CONTENTS
MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGETARY POLICY (BUDGET DEBATE)
MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGETARY POLICY (BUDGET DEBATE)
FOURTH
SESSION — TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE
of
the
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
DEBATES
AND PROCEEDINGS
(HANSARD)
N.S.
Vol. 65 No. 39B Tuesday, October 26,
2023, 19:00
[The Assembly
resumed at 19:00.]
EVENING SITTING
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — It is now 7 p.m. Session will
resume.
SPECIAL ORDER
ADJOURNED DEBATES
MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGETARY POLICY
(BUDGET DEBATE)
[The Assembly resumed the adjourned
debate on the proposed motion by the Hon. Ms. Harpauer that the Assembly approves
in general the budgetary policy of the government, and the proposed amendment
to the main motion moved by Mr. Wotherspoon.]
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member from Regina
University.
Ms.
A. Young: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Was
she finished? I’m sure a question folks are familiar with. But no, I wasn’t
finished, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But where did I leave off? It’s hard to remember.
We were really going through it.
But I think the main point that I wanted
to close on here is the most disappointing part of this budget of course was
the lack of any real concrete measure of relief for cost of living. Because,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it does not bring members on this side of the House any
great pleasure. In fact it’s disappointing. It’s hard. It’s the casework that
fills our offices, our inboxes, our phones. People are struggling right now,
Mr. Speaker, and in this budget, we saw not a stitch of relief.
We see a budget that is still focused,
that is still supported by the biggest tax increase in Saskatchewan’s history;
biggest expansion of the PST [provincial sales tax] which, as we canvassed
earlier, was hiked by 1 per cent; a PST revenue which has grown by
$2 billion since 2017. PST revenues, as we referenced earlier tonight,
have increased 17 per cent in 2024 alone. This and that government’s industrial
carbon tax are what is helping this budget stay away from being another
billion-dollar deficit, Mr. Speaker.
And this economic record — which is the
only thread we’ve seen through some of the budgetary responses here tonight,
this defensive, kind of wounded-animal stance around their economic record —
it’s not good, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And this budget underscores that fact, and
it reinforces how poorly people are doing, by completely ignoring anything
approaching a cost-of-living relief measure, Mr. Speaker. And let’s be clear,
it’s not just one poll or two polls, or one or two key economic indicators.
It’s all of them, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mortgage arrears leading the nation by a
multiplier. Food bank use leading the nation by a multiplier. Child poverty,
interpersonal violence, job creation, GDP [gross domestic product], capital
expenditures, rural jobs, housing starts, exports, female employment,
electrical price increases, wage growth, immigrant retention, Mr. Speaker —
it’s all abysmal.
And these are important things because
the economy matters. It’s the economy that supports public services that people
rely on, that supports the things that people need — not the wants, but the
basics that people need. Medical care where and when you need it; a good
education system for your children, something we can and should be proud of
here in this province; roads; a life you can afford; and all of those extra,
fun things that people in this province work so hard for and are struggling to
afford.
I’m going to go back, Mr. Speaker, to
the first meeting I had when we wrapped last year after session. The first
meeting I had with a constituent was a woman who had just lost her job and her
family was struggling despite being, you know, a dual income upper-middle-class
household. But they were struggling. She’d lost her job. And her concern
. . . This is not someone who was desperate; this is not somebody who
was, you know, in that kind of grinding poverty.
But she was looking at having to cancel
her Disney+ subscription for her kids. And she said, “I work really hard, and I
just want my daughter to be able to watch Frozen.” And this is a family,
an upper-middle-class family that is struggling, and they can’t afford the
movies for their kids that — God knows I know — keep them occupied sometimes
when you’re making dinner.
And like I said, this isn’t a family in
abject, grinding poverty, but this is a hard-working middle-class family who
can’t afford movies for their kids. And those are the small measures that make
people angry. Those are the small things that make people frustrated when they
work so hard. And of course, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there are people doing
considerably worse.
I jinxed myself earlier this evening
when referencing the fact that I haven’t had my children here with me. My
daughter’s sitting in the lounge. I pick her up downtown at preschool every
day. I drop her off and I pick her up. And in the last month alone, I’ve gone from
seeing what we all see, the stark increase in visible poverty — homelessness,
addictions, people in mental health crisis, people sleeping outside, people
sleeping rough, people obviously in the throes of addiction — to now I see
people openly smoking meth on the corner.
Two weeks ago I started seeing people
openly using intravenous drugs downtown. And yesterday, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I
went in to pick up my daughter from daycare, and I saw some people outside
having a smoke and one of them slumped over. In the 10 minutes it took me to go
upstairs, get her, walk her downstairs, I came outside and that poor fellow was
in, what I assume, the full throes of an overdose. He was on his back, people
doing chest compressions. The fire department rolled up, and I’m not sure what
happened to him. I hope he was okay.
But this is at 4:30 in the afternoon,
downtown Regina, outside of my daughter’s daycare. And we got in the car and
she said, “Mom, why is that guy sleeping? You think if we turn up the music,
maybe that’ll wake him up?” And I said, “I don’t know, buddy. I think he’s just
like probably having a really bad day.”
But people are not doing well. Anyone
who goes through our downtowns and main streets will see that. And it is from
those people living with the worst of addiction, of mental health, of
homelessness, of that abject, abject devastating poverty up to the
upper-middle-class families who might not be able to afford activities for the
kids, who might not be able to afford a vacation, who might not be able to
afford Disney+ for their kids. And those are really terrible choices that
families are having to make. And those are the 6 in 10 people who are saying
that they’re worried about their bills. Those are the one in five Saskatchewan
people who have gone hungry since 2021.
But again we’ve seen it throughout this
budget. We’ve seen it throughout the budget responses in this Assembly thus
far. There’s no humility. There’s no recognition that perhaps things aren’t
going well.
And I suppose, Mr. Deputy Speaker, where
I want to end is I do want to recognize one thing that I thought was good in
this budget. One thing, small but mighty. I think our regional park system in
Saskatchewan is absolutely fantastic, and I was thrilled. The people who support
those parks, the people who do that work I know have advocated long and hard
for this, and I am thrilled to see that budget double. I think our regional
parks are hidden gems. I think they represent the best of what localized
economic development tourism in Saskatchewan could be. My favourite one I want
to give a shout-out to — I assume it’s in the constituency of Cypress Hills —
but Pine Cree Regional Park is just absolutely magnificent. I hesitate to say
it into the record because I want it to stay a hidden secret.
I have made a commitment before I wrap
up today, Mr. Speaker, to my daughter. We’re walking in and I told her I would
raise her main public policy concern here. And it actually is a real one, and
it’s something I actually hope might be in the government’s control. But my
daughter, I think like many people from probably the ages of 3 till 37, and
probably the parents of 37‑year-olds as well, Mr. Deputy Speaker, are
still mourning the loss of the late, great Megamunch. Megamunch was an
institution here in Regina. He was an institution in a small way in the couple
years that I’ve been privileged enough to be a parent.
And I would submit to this tired and
out-of-touch government, Megamunch was not tired and out of touch. That janky,
perfect animatronic dinosaur has probably generated more economic activity for
this capital city than many members in this Assembly. I don’t know what it
would cost to bring him back out of retirement. I’ve heard many competing
stories about why he was retired. But Megamunch to me really represents the
best of Saskatchewan.
And so, Mr. Speaker, I made that
commitment to my daughter. She asked me if I would come here and if I would
fight for Megamunch, if I would use my words at my work and make a case for
Megamunch. So I would like to put that ask to the minister for parks, culture,
and tourism. I’ll put that ask to the entire cabinet, to the Premier. If
there’s anything you can do to bring back Megamunch for the thousands of
Saskatchewan people who are still mourning his loss, I know there is at least
one little girl who would be absolutely thrilled.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I will wrap up
my comments. Unfortunately I will not be supporting the budget put forward by
the government, but I will be supporting the amendment moved by my good friend
and colleague, the member for Regina Rosemont.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon.
Mr. Moe: — Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would ask for
leave for a brief introduction.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — Member asked for leave to introduce
guests. Is leave granted?
Some
Hon. Members: — Agreed.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — Leave has granted.
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS
Hon.
Mr. Moe: — Mr. Speaker, very often in this
House we have the opportunity to introduce our family that love and support us
in the work that we do here on the floor. I would clarify that my family is not
here today; however there are three individuals here that do have a family
member that serves on the floor of this Assembly, and that is the children of
our Minister of Crown Investments Corporation, the children of our member, the
most popular MLA [Member of the Legislative Assembly] ever from the community
of Weyburn and the constituency of Weyburn, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have with us Jack,
Ephram, and Penelope Duncan, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to welcome them to their
Legislative Assembly. I have seen Jack here before as we had the opportunity to
have a floor hockey game in the halls of the rotunda late one evening or after
supper one evening. We won’t tell anyone about that, Jack. And if anyone is
wondering what the red button down by the cafeteria till there does, you can
ask Jack. He knows what that button does. And again we won’t tell anyone if
someone may or may not have hit that, Mr. Speaker.
But I would like to thank these three
children that are attending school here in the city of Regina. I want to thank
them for doing what they do each and every day to allow their father to serve
on the floor of this Assembly for what will be 18 years very shortly. Dad is
going to be home a whole lot more, probably unemployed for a period of time.
But he’s going to be able to spend a whole lot more time with the three of you.
And so I would ask all members on the
floor of this Assembly to welcome Jack, Ephram, and Penelope Duncan, the
children of our Minister of Crown Investments Corporation.
SPECIAL ORDER
ADJOURNED DEBATES
MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGETARY POLICY
(BUDGET DEBATE)
[The Assembly resumed the adjourned
debate on the proposed motion by the Hon. Ms. Harpauer that the Assembly
approves in general the budgetary policy of the government, and the proposed
amendment to the main motion moved by Mr. Wotherspoon.]
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member for
Kindersley.
Mr.
