012 in the Walter Scott and Lloyd Place buildings, just down the street from the T.C. Douglas Building.
"It's certainly been the trend," Smith said. "The cafeteria model is just not as popular as it once was."
More people are brown-bagging it or going to restaurants for lunch, Smith said.
Cafeteria in Legislative Building will continue to operate
Smith said the assessment on whether or not to close the cafeteria was a part of "regular operations", rather than any specific cost-cutting initiative.
The provincial government is grappling with a $434 million deficit and has been cutting spending on certain areas to try to balance the budget.
With Prairie View gone, that leaves one provincially-run cafeteria — the one in the basement of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.
