According to Premier Brad Wall, the province is reconsidering its recently-passed Bill 40, which would allow the province to sell up to 49 per-cent of a Crown corporation without a public vote.

The bill, passed in April this year, created a legal definition of privatization that would mean corporations like SaskTel, SGI or SaskEnergy would still be considered public if the government owned at least 51 per cent of them.

"MLAs were hearing since the spring sitting exactly what I was hearing, which were questions from people across the province — supporters of ours, some who are just not particularly decided voters and then some who are supporters of the other party — a concern about how we've defined privatization in Bill 40," said Wall.

"There's a considerable view out there that folks believe that any change in ownership, even if it's five-per-cent ownership in a Crown, constitutes a privatization."

The remarks were made after Wall announced a cabinet shuffle in August. He said the bill was a miscalculation by the government and it would be reconsidered in the fall.

He said the government is looking at a number of different options.

"If Saskatchewan people who own these Crown corporations feel that any change in ownership at all constitutes a privatization, we have to consider that," Wall said.

He said holding a province-wide referendum on potential changes to Crown corporations is another possibility.

Since being passed in April, the bill has been criticized by the Opposition NDP, with Trent Wotherspoon calling it an "incredible betrayal of Saskatchewan people by the Premier and the Sask. Party."

A report in July showed that the Crowns contributed $219 million to the provincial general revenue fund, which surpassed the budgeted goal of $204 million.