Francis: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Well
here we are, spring 2024, post-budget day in what will be my last session.
Very, very hard to believe, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Presented by our very own
political superstar, the longest serving current female cabinet minister in the
country brings down her last budget.
I’m honoured to be able to say that I
was present for her last seven budgets, although Ryan Meili and the opposition
walked out of one of those prior to the tabling. Nothing like using a pandemic
to make a political statement, Mr. Deputy Speaker, not to mention how he and
the NDP [New Democratic Party] wanted to shut down the entire economy
indefinitely. Could you imagine the damage he could have caused if he was
premier? Fortunately, Mr. Speaker, Ryan Meili has left. But unfortunately his
ideology remains alive and well in the NDP. New leader. Same old fear and
smear. Same old NDP.
Mr. Speaker, up to this last budget I
was truly honoured to sit on treasury board alongside this Finance minister.
What an impressive lady, Mr. Speaker. We’ve heard it so many times that what an
impressive wealth of knowledge. Her irreplaceable corporate knowledge is very
much an understatement.
Since this is my last budget, I would
like to reflect on my time on treasury board. I must say that this was likely
the most time-consuming, challenging but also the most rewarding position the
Premier put me in. The responsible handling of spending and taxpayer dollars
has always been a top priority for me and this government. So many governments
tax and spend or borrow and spend. They bake in and build structural deficits
with short-term policy and short-term thinking and then pass it on, passing on
that pain to future governments and future generations of taxpayers. Not this
government, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Not this Finance minister.
Now
that’s something the NDP simply cannot or will not care to comprehend. Mr.
Deputy Speaker, fortunately this opposition hasn’t had the opportunity to
develop a budget. They really could have benefited from financial literacy in
the classroom that’s upcoming. When you haven’t run a farm or a business, you
wouldn’t know that revenue and expenditures can fluctuate from year to year.
Despite your best projections, things can and will change, sometimes quite
drastically. I know we’ve seen that over the last few budgets.
So
when we have large bumps in our non-renewable resource revenue, as we’ve had in
the past few budgets, we’ve chosen to pay down debt. As a matter of fact, over
the past couple of budgets we’ve retired $2.5 billion in high-interest
debt, debt service and savings that can be reinvested into programs, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. The NDP think that’s a bad idea, and we have no idea why.
[19:15]
Now
we’ve heard over and over again how the NDP hates debt. They harp on how we
have skyrocket the provincial debt. But what they leave out of the conversation
is the long, long list of infrastructure projects that have been built over our
time in government. Mr. Speaker, the list is huge. Anyone who hasn’t been to
Saskatchewan in a while is quite shocked at the marked improvement this
province has undergone since punting the NDP in 2007.
And
why are we not surprised when they leave out important facts and figures, Mr.
Deputy Speaker? Well the true facts perhaps don’t fit their doom and gloom
narrative, for one. But I think the underlying answer is simply embarrassment,
embarrassed by their record versus ours. For example, take debt-to-GDP ratio.
It’s a metric used to measure financial stability, shows the ability of a
government to pay off its public debt. Our current debt-to-GDP ratio is second
best in the nation. And here’s an even staggering stat — it’s half of what it
was under the last NDP government. What a sobering statistic, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. Small thinking and a small economy, small budgets and big debt is
their equation to success. It does not work.
And
what did the NDP have to show for it, Mr. Deputy Speaker? Fifty-two rural
hospital closures; 176 school closures; crumbling highways; a declining
population; a decade and a half of chaos, closures, and crashing the provincial
economy. Now in fairness calling it their record perhaps isn’t exactly
accurate. Their party’s record is perhaps more accurate.
Now
most of their members are quite new, others not so much. For example, the
members from Rosemont and Cumberland, they’re hardly new. Opposition fixtures
for 16 and 17 years respectively, I believe — talk about old and tired. You
know that linoleum or wood panelling that your parents had in the basement?
It’s really tough and durable but horribly out of style and quite embarrassing
when you have your friends over.
But
of course, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I don’t really mind those old guys actually. I’m
one of them. But for the new ones looking for a crisis every day, it literally
drives me up the wall. And I’m not even kidding.
I
will share a story. A couple weeks ago I was having a bit of chest and arm
discomfort during the week of session, and I thought it really wasn’t much to
worry about. It would kind of come and go and never get too bad, but you know,
at this age a person should probably not ignore the warning signs.
So
I was on my drive home to Kindersley, and I stopped in Rosetown and visited the
ER [emergency room]. And I told the staff about my situation, and they ran all
the typical tests and everything was clear. Lovely lady doctor said that you’re
perfectly healthy for a guy your age and asked me if I had a stressful job.
And
I countered with, “Do you know the MLA for Rosetown?” She didn’t. I said, “How
about the Health ministers?” She didn’t know them either. Then I told her I
work in government. And then she asked, “Were there any times when you feel the
symptoms are worse than others?” And then I thought about it and sure enough,
it was listening to the NDP across the aisle. I never knew socialist-induced
angina was a thing, but fortunately the doctor gave me some good coping skills
and some advice about not letting those bullies trigger my anxiety attacks.
But,
Mr. Speaker, let’s for argument’s sake compare the disastrous NDP
administration of the 1990s and early 2000s to this new class of New Democrats.
Now you might think this new-to-you NDP is different, fresh, so to speak. Well,
Mr. Speaker, they’re trying to be new. They have a new fondness, a new-found
fondness for pipelines, a new-found opposition to the carbon tax, a new-found
misalignment with their federal counterparts and their policies.
It’s
funny how their minds are quickly changing. Perhaps it’s the federal polling
numbers. Virtue-signalling policies exhibited by the Liberal Party, along with
their NDP coalition comrades, is coming home to roost, and even the provincial
NDP are noticing. Perhaps self-balancing finances and governing from the heart
out does not equate to economic success after all. Perhaps a carbon tax does
make everything more expensive and it makes us less competitive.
It’s
pretty clear, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that this NDP wants to somehow miraculously
shape-shift into a centrist party in order to garner support and votes, just
like the federal Liberals did in 2015. And we know all too well how that turned
out. True colours will shine through. Their “What would you like us to be now?”
mantra. “Yeah sure, we can be that” is straight out of the Justin Trudeau and
Jagmeet Singh blow-in-the-wind-like-a-weather-vane playbook, and one that the
Leader of the Opposition seems to want to mimic to her voters. Talk about out
of touch and tone-deaf.
Mr.
Speaker, the trouble is, of their caucus of 14, it’s hard to find more than two
or three that share a common ideology other than fear and smear. That unites
them. Now in fairness, their leader is trying to unify and rally the troops. I
wish her luck. Not really, but sorry, I am quite skeptical that she can organize
the multiple mini-activist factions that are within that party.
We’ve
seen a concerted effort, and I use that term rather loosely, to tune in or
appeal to rural voters. In principle that’s a pretty good idea, except for the
fact that they are even more clueless when it comes to rural Saskatchewan than
ever before. I’m afraid showing up at SARM [Saskatchewan Association of Rural
Municipalities] with your plaid shirt and your blue jeans doesn’t make you a
farmer. And again, using the Prime Minister’s Mr. Dressup script doesn’t work
so well in Saskatchewan, let alone with rural voters. They see right through
the facade.
They’ve
tried to fit in, Mr. Speaker, and it wasn’t surprising to see them at the SARM
convention. They should be there. But I must say it warmed my heart to see the
looks on their faces and their STF [Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation] campaign
team faces when one of the delegates during the bear-pit session told our
Education minister to please stop allowing our children to be turned into little
socialists by the education system. Now I didn’t see it, but apparently the
member from Rosemont was clapping so loud along with the crowd following that
statement. Good for him if he was. I always thought he maybe wasn’t quite left
enough for that crew over there.
The
NDP simply does not fit in rural Saskatchewan. After 17 years they still don’t,
and it’s no wonder. Their efforts are perceived as disingenuous. They are just
as out of touch as they were 17 years ago. What is genuine, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
is their day-in and day-out bashing of the provincial economy and the talking
down of this great province. Everything is terrible and only they can fix it.
They don’t have a plan, but they’re ready. There’s a job to do and they’re
ready to do it, but they have no clue what the job is, and they have no clue
how to do it.
Refusing
to accept the actual economic statistics instead of cherry-picking the worst
portions of years or months to paint a negative picture has been a very go-to
move for them of late. To quote my colleague from Saskatoon Stonebridge-Dakota,
please stop pretending that everything is bad. It isn’t. It is in fact quite
positive, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so positive that more than 200,000 people now
call Saskatchewan home, something the NDP said was impossible, a pipe dream.
It’s so bad here, Mr. Speaker, our population has risen by 25 per cent since
2007. The NDP have shown that negativity and no plan builds nothing. Here’s the
equation: NDP plus negativity, plus no plan, equals zero.
However,
Mr. Speaker, over the past 17 years Sask Party math is positivity, plus good
people, plus a plan, equals success. Yes, that’s Sask Party math, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, and that’s math everyone understands. Private investors understand it.
Our foreign trade partners understand it.
So
let’s stay with the positive message that is the continuing success story that
is Saskatchewan. There is in fact lots of good news, lots to be thankful for,
and lots of things to look forward to here in the province, pages and pages of
proof from cover to cover in this latest budget document. It’s all in the name,
Mr. Deputy Speaker: classrooms, care, and communities. What an all-encompassing
theme. Literally something for everyone across the province.
I
did a post-budget radio interview last week back home, and the reporter asked
me, well what’s in the budget for Kindersley? And I thought for a second and it
was easy — everything. Every person, every town, every city, every RM [rural
municipality] has a vested interest in this budget. Better education support,
better support for health care, continuing support in revenue sharing for
communities in our province. And that’s what sets this budget apart from some
of the others, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And
the Finance minister said herself last week, “Would I have liked my last budget
to be balanced? Sure.” But she knows full well balancing budgets just for the
sake of balancing them is flawed ideology. That would usually mean cuts or
somebody would lose. Not in this budget. Quite the opposite, actually —
enhancements and funding for services in three critical areas, putting
classrooms, care, and communities ahead of everything else at a time when it is
most needed.
I
honestly thought to myself, wow, I’m really proud of this budget, even though I
had nothing to do with it for the first time in three years. I know full well
the treasury board members are on the exact same page as I am, and I felt the
decisions that were made were very well aligned with my own.
So
to be perfectly honest, when I was on a holiday in January, I had serious FOMO
[fear of missing out] for you guys sitting in treasury board. I know that
sounds a little bit odd, but it does give me great comfort as I wind down my
political life knowing the province is in such capable hands, and my colleagues
on this side are in control and not the folks on the opposition side.
Now
there will be some massive shoes to fill this fall. The Deputy Premier, the
member from Indian Head-Milestone, Weyburn-Big Muddy, Saskatoon Southeast, Saskatoon
Northwest, my good friends from Arm River, Canora-Pelly, Carrot River, Batoche,
Regina Northeast, and my little socialist Tommy Douglas doppelgänger from
Yorkton, thank you very much for your exemplary service, but even more so for
your friendship. And even the members on the other side that aren’t running
again as well as our current Speaker, thank you very much for your service.
But
back to the budget to wrap up, no matter how simple the math or how clear the
statistics are, the members opposite refuse to admit the cold, hard facts —
even though there are some current challenges, we’re living in quite good times
here in this province. The province continues to thrive, again largely due to
the fact we have not had an NDP government in 17 years.
For
seven years in a row, seven budgets in a row, the opposition has claimed the
budget contains nothing of value. That is simply insulting, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
This budget is anything but bad news. How could providing record funding for
challenging classrooms equate to no value? How is a 9 per cent lift of
education overall of no value?
Mr. Speaker, a 10 per cent lift to our
already massive health budget, apparently zero value. We need more doctors,
more nurses, more diagnostic professionals. We need more mental health and
addictions support. We’re providing that. No value. This budget supports all of
those things, yet hold no value to the NDP.
I look forward to hearing from my
colleagues as they outline what matters to them in this budget over the rest of
this week. Only through a strong provincial economy can we afford to pay
doctors and nurses. Only through a strong economy can we provide classroom
supports to pay teachers and EAs [educational assistant]. Only through a strong
economy can we grow this province.
We continue to be open for business, and
we have what the world needs and wants. That is how and why this budget works
for everyone in this province. Again the single biggest barrier to our
provincial success continues to be socialist policies like those of our federal
government and the members opposite. Do not be fooled by the members opposite.
They align perfectly with their federal Liberal-NDP comrades. Our government
has seen and continues to see Saskatchewan’s potential. This budget is absolute
proof that vision sets us up for success — not just for today, but also into
the future.
I want to thank all the officials in
each ministry for your hard work to get this budget to the place it landed.
Once again, to the Finance team and the ministry folks, a big thank you to you
for your preparation, execution in this budget document. To the treasury board
members, thank you for your time and input. It’s a big task.
[19:30]
And one final thank you to the Deputy
Premier, our Finance minister. Congratulations on another great budget, an even
better career, and all the best to her in her professional grandma duties. That
beaming look on her face holding that 8‑day-old grandbaby was all that
needed to be said. Enjoy your next chapter, Madam. You have earned it.
I wholeheartedly support the budget
motion as presented by the Minister of Finance and seconded by the member from
Saskatoon Willowgrove, and I will not support the amendment put forward by the
opposition. Thank you.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees:
— I recognize the member from Kelvington-Wadena.
Mr.
Nerlien: — Ditto. Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. It’s always a great pleasure to rise in the Chamber and have an
opportunity to speak to the budget, also to the Speech from the Throne and many
other opportunities throughout the year. This year I’m going to probably do
something a little bit different. I’m going to leave my condemnation of the
opposition until the end. So bear with me for a few minutes.
I’m going to begin with talking a little
bit about family. We have that opportunity to do that from time to time.
Obviously I want to thank my wife and my family for their support. It means a
great deal obviously to us to know that the home fires are well looked after
and the family is in great shape and great stead, largely in part to their
mother. So I really appreciate her support and the engagement that we have with
our family. We’ve got two grandchildren now, so we’re just really excited about
that part of our life.
I might talk a little bit about
something I don’t think I’ve mentioned before, for no particular reason other
than it’s something from a long time ago. I want to talk about my mom and dad.
I grew up in an entrepreneurial environment. My dad was a farmer. When I was
six, he struck off with my mom and started to grow some businesses. And over
the course of the next few years we added a garage, cafe, deli kind of thing,
bit of a grocery store, post office, welder dealership, fast-food operation.
Built a golf course. And in his off time, he invented a rock picker and
modified the washing machine, I think, if I remember right.
But he died when I was 14. So I had
eight years of entrepreneurial exposure and the farm background obviously. And
I think in those eight years what I learned most was, it’s not good enough to
just show up. When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, your
objective should be, what can I do to make the world a better place today?
And so I’ve tried to take that with me
through my life, and I’ve had many opportunities. And the other thing I think I
learned is that you learn far more from failure than you do from success. And I
think each and every one of us who has been in business or who has, you know,
sort of . . . I always use the expression “You’re a conservative when
you finally sign the front end of a cheque, not the back end.”
And I think that when you start doing
that, you’re going to make some mistakes and you’re going to learn a lot from
them. And I think that, I hope I’ve brought that to this place because I firmly
believe that we should never leave a stone unturned. We should always be
looking to improve what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and look for ways to
do things better and to improve our relationship as a government with the
people who pay our way. I have a strong sense of responsibility to the
taxpayer. And I think long and hard about that. The taxpayer is who we should
bow down to. We have a responsibility to the taxpayer.
My colleague from Canora-Pelly was
having a little bit of fun earlier and talking about “throw two, sweep six.” I
take issue with that. And he and I have had many discussions about this. But I
think if you throw two and sweep six your entire life, nothing changes. You
just stay the same. You know, you’re treading water the whole time. Once in a
while you’ve got to step out and throw three. And I firmly believe that that’s
our responsibility is to get up and try to make a difference.
So you know, my mom carried on
obviously, single mother, and worked hard to get us through school and all of
those things. But you know, my life experience has been invaluable, and I truly
appreciate everything that I’ve had the opportunity to do. And the family and
all of that has been really, really important.
I want to talk just briefly about my
extended family. I’ve probably mentioned this once before, but my wife is from
a large family. I think there’s somewhere around 140 or so in the immediate
family now. And so amongst those we have quite a few teachers; I think 15
retired and active teachers. We have doctors and nurses and LPNs [licensed
practical nurse] and RPNs [registered psychiatric nurse] and CCAs [continuing
care aide] and some support people in the health and education system. We have
farmers. We have accountants. We have . . . I don’t think there’s a
lawyer; probably need one.
And we’ve got people that work in all
fields. And so when we get together — and we do get together at least once a
year — when we get together, the conversations are always fascinating because
it’s from every angle. We are, I think, representative of the population of
Saskatchewan, and almost all of them live in Saskatchewan. And so we do have
some very engaging conversation about, you know, all of the things that matter
to the people of Saskatchewan.
So when I look at the budget that the
Minister of Finance put forward, I’m just really proud to say that I kind of
thought beyond the words “classrooms, care, and communities,” which are
extremely important. They’re the theme of the budget. And I look at the budget
as being one of just pure opportunity. Everything in this budget is about
opportunity for Saskatchewan. It’s all about opportunity.
Everything is about more opportunities
in education, more opportunities in health care, more opportunities in advanced
education, more opportunities through the Sask DLC [Saskatchewan Distance
Learning Centre], you know, more opportunities to grow and build Saskatchewan.
Because as we’ve all mentioned, it’s because of a strong economy we can do the
things that we need to do for the folks that need a little support, need a
little help.
And I do want to mention that I think
the health budget this year, I believe, is 38 per cent of the budget, education
is 22, and social services is 8.8. So roughly 70 per cent of the budget is in
those three most important — you know, not to lessen the importance of highways
and policing and all the other things — but really, really critical services
that we provide.
And my constituents, I think, would tend
to say the role of government, by and large, is to do the things that make life
a little bit better and get out of the way. Get out of the way. Let us do what
we do best. Let us run our businesses. Let us be the employees of choice. Let
us make the differences in our communities. Let us, in our communities, work
together to make the community a better place to live.
And we all on this side certainly experience
that in every community that we go to where there’s a fundraiser or there’s a
project going on where we’re trying to make a difference for our community, for
the people in our communities, and more often than not, for the people who are
less fortunate in the community. So I think that’s extremely important.
There’s one other thing that I’m
particularly proud of in this budget is the first steps to the new Sask Poly in
Saskatoon. I’m an alumni of Sask Poly, so I have a particular care for that institution
and so I’m very excited about that opportunity that’s coming in Saskatoon. And
I think it’s going to make a huge difference to the province.
There’s a lot of things that are in the
budget that I think I just want to touch on real quickly. And I’m going to
touch on them from the perspective of, why do they matter to the people from
Kelvington-Wadena? Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to meet
with communities throughout the constituency and the health care team from SHA
[Saskatchewan Health Authority], their management team in the area. And those
conversations have been incredibly important and valuable and frankly, very
positive in the sense that we’ve got almost to a point where we’re staffed up.
We’ve got the doctors in place. We’ve
got the CLXTs [combined laboratory and X-ray technologist] in place, the CCAs.
There’s a couple of spots here and there where we can still add a few, but by
and large, we’re in pretty darn good shape. And that is reflected in the
attitude of the folks around the table. They’re all speaking very positively.
And frankly I was talking to one of the
senior leadership team from SHA last night, and the conversation got to sort
of, what’s the morale like in the health care system now. And it’s vastly
improved over the last couple of years. And that’s so pleasing to hear. Despite
what they’re saying on the opposition side, it’s really pleasing to hear that
the people are feeling better about getting up and going to work, and that’s
what’s really important.
But there’s some other things in the
budget that matter to the people from Kelvington-Wadena. And in no particular
order, things like passing lanes on highways. We don’t have any in
Kelvington-Wadena, but every time we go to Saskatoon or Yorkton or Regina,
those passing lanes save lives. Those are extremely important to us.
The new P.A. [Prince Albert] hospital, I
bring it up at every meeting I’m in. That is going to take pressure off of
Saskatoon, which means a great deal to my constituency because my
constituency’s typical treating area has been, you know, sort of Tisdale,
Melfort, Saskatoon. And by having that new facility in Prince Albert, it’s
going to service the North, but it’s also going to take pressure off Saskatoon
— hugely important.
You know, we’ve got some businesses in
our community that are growing and building and adding things. Tisdale, not in
my constituency directly, but they’re working on an ag zone on the west side of
Tisdale. Really important for the whole area.
Wheatbelt in Wadena, they added a
facility to assemble some of the larger equipment that’s available to the ag
industry these days. And it’s making a huge difference to all the people that
work there, and they’ve added some staff accordingly.
We obviously have BHP. We’ve got the
canola crush facilities and things like that happening around us. Hugely
important to us. A company called ProSoils is building a blend plant just
outside of my community. We’ve got continued, sustainable production from
companies like Olymel and Sofina Lilydale, and folks like that across my
constituency. And each of those is huge employers making a difference to the
community.
One other thing I wanted to mention, the
children’s hospital. Hugely important to my constituency and to every single
one of us across the province. And the member from Saskatoon Willowgrove threw
out some statistics the other day, and I just want to repeat a couple of them
because I think they’re so important: 80,376 visits; 29,342 emergency room
visits; 968 neonatal intensive care patients; 5,305 children born; 499
communities served. That facility has made a difference in Saskatchewan. And we
can’t do those kinds of things, we can’t build facilities like that if we don’t
have a strong economy. We have to keep building our economy.
[19:45]
So I’m going to probably talk just a
couple of things about trade. The member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre the
other day said, and I quote, “How does an ad in a Dubai subway help the people
of Saskatchewan put food on their table?” Oh, my God. You know, when you look
at the world from that perspective, you might as well just shut her down and go
home.
There was, I think — what? — yeah, 197
countries represented there. 197 leaders from countries around the world in
those facilities for a week, 10 days, whatever it was, and they saw
Saskatchewan. They saw Saskatchewan as an independent economic region that they
wanted to speak with. Best in the world. Best in the world. Sustainable story
on production of resources, agriculture, potash, energy, ad infinitum.
I also want to talk about something else
that comes up from time to time. And had the pleasure of meeting the ambassador
from Vietnam today, and it reminded me that one of the most important things in
trade relationships in Asia . . . And I’ve talked to a senior sales
executive in Taiwan, and he was telling me about this. And I may have mentioned
it once before in a speech, but I think it’s so important. When in Asia and when
you’re dealing with trade issues, the business card is extremely important.
You speak to the people at your level of
your business card. You don’t speak up in Asia. So sending the Premier and the
Deputy Premier or the Minister of Trade and Export Development matters. It’s
not about the trade offices, necessarily — they’re good, they’re bad, whatever.
It’s about sending the right people with the right business card to make the
right decisions and the right deals for Saskatchewan.
How much time do I . . . [inaudible
interjection] . . . Okay, I’ll get to the scolding part. I do want to
mention, you know, it’s interesting. The members opposite, they keep coming up
with all these radical statements about, you know, what we may or may not have
done in the last five or six years.
I want to remind them of what the global
economy has looked like in the last few years. 2016: commodity crash, resource
revenues dropped by a billion dollars, international markets, Brexit, the
Chinese stock market crash. The rise of the US [United States] oil production
and OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries], 2016 into 2017. 2020
to 2022: coronavirus and the fallout from that right through to late 2022, two
droughts, right?
So it hasn’t been an easy ride for the
Minister of Finance, but she’s done a remarkable job as has the folks on
treasury board who worked endlessly. And we really appreciate all the work that
goes in.
That’s another thing. I think the
members opposite think that the budget’s written on a napkin and then, you
know, you just show up one day and you read it off.
An
Hon. Member: — Well it was when they were in
government.
Mr.
Nerlien: — Well it probably was, yeah. But it
takes months and months and months of enormous amount of work to make that come
together. And there’s hundreds and hundreds of agencies and boards and
associations and groups that come together to create those budget numbers.
A couple of statistics that I think are
important. My colleague from Kindersley sort of touched on this, but the net
debt-to-GDP — this is really important folks; pay attention — the net
debt-to-GDP was roughly 14 per cent this year. Do you know what the net
debt-to-GDP was in 2007? 16 per cent. Oops. I think we’re going in the right
direction, folks.
You know, I tend to think about
. . . You know, I want to mention the relationship between the NDP
provincially and the NDP federally, just to remind folks. They keep denying
that they have this relationship. The NDP membership in their constitution,
section 1.2: “The Party shall constitute a section of the New Democratic Party
of Canada.” Section 1.5: “In any matter not dealt with by this Constitution,
the Constitution of the New Democratic Party of Canada shall prevail.” So deny,
deny, deny, but the reality is that if you have a New Democratic membership
card in your pocket, you support the feds. So if you don’t like it, cut up your
card and walk away.
Just one other thing. You know, on
February 7th, here’s something here. Just to show you how radical, crazy the
NDP are, on February 7th the NDP member Charlie Angus introduced Bill 372 to
ban oil and gas promotion. And I quote, “It is prohibited for a person to
promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of
a fossil fuel . . .” So if you are wearing the “I love Canadian oil
and gas T-shirts,” you could be thrown in jail. The reaction from industry,
from First Nations, and literally every common-sense person in Canada except
the Saskatchewan NDP was, are you crazy?
Imagine even the Federated Co-op would
have to cancel their ads for their Co-op premium lubricants which are designed
to withstand the toughest manufacturer tests and provide the ultimate in
durability and protection. Cancel that. Done.
Anyway I’m going to just wrap up on
. . . Well no, I’ve got two congratulations for members from the
other side. I want to congratulate the member from Regina Rosemont who went to
the Belanger university and got a degree in bombast, bluster, and hyperbole.
And I also want to congratulate the members from Regina Elphinstone and Regina
University who attended the classes put on by the former member from
Elphinstone on how to do drive-by smears.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I fully endorse and
support the budget put forward by the Minister of Finance and thank her for her
years of service. And I had the pleasure of working a little bit with her and
the previous Finance minister closely, and I truly appreciate her leadership.
Thank you so much. I support the motion, the seconding by the member from Saskatoon
Willowgrove, and I certainly do not support the amendment from the opposition.
Thank you.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the Minister of Health.
Hon.
Mr. Hindley: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chair of
Committees. It’s an honour and a pleasure to enter into the debate here tonight
on the provincial budget.
I’ll start with a few brief thank yous.
First of all, thanks to the constituents of Swift Current who I am honoured to
represent as their MLA. Just very grateful for the feedback and the
consultation and the discussion and collaboration that I have with the amazing
people of the city of Swift Current. And again, every day I’m honoured to be
able to represent them here in this legislative Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, my family back home, my wife
Anita, our kids Raven and Adler, our grandson Axel who brings so much joy to
our life, and who, as all of us in this Chamber I think have said, would not be
able to do this job without the support of our family and our friends back home
in our constituencies and across this province.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my
constituency assistant back at the MLA office. Nola Smith, I’ve had the
pleasure to work with for a number of years now and who holds down the fort
when I’m not there and is the face and the voice of the office on so many days.
And I’m just grateful for Nola’s continued work in the MLA office.
Staff here in the offices in Regina that
myself and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Rural and Remote
Health and Seniors share staff. My chief of staff, Clint Fox; Cheyenne Quam
who’s in charge of communications in my office; Angela Pasiechnyk; Lisa Birnie;
Elias Nelson who’s the chief of staff next door; Cole Blatter; Nolan Slusar;
Savanna Smuk; Stephanie Fuchs; and the newest recruit Franz Dela Cruz. And
quite a staff that we have here at our ministers’ offices, Mr. Speaker, and who
help us so much — myself and the Minister of Rural and Remote Health. And I
know all members in this Chamber, whether they’re in cabinet or a member of caucus,
we would not be able to do these jobs that we are doing without the assistance
of our staff.
Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Premier,
the best Premier in Canada, who we are so fortunate to have leading this party,
leading this province, and who I just can’t say enough positive things about.
And we’re just so very grateful to have the member for Rosthern-Shellbrook as
our Premier here leading this government.
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Premier who has
received many accolades here — tonight and last night, I know, during the
afternoon — from other members of this government for her continued work not
just on this budget, Mr. Speaker, but on so many budgets here, and who is
always a leader when it comes to the Ministry of Finance, but in our caucus, in
our government team, and frankly, who always has the door open for us, whether
we’re members of the cabinet or caucus to be able to walk into her office and
have a conversation with her.
And to the Deputy Premier, thank you so
much for your friendship and your leadership for so many years. I’ve been
lucky. I’ve had a chance to know the Deputy Premier since 1999 when she was
first elected. I know it’s a long time ago, and I served as a staffer, starting
off as a constituency assistant in Swift Current, and have always greatly
admired and respected her and will continue to do so.
And of course, Mr. Speaker, the rest of
the colleagues here on our side of the Chamber, what a great team we have. A
great team of MLAs here as part of the Saskatchewan Party caucus here and the
government. And not only a great team of hard-working MLAs that do such
valuable work on behalf of their constituents, but who in addition to that, Mr.
Speaker, have become friends, very close friends to myself and to others.
And it’s just amazing to be able to walk
into a room each and every day when we’re here sitting, and outside of session
to be able to pick up the phone and have those conversations with our
colleagues who are also our friends. So thank you to our caucus members who are
here tonight and all of them here who support this government and the work that
we do.
Mr. Speaker, I’ll get into the budget
itself now. As we’ve heard here tonight, and throughout the past number of
days: classrooms, care, and communities. That’s the highlights, the highlights
of this particular budget. It’s the theme. And I think, Mr. Speaker, I would
say it couldn’t be more telling of what this budget is and what the priorities
are of the people of Saskatchewan, what we hear from our constituents, from
people right across this province. And I would say, Mr. Speaker, and I would
argue that this budget speaks directly to those priorities and responds to the
challenges of a growing province and does so by reinvesting the benefits of a
growing province.
Start with the classrooms and the
education sector of Saskatchewan. This ’24‑25 budget supports students
and teachers, again not able to do these sorts of investments or make these
sorts of investments without the strength of a growing and strong provincial
economy, with a record level investment of $3.3 billion for the Ministry
of Education. That’s up over 8.1 per cent over last year’s budget and is an
increase of $247.8 million to support pre-kindergarten to grade 12
schools, early learning, child care, and libraries. Saskatchewan’s 27 school
divisions, Mr. Speaker, will receive $2.2 billion in school funding,
operating funding for the 2024‑25 school year, which is a record increase
of $180 million over the previous year.
Locally, Mr. Deputy Speaker, what does
this translate to back home for the constituents of mine who are in the city
and the constituency of Swift Current? Well, Mr. Speaker, it is
$84.8 million for the Chinook School Division, an increase of
$4.8 million, or 6 per cent. And I want to thank the people back in the
Chinook School Division, the teachers, the administrators, all of the parents
and students and everyone that’s . . . the support staff for the work
that they do in Chinook. And this increase will help support Chinook, the
school division in Swift Current and across southwest Saskatchewan.
[20:00]
In addition to that, $27.8 million
for the Holy Trinity Catholic School Division, of course which a portion of
that falls within the city of Swift Current boundaries and a number of schools
there, an increase of 2.3 million for Holy Trinity, or a 9 per cent
increase for that school division.
In addition to that, Mr. Speaker,
there’s also funding for nine new schools and two major renovations across the
province, and one of those, Mr. Speaker, is in Swift Current. It is a funding
being allocated for a major renovation to the Swift Current Comprehensive High
School, some planning dollars being allocated in this year’s provincial budget,
and we’re very grateful for that in the city of Swift Current, Mr. Speaker.
That total project is estimated to be a $39 million renovation project and
one that I have heard about as the MLA when I have conversations with people in
the Chinook School Division and also others around the community, and we’re
just very grateful that this major, major renovation project to the
Comprehensive High School in Swift Current will be proceeding.
Skip ahead to communities, Mr. Speaker,
and what that means to people in the constituency of Swift Current. Cities,
towns, villages, and rural municipalities throughout Saskatchewan will receive
a record increase of $42.4 million in municipal revenue sharing. That is
an increase, Mr. Speaker, an increase of 14.2 per cent from the year before, a
total of $340 million in unconditional support for municipalities in the
province. As I said, Mr. Speaker, it’s a double-digit increase. These are
significant increases for municipalities right across this province.
City of Swift Current will receive
$3.9 million in municipal revenue sharing. That’s an increase of 494,000
over last year, Mr. Speaker, or 14.3 per cent, this increase driven entirely by
the strength of the economy. It’s based on a dependable, predictable formula
that was introduced by this government that sees municipalities receive a share
of the PST.
And, Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity
last week to speak about the budget in front of my own local chamber of
commerce in Swift Current last Friday and talk about specifically all the
investments that are happening by the provincial government into a variety of
areas, but also indicate, Mr. Speaker, how that translates into that funding
and how the economy is strong provincially. Because if the economy is doing
well, then municipalities do well as a result of this revenue-sharing formula,
Mr. Speaker. And again, I know when I mentioned that and spoke to the crowd
about that, they understood that that does have an impact, that a growing
economy does translate into dollars that come directly to the city of Swift
Current.
And, Mr. Speaker, and I just want to say
that it is unconditional funding because this provincial government has trust
in the local municipal elected leadership, that they will invest these dollars
in the right areas. And I know in Swift Current, we’ve seen that time and again
by the mayor and his administration and his city council. And I’m grateful for
the leadership that we have locally, municipally. And we’re proud to be able to
support municipalities through that municipal revenue-sharing agreement.
So that’s the support for classrooms and
for communities, Mr. Speaker. Now I’ll turn to the area of health care, which I
probably will spend a little bit more time on of course. And I think as I talk
about some of those investments when it comes to health care, frankly, Mr.
Speaker, we’re only going to be scratching the surface because there is so much
in this budget that is new, that builds upon previous investments into health
care, whether it’s programs, whether it’s services, whether it’s the people
that we need to operate and deliver the services in health care right across
this province. And again, due to the strength of the economy. We would not be
able to make these decisions, Mr. Speaker, responsibly if we did not have a
strong and growing economy that brings in revenues to the provincial government
so that we can have these conversations and have meetings with people and
communities about what the pressures and the needs are and how do we fund
those.
Fortunately, because of a strong and
growing province and a strong and growing economy, we are able to make these
significant strategic investments into health care — $7.6 million
. . . or sorry, billion dollars. That’s a massive mistake there.
$7.6 billion into the Ministry of Health, Mr. Speaker, an overall increase
of $726.4 million, 10.6 per cent increase in the health budget over last
year, Mr. Speaker.
We have made — and we’ve heard some of
the members talk about it here today, the impacts in their own constituencies
here, Mr. Speaker — we have made great strides in recruiting and retaining
health care professionals through the health human resources action plan. Since
September of 2021, 262 physicians have been recruited to Saskatchewan from
outside of our borders while we’ve also attracted 40 physicians from outside
the country. It includes 107 family physicians, 155 specialists, and we’re
committed to continuing to recruit more health care professionals, Mr. Speaker.
And that will be a continuing plan that
we’ll be moving forward on as we know that there is still work to do, and we’re
committed to doing that work and continuing to develop that plan as we go
forward and hire more health care workers into our provincial health care
facilities. As part of that, the health human resources action plan will continue
to deliver on the commitment to add 250 new and enhanced permanent health care
positions in rural and remote communities.
This is something that we initiated
nearly two years ago, Mr. Speaker, and it came as a result of — at the time the
former minister of Health and myself — dozens and dozens of visits to
communities across this province, meeting with front-line health care
providers, meeting with patients, meeting with local leaders to find out what
else we can do to help support them. Some of that, Mr. Speaker, circled around
. . . was around . . . centred around, I should say, around
the hiring of more staff so that we can fill some of the vacancies that are out
there, build stronger health care teams, and be able to help provide support
that way.
These are annualized positions, 250 new
and enhanced permanent positions, many of them in rural and remote communities,
some of them also supported by the up to $50,000 incentive program that was
also created as part of that health human resources action plan, and again new
and enhanced permanent positions in rural communities.
Surgical wait times. We continue to make
progress in this area, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In the first nine months of the
current fiscal year from April 1st to December 31st of 2023, 71,850 surgeries
were performed — a new record for the province and an increase of 6,000
procedures over the previous year. We continue to make reductions in the
overall provincial wait-list for surgeries. We continue to make reductions in
the wait times for, whether it’s hip replacements, knee surgeries, you name it.
We still have work to do to reduce that wait-list, but the numbers are trending
in the right direction, Mr. Speaker, and we are so grateful to the health care
teams, the surgeons, the operating room staff, everyone that helps make this
happen. And very grateful for their commitment to this, because the government
is committed to making sure that we’re working with our health care providers
to get these surgeries completed for people across Saskatchewan who are waiting
for these surgeries.
Mr. Speaker, this year’s budget will
also deliver timely, exceptional care for Saskatchewan women. That includes in
the area of cancer. The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency itself will see an increase
of $26.1 million, for a total budget of $248.9 million, to ensure
that patients can access the most effective and world leading-edge oncology
drugs, therapies, and treatment options. Includes a 3.5 per cent increase for
breast cancer care, the establishment of a breast health centre here in the
city of Regina, enhancements to the breast health centre in Saskatoon, the
addition of screening initiatives that will include technology enhancements,
new diagnostic imaging equipment, the development of the breast health centre,
as I said, here in the city of Regina, that will serve women right from across
southern Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker. And that is significant.
As we’ve heard from surgeons and other
front-line health care providers, that will help not only provide this very
important service on a timely basis for women across southern Saskatchewan, it
will also help with the recruitment and retention of health care professionals.
We’ve heard that directly from surgeons and others who have said just how
significant this is. We’ve heard it from patients, and that’s why we are proud
to make this investment. And we’ll continue to make investments into this area
of health care to support the work that is done by those in the field of breast
cancer care.
Further, Mr. Speaker, we have also
provided some additional funding for enhanced gynecological cancer therapies.
That is new funding, Mr. Speaker. A million dollars for ovarian cancer research
in Saskatchewan, building on a previous million-dollar investment into ovarian
cancer research, and proud to support the good work that is being done in that
area.
There’s more, Mr. Speaker. New funding
for the BridgePoint Center for Eating Disorders in Milden, Saskatchewan, which
I had the opportunity to visit a couple of years ago, to visit with the team
there, see it first-hand, understand the work that they do supporting people
across Saskatchewan that suffer from eating disorders. And we’re proud to be
able to provide some funding that will support the virtual care aspect of their
work.
And very grateful to work closely with
the occupational therapists, and had a meeting actually this past fall, the
Minister of Advanced Education and I did, to talk to the occupational
therapists about what that training program might look like. And just so very
happy to be able to say that we’ll be moving forward on that, on establishing
the occupational therapists training program at the University of Saskatchewan,
training occupational therapists right here in our province, and hiring them
here in our province as well, Mr. Speaker.
Couple of other highlights I want to get
to, Mr. Deputy Speaker, before my time is up here. Specific to the city of
Swift Current, continued funding for a pharmacy pilot project that is under way
there right now. Work being done to establish another pilot in another city in
Saskatchewan. But in Swift Current in partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart, who
brought that pilot project idea to us based on some other operations they’ve
done in other parts of Canada where, through some of the work that we are doing
as a government to create greater access for patients to be able to access
primary care, for example, through pharmacist scope expansion.
And as a result of that pilot project
getting off the ground in December, now allowing a pharmacist be able to
provide some treatment in the area of COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease], Warfarin medication management, mental health as well. And just very
excited about what that is doing to provide additional access for patients in
Saskatchewan outside of the great work that they can . . . and care
that they can receive from family physicians, but from other health care providers.
And by all accounts that program is working very well as a pilot, and I am
looking forward to seeing that be rolled out in other pharmacies in other
communities right across this province.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, continued funding
for the Patient’s Medical Home pilot, $4 million for this particular
initiative, about a million of which or just under a million of which, will be
going to the Associate Family Physicians Clinic in the city of Swift Current.
They had some money to kind of get that program operating in the current fiscal
year and launched it in October, Mr. Speaker. And it has had just amazing
results thus far.
I had an opportunity, was invited by one
of the family physicians, Doctor Tara Lee, who is the lead on this, to
participate and be part of their Monday morning meeting, I guess they’d say,
their kind of kickoff meeting for the day, sort of a staff meeting as they get
their day under way. And it was . . . excited to be informed that, as
a result of this particular pilot, that they’ve been able to . . .
And what they’ve done is they’ve brought in an RN [registered nurse], an LPN, a
medical social worker I think as well — a medical office assistant perhaps it
might be — and what they’ve been able to do is make sure that they have patients
not just see the family physicians in that clinic, but also give them the
opportunity, perhaps they’re better served by seeing the RN in that particular
clinic. And so you might not necessarily see your family doctor. You might be
better served by another allied health care professional in that clinic,
whether it’s an RN, whether it’s a nurse practitioner.
And what that has done, Mr. Speaker, and
I’m guessing at numbers now because when I was there earlier this winter they
had freed up over 500 physician visits as a result of that. It’s probably north
of 700, 800 patient visits right now, Mr. Speaker. What that does is, by
directing the patient to the right health care provider they’re able to free up
more appointments for family physicians, for other patients who are on the
wait-list, and potentially for patients who might not have a family doctor and
thereby increasing access, Mr. Speaker. It’s initiatives like that that will
get the right patient in front of the right provider at the right time, Mr. Speaker,
redirecting them from perhaps their family physician if they’d be better served
by another health care provider, redirecting them from emergency rooms, getting
them the care they need, primary care on a timely basis.
It’s why, Mr. Speaker, expanding more
nurse practitioners in this province, as we’ve said in the budget, 25 more
nurse practitioner positions funded in Saskatchewan. And that’s a start, Mr.
Speaker. There’s going to be more to come, I would say. The establishment of a
couple of pilot clinics where they’re led by nurse practitioners, independently
operated, publicly funded, you’re going to see more nurse practitioners
employed in this province as well, Mr. Speaker, again having more health care
provider options for patients of Saskatchewan to get the health care, the
primary care that they need in this province, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I think my time is winding
up here and I want to cede the floor to other members on this side of the
Chamber, Mr. Speaker. I would just say that we’ll continue to invest in the
areas that matter to the people of Saskatchewan. And it’s in classrooms, it’s
in health care, it’s into our communities, Mr. Speaker, and it’s driven by the
strength of the economy. That’s the only way that we’re able do these sorts of
initiatives, to make these investments in a responsible, a fiscally responsible
manner, is by making these significant investments and trying to balance the
needs of the province of Saskatchewan with the demands and the finances that we
have.
[20:15]
So Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting the
motion being put forward by our great Minister of Finance, and seconded by the
member for Saskatoon Willowgrove. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member for Saskatchewan
Rivers.
Ms.
Wilson: — Mr. Deputy Speaker, we are here to
address the budget and the record of mismanagement under this Premier and his
government. We have witnessed a startling departure from the conservative
principles of sound financial stewardship and prudent economic governance that
should be the hallmark of any responsible government. Instead we have witnessed
out-of-control, liberal spending and the wreck and neglect of our communities
and our public services. Just look at the numbers. They speak for themselves.
When you factor in the 757 million of newly authorized spending, last
year’s budget resulted in a $2 billion shortfall from what was projected.
This isn’t just a one-off with this
Premier, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Six of his seven budgets, six of his seven budgets
have resulted in deficits, a far cry from the Premier’s promises of balanced
budgets and responsible economic management. In fact, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
Premier is the biggest spender Saskatchewan has ever seen. With his latest budget
deficit, this Premier has accumulated a staggering 15 billion in new debt,
doubling the province’s total debt to 31 billion. Mr. Deputy Speaker, this
Premier has nearly accumulated as much debt as all other premiers before him
combined.
Who else does this remind us of? Justin
Trudeau’s Liberals have also doubled the debt federally. Is this Premier and
his government getting their fiscal strategy from the Trudeau’s Liberals? Does
the Premier also think the budget will balance itself?
The results speak for themselves. There
is no other way to describe this level of waste and debt accumulation than
blatant mismanagement. Mr. Deputy Speaker, our spending is out of control. The
deficits keep growing bigger and bigger every year, and we’ve doubled the debt under
this Premier.
And what do we have to show for it, Mr.
Deputy Speaker? This government cannot even keep its hospitals open. We have
rolling brownouts for emergency services, where emergency rooms are closed on
the weekends. Where are the new schools and the world-class education you would
expect with this level of spending, Mr. Deputy Speaker? Where are our police
services? Where is the infrastructure of roads, bridges, and telecommunication
services for the billions and billions of debt this government has racked up?
So what do they have to show for it, Mr.
Deputy Speaker? We have a government that has grown so big that it can no
longer efficiently function or offer sound management. We have more
bureaucracies, more ministries, more committees, boards, offices, commissions,
and agencies than ever before. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the only thing we have to
show for the Premier doubling the debt is the wreck and neglect, wreck and
neglect of this province.
It’s scary to think about the huge debt,
the huge burden that will be for our children and the grandchildren of
Saskatchewan. We must get a handle on this before it’s too late. Mr. Deputy
Speaker, we cannot trust those who created the problem to solve it.
Saskatchewan needs new management.
This wreck and neglect isn’t just
because of the rate of spending, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It’s because of what they
are choosing to prioritize and spend things on. The Premier and his government
continue to focus on the wrong things, like their net zero by 2050 agenda. Their
budget proudly announces committing 140 million to transitioning our
energy grid to the net zero: “The Ministry of Environment has allocated
140 million to support clean electricity projects that accelerate our
transition to a net zero emissions electricity grid by 2050.”
This government’s pursuit of net zero
agenda by 2050 is being bankrolled by the pockets of Saskatchewan residents
through higher SaskPower bills. Mr. Deputy Speaker, this government is actively
funding the destruction of our energy sector. And yet on this floor they can’t
even be transparent about their agenda any longer. As a result of this
government’s directives, SaskPower will completely transform and transition
away from our proven, reliable energy sources of coal and natural gas to wind,
solar, and the completely unproven small modular reactors.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in case the
government and those ministers need a reminder, let me read to them the
following statement on SaskPower’s website, “In 2020 the federal government set
a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We’re committed to
reaching that target.”
They tell us, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that
their small modular nuclear reactor project will save us. Their new small
modular reactor investment fund will bring us another step closer to
zero-emission baseload power. This initiative seriously raises questions about
the costs of nuclear technology. Small modular reactors are a new, untested
technology that could bring massive financial liabilities to this province. By
allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to this fund, the government is
gambling with public money on a nuclear venture.
While our party is not opposed to
nuclear energy, the true costs of developing, constructing, and operating these
small modular reactors are unknown, yet this government has committed to
shutting down all our reliable coal-fired plants by 2042. This is not sound
management, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Saskatchewan is sitting on cheap, clean coal
that doesn’t require billions of taxpayer dollars to be spent on unproven,
experimental projects. Promoting wind, solar, and unproven nuclear technology
is an irresponsible energy policy. This is a failed management strategy for our
energy sector and must be ended immediately.
Now let me turn to taxation. During the
Premier’s tenure, he has imposed a staggering 2.4 billion in new taxes on
the hard-working people of Saskatchewan, directly contradicting the Premier’s
promises of tax relief. Times are tough right now for regular folks, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. Prices like the basics for groceries, rent, heating your home, just
keep going up and up.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sask United has been
calling on this government to cut its PST by 1 per cent across the board since
the last budget. They still have not done so. We have been calling on them to
cut their 15‑cent-a-litre provincial carbon tax on fuel, and yet they
will not act, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Like the Trudeau Liberals there doesn’t seem
to be a provincial tax out there that they don’t like. If they can’t cut taxes
when they are receiving massive revenues from record resource and commodity
prices, when will they cut taxes?
Instead of trying to help make ends meet
for families and small businesses that are already stretched so thin, this
government has decided to pile even more cost on the good folks of
Saskatchewan, on their shoulders.
When it comes to health care we have
seen costs spiral out of control, placing immense burden on taxpayers. A
staggering 726 million increase in health care spending is projected for
the upcoming year, a rise of over 10 per cent, a rate that is simply
unsustainable without comprehensive reforms and innovative solutions.
The hospital in Prince Albert is now
more than three times over budget. The current cost for the expansion is now
projected to cost taxpayers 900 million. That works out to be
approximately 13 million for each new bed added. Is that the going rate
for this government, Mr. Deputy Speaker, 13 million for a hospital bed?
This mismanagement of our health care is unacceptable.
Health care is a prepaid service.
Saskatchewan citizens have been paying into their health care all their lives,
yet when they need it they can’t access it. With record high wait times, our
people are forced to end up going to other provinces for treatment, or south of
the border to pay for surgeries out of their own pocket. This is not the sound
fiscal management of health care that the people of Saskatchewan deserve, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
The latest numbers from the government
on the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project are shocking. They are recklessly
squandering 1.1 billion on the first phase of the Lake Diefenbaker
irrigation project. This project is ridiculously expensive. We’re talking a
mind-boggling 44,000 per acre. At these costs, it’ll drain our public funds
dry.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the time has come
for a change. The people of Saskatchewan deserve a common-sense conservative
government that truly understands responsible fiscal financial management and
prioritizes the well-being of all of its citizens. Saskatchewan residents must
demand transparency, accountability, and a commitment to fiscal responsibility that
will safeguard Saskatchewan’s economic future.
I can no longer stand by silently as
this government recklessly spends our hard-earned tax dollars without
delivering tangible results or relief for the struggles faced by everyday
Saskatchewan families. Mr. Deputy Speaker, it’s time we said enough is enough
with this government and its misguided policies and empty promises.
Saskatchewan needs a fresh start, a
common-sense approach that gets our fiscal house in order, reduces the size of
government, cuts out wasteful spending, and puts the needs of regular folks
first. As Sask United’s leader, I’m proud to hold this government to account by
standing for these principles. Our party will not shy away from the tough
decisions and necessary reforms required to put Saskatchewan back on a path of
sustainable growth and economic security.
[20:30]
We can forge a future where our children
and grandchildren are not burdened by unsustainable debt, our health care
system is accessible and affordable, and our education system truly prioritizes
the success of our students. It’s time to end the wreck and neglect of our
province.
Thank you and may God bless the great
province of Saskatchewan.
The
Acting Speaker (Mr. Dennis): — I recognize the MLA from Cypress Hills.
Mr. Steele:
— Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise today to support the budget. I’ll start that at
the beginning and I’ll do it at the end. But I’ve got a few people I’d like to
thank, and you know, talk about some of the historical things from 2016 till
now. I’m very, very fortunate to represent a constituency that, you know, to me
it doesn’t seem like a job. They’re so supportive. We talk about different
issues and things that are happening, and it’s just the way it is.
And you know, with our executive I have
down there — for the two terms that I’ve been in the House here now — they’re
just amazing. You know, they step up. They get out there, we do what we need to
do, and we’ve been successful twice.
And I’d like to mention, acknowledge my
first CA [constituency assistant], Twila Wedrick. She would’ve liked to stay
but she had a vision, and she wanted to have her own bakery and tea shop, so
after the first term — I got to commend her — she went out and purchased a
business in small-town Saskatchewan and put it together and she’s doing very,
very well. She delivers her bread all throughout the Southwest and possibly
other places, but it’s pretty amazing how Twila’s business has flourished and
moving forward.
And then, second term, Sean Checkley. I
think everyone here has heard Sean’s name quite a number of times.
An
Hon. Member: — Every week.
Mr.
Steele: — Every week, yeah. They were talking
about, you know, giving him a stall somewhere. Stall . . .
[inaudible] . . . but anyway. But Sean is amazing. He gets on the
phone; he gets the details. He talks, he’s talked to the chiefs of staff. He’s
into the minister’s office and gets the legwork done. And we forward and go
through. And you know, actually today he sends me a text and we had a couple
files and he said, it’s done. And the constituents are happy, dealing with the
few issues that they had to deal with. And those are things that make you feel
good. You’re not going to win them all, but you know, in the same breath these
successes are pretty awesome.
You know, and then being here in
Saskatchewan, like I’m pretty fortunate, like they say, being in the
constituency of Cypress Hills, but Saskatchewan overall. My family’s been here
in Saskatchewan five generations, farm, come as homesteaders and we live on one
of the homesteads of my grandparents. And that’s pretty amazing in itself, you
know.
And I’ve had the opportunity to take
part in, you know, community groups or services as far as like being an RM
councillor and a reeve. I’ve been on credit union boards. I’ve been on, you
know, school boards. Quite a number of years ago I was on a school board for a
couple terms. I believe if you’re going to raise concerns you should be able,
you better step up and take part, you know, put in the input and see how you
can get things solved.
And you know, it’s not always easy.
There’s always issues. There’s money. There’s different things you’ve got to
deal with, you know, staffing and whether it’s dealing with, like you say, on
the school board or the credit union board. And we went through some pretty
tough times in the ’80s, droughts and different things and double-digit
interest rates which I went through that myself. And you had one job so you
took on two other jobs to kind of, you know, make ends meet. My wife worked besides,
off farm, just to get to where we are today to be able to, you know, possibly
be here and to try and help our communities and our area grow.
It’s so important, and like I say the
province of Saskatchewan is special in my heart. And I know everyone in here is
the same, you know, whether it’s us folks on this side or the folks on the
other side. I’m sure we don’t always disagree, or we agree on some things but
we disagree. But at the end of the day I’m sure that our feelings are, you
know, the same about our province overall.
I’ve acknowledged some people I worked
with, my executive, and I’d like to acknowledge my family. My wife, she worked
in the education system 35 years. We’ve been married 42 years. I know on the
days when I was on the SARM board over here and a councillor, I was away a bit.
And we had a mixed grain farm and that was interesting. Being a city-raised
girl, she never really cared for cattle that much, but she did what it took,
you know, and that’s what Saskatchewan is. Saskatchewan people are that type of
people that when things get tough, the tough get going.
And you know, like I say, she worked 35
years in the education system. And we’d sit at night; she’d come home and talk
about what’s happening at school. And she talked about some of the kids coming,
you know, they were half dressed with their jackets done up and their shoes
aren’t tied — her little orphans.
And they had a breakfast program. And
you know, I think it’s likely the same in a lot of schools across the province,
but you know, it’s like the teachers and the staff step up to do what’s needed
a lot of times that’s maybe lacking in another place with the family. And
they’d come, and you know, Mrs. Steele, could I get something to eat? So there
was a group — and this is in Gull Lake, Saskatchewan — that they took care of.
Some were transient and come and then they’d be there for a period of time.
Some maybe stayed for the whole . . . were employees for a whole
session.
And you know, that’s where I say like,
right now in education right now and trying to sort this out. It’s so
unfortunate that the kids are caught in this situation, that they’re between
adults trying to agree on something, and them not being able to take part in
things they worked hard for over the year, whether it’s fundraising or other
things. You know, it’s a big part of their education year that, it helps them
come and be part of something that . . . Well you know, maybe not
everyone wants to go to school. I was there. We went to school, and you know,
it wasn’t always your most important part of your day, but it’s something you
really need to have.
So you know, hopefully we can get
through these things. And with the budget, with what we put into education, the
numbers and the dollars and stuff we’re trying to get through this, working
with agreement. But you know, they shouldn’t be held at ransom. We should be
sitting down as adults at the table and get this settled and move forward. It
shouldn’t affect the graduation. It shouldn’t affect a field trip. And it
shouldn’t affect things that they worked for and were moving forward.
So you know, these are things, like I
say, in the budget, we are trying to get the dollars into place. And my dad
. . . Growing up when we were, you know, doing things as a young guy,
well we got to buy this, got to do this, and spend money. And you know, yeah, I
was doing it. And then I had to have three jobs to pay for what I was doing.
And you know, we did it.
So but, like I say, there’s good debt
and bad debt. And the money we’re putting back in our communities, whether it’s
health care, education, and transfer payments into the communities where
they’re going to spend the money and they’re allowed to take and put those
resources to what they need with their decisions, by making the decisions.
And like down home, you know — it’s like
I say, it’s right across Saskatchewan — there’s very capable individuals out
there that can make decisions, whether it’s RM council, town council, like SARM
and SUMA [Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association].
You know, we were over at SARM. Like I
said, I was part of SARM for quite a while. And I felt that the response that
we received from the delegates was very, very positive. They really were
standing behind it. The bear-pit session went well. It was just, it was
relaxing. I’d been around there for a number of years. And they come and they
talked, and you know, it was just so positive. And positive is good. I think we
all agree, positive . . . The negative is not good.
You know, and like I say, take a chance.
You don’t want to take incentive away from people that want to go out and
invest. You come down home, we had a couple fellows come in here from Calgary
and they’re resource industry people. And having conversations during the budget,
after the budget, and they were so happy or pleasantly surprised in how things
were rolling out. And they were going home and their plans are to reinvest in
Saskatchewan. And you know, by them investing, it employs people.
I sit in here day after day with the
rest of my colleagues and we hear from across the way that . . . you
know, jobs. Well you can come down home in the Southwest and I guarantee you
can find you a job of any type, whether it’s in industry or agriculture or
working in whatever, you know. And it can work, and you’ll have a job and it’ll
be a good-paying job. And there’s accommodations and things that people will
. . . You know, it could be a career move, basically, that will
continue on for you.
So I don’t understand where this
information that there’s no jobs, you know, in Saskatchewan. And you look at
the numbers, like BHP, the investment and dollars that they put in. It doesn’t
make sense in my mind, you know. And I think moving forward we’ll see a lot of
things happening more than we’ve seen so far.
And then like we’re talking about the
marshal program, for example. Well the marshal program is to assist
. . . My son and my daughter-in-law, they’re in the RCMP [Royal
Canadian Mounted Police]. You know, I’m very proud of where they’re at. My son,
he is specialized in the RCMP. He’s a trained sniper and all these types of
things, and he deals with a lot of things like a lot of officers do, a lot of
the rougher side of life. And you know, he goes all over, out of country and
those types of things. He trains, they call it the ERT [emergency response
team] team. He’s an instructor with the ERT team. It’s like a SWAT team with
the RCMP. And he trains fellas in there — well not just fellas, you know what I
mean — cadets to try to get into that type of work.
And you know, like the RCMP, if you
really think of it, we’re talking about . . . The RCMP shouldn’t be
going anywhere. With the marshal program, the marshal program is to assist the
RCMP. Like you got the drugs that we need to deal with and a lot of things into
our province that, you know, are beyond what you can imagine. I know when I sat
on a crime reduction committee, and there was a few other MLAs, we went around
the province and we did that. I think you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you were a part
of that.
And we seen, I was quite surprised on
the crime and the issues that were in other communities rather than down home.
And like I say, with the RCMP and the marshals, you come down home and our
detachments are short — not because the members don’t want to be there —
whether, you know, it’s time off, health issues, and all that. So if you have a
detachment that has so many members, you could be . . . Only two that
are actually out there.
And then my constituency is 15,000
square miles, so when you have an accident or maybe a crime, well response
times depending on where the location is can be a long ways away. So whether
you’re assisting with an accident where there’s people that could be hurt, or
whether it’s break and entering. So we need boots on the ground. It shouldn’t
be based on stats. It should be based on so many members in so big an area to
be able to take care and assist the public and themselves. And you know, that
is so important, like I say.
So and then we take a look with the
RCMP. I get letters and questions and asking about . . . You know, we
support the RCMP. Well of course I support the RCMP. I have family members. I
had a brother that was in there 30 years, and you know, and I have nephews and
nieces and there’s other members here. There’s a fella over there, he’s got a
son that’s in there and working, you know.
The RCMP, if you think of it, that red
serge. If people were watching the funeral for past prime minister Mulroney,
what was following the car and the folks? RCMP and red serge, marching in the
snow.
[20:45]
That red serge represents Canada before
the flag even existed, actually, the Canadian flag. So you had Fort Walsh. You
had down there, the North West Mounted Police were in western Canada here. Well
and we have the training depot right in Regina. Like we’d be fools to not be in
support of the RCMP and what they, you know, deliver to our communities, our
province and right across Canada.
So like I say, people send you a letter,
they support the RCMP. You try to explain that yeah, we do too. We’re trying to
fill in the gaps and the voids as a province, just like what we did for our
constituents and our consumers on heating fuel. Well why not? That’s what we’re
here for. I’m proud to be part of that. I was elected to do what I can with my
colleagues to support our people and our province. We’re a growing province.
We talked about health care. Well I
don’t know, to me, like with health care for example, we put more money in
health care. But we’re trying to, you know, tighten up the loose ends, make it
more efficient, working along with the experts and get it so, you know, that
the dollars that the taxpayer and we as government are putting into it, that we
can get it . . . Like, the lady that was here today and the wait
times, you know, we need to get that dealt with. And we’re trying. In a perfect
world, we could snap our fingers and it was cleaned up. But it’s not that way.
You know, and I’m not going to sit here
and dwell on, well the opposition closed this 170‑some schools and 56
hospitals. Do I have that reversed?
An
Hon. Member: — 52.
Mr.
Steele: — 52. You know, well that was a
decision made likely before a lot of those folks were out of school yet, over
there. Right? But it’s history and we’re not going to go down that road. You
know, 72 . . .
An
Hon. Member: — 170.
Mr.
Steele: —170? Oh, they had it wrong. No. No.
But anyway, that’s another day. But like I say, that doesn’t help us get to
deal with the issues or deal with the issues here today. But you learn from
history. I was so fortunate as a young councillor when I got on RM council,
half the council or more were older gentlemen that knew their ropes and knew
what was going on. You learn from people that have experiences. You don’t destroy
history. You learn from history. And that’s what we’re trying to do.
And with a growing province to keep up
with taxation, well we can’t keep going back. There’s one taxpayer. And we
can’t go back to them and over and over and over. There’s nothing more than I’d
like to see than, you know, someone keep 80 per cent of their income or their
salaries to use on their families and purchase things to, you know, make
themselves happy and support their families.
So you know, I better look back down
here and check what I got here. I mean it’s . . . [inaudible]
. . . You know, there’s so many good things in this province to be
proud of. Like I say, the health care situation, you know, response times and
all that, we got to understand in a province the size of Saskatchewan there
isn’t going to be an ambulance there like that. It might take some time.
So EMS [emergency medical services], one
of the things that I’m so happy about, my fellow colleague from — oh yeah, that
guy — Wood River. I remember back, you know, we mentioned nurse practitioners.
Well him and I were on a board, a committee, with an organization, and this
come to us in a proposal by nurse practitioners in general. Totally makes
sense.
You know, if you go down into the
Southwest, down into Consul — like we just had some folks here today that were
from Consul in Reno, RM of Reno, down there in Maple Creek, down through there
— you’ve got ranch wives that are trained RNs. And if we offered maybe
assistance to help them, you know, get to be a nurse practitioner, they’re
stable in your community. They understand the community. You know, they’re part
of it, and they’re going to be there and they’re going to give you service.
And you know, we’ve had that mentioned
to us a number of times, and this is a great opportunity to look at some of
that. You know, I sat on the — well I think I mentioned this one other time in
here — but I sat on the physician recruitment committee.
You know, in respect to the physicians
that come from other countries, their family comes too. And their families,
it’s a real culture shock. They go out to Reno or Consul, Saskatchewan in the
RM of Reno, that’s about 8 miles from the United States border. And then when
you get on the other side of the United States border, it’s like another how
many miles to another community, but it’s kind of a drastic change, you know.
So these folks live there. They ranch. They do their part of it. So you know, I
think this is such a great idea, and it’s long overdue.
But you know, and like they say, this is
like the internet and fibre and all that stuff . . . This fellow
right here, he’s from somewhere around Saskatoon here. I’ve got to check it out
there, Saskatoon Westview guy. But him and myself had an opportunity to work on
a fibre deal, delivering fibre and quality internet services to rural
Saskatchewan. We were pretty successful in a lot of it, and we’ve still got a
long ways to go. You know, it’s quite a workload, and you know, we respect you,
SaskTel, in getting this done. The five-year plan and proposal have tightened
up, and they’re getting right at it.
So you know, what a better place, what a
better place to live when you think of it — rural Saskatchewan. We’ve got the
cities, we’ve got a number of cities, but we’ve got . . . So when we build
a city, we add the city, we’ve got to have some green space. Well you go to
rural Saskatchewan, you got a lot of green space. But if you can have quality
internet, it gives you the opportunity to work from your resort communities, or
you can work from small-town Saskatchewan and still do your job. You know,
enjoy where your kids can walk to school. They’re not worried about things and
they, you know, have a lot of ample hockey time in the rink because there
aren’t a whole lot of people booking time and stuff like that.
So you know, these things, we put a lot
of time working. Then the money’s coming into it. Like I said, the member from
Kindersley hit bang on when the gentleman phoned and they said, well what was
in this budget for us? A lot. Everything. I look at it that way. It doesn’t
have to be right here on my doorstep, but little things will come with changes
we make, you know. And that’s what we need to do and not argue. We’re going to,
you know, we’ll listen to the . . .
But anyway I know I’ve got a couple
. . . I want to talk on regional parks. Regional parks were, you
know, that is something that I’m very proud of that we did too. And I think,
like, the member across from me mentioned that too. You know, regional parks
were started in our communities when we didn’t travel a lot of distance. They
were parks that were started in a maybe a nice treed area, or there maybe was a
body of water where people could gather with their friends and neighbours and
have something. They didn’t have a, you know, plan to travel like to Banff or
some other thing. This is how they gathered because that was their community.
It’s changed now today, and that type of
thing. And it was all done with volunteerism and hard work and working
together. So you know, I think that was a home run. I think that was one of
them. What do you think there? A home run? Yeah. That’s good stuff. All right.
No, I’m going. I’m going. But anyway, yeah. I was just hoping they’re going to
swap the Chair there. Yeah.
Oh, I got to thank, you know, I’ve got
to thank . . . [inaudible interjection] . . . Page 2. No, I
ran out of that. They moved them. But anyway, well anyway what I got to say,
I’ve got to acknowledge the colleagues that are going to leave. Like that was
an amazing lineup. I got to say, you know, since 2016 I’ve learned a lot and
seen a lot and heard a lot. And you know, you guys are all going to be very
much missed. I honestly . . . You know, we go around the caucus table
and where you look, some are late. Some are on time. You’re not here. Some do a
lot of talking. Some don’t do much. But you’re a heck of a group.
And then there’s that . . .
Maybe I shouldn’t have . . . Well the guy from Kindersley, right.
That guy there. He’s always got something to say. Either under his breath or
not, but it’s pretty good. The member from Regina Northeast, have I got that
right? Yeah. Well that’s what it says on the document I have. You know, you’re
going to be missed. And then Canora-Pelly, of course. I’ll send you an email.
How does that work?
And then we’ve got the Battle of Batoche
here, the fellow from Batoche. He’s been around a long time. He’s one of the
longest MLAs on the list. And, Mr. Yorkton, you’re always interesting at caucus
time there, young fella.
And then the . . . Where is he?
That guy, he didn’t last long. The fellow from Arm River. Arm River — R-M
River. I don’t know what somebody did to him, but I come in to work that one
week, and he says, “I’m pulling the pin.” Oh well, you’re going to be missed
there, you know? You’re a colourful character.
I know then there’s a young fella from
Saskatoon southwest . . .
An
Hon. Member: — East.
Mr.
Steele: — Oh, east. I can’t see. It’s so
little. Southeast. I can see why, you know, they’ve got a place for him in the
lodge. No that wasn’t . . . I didn’t mean that.
And then the fellow from Indian
Head-Milestone. That’s a little bigger, right? And you know, he’s going to be
missed.
And then there’s Donna. Oh,
Humboldt-Watrous. Okay.
I already mentioned the guy that’s late,
Weyburn-Big Muddy. And Saskatoon Northwest.
But anyway, I’m going to wrap ’er up
because I’m going to . . . You know, I didn’t want to be too harsh. I
just wanted to make a couple points there. And you know, all you folks at home
that are watching, I will be supporting the budget and I will not
. . . [inaudible interjection] . . . Pardon?
An
Hon. Member: — And not the amendment.
Mr.
Steele: — And not the amendment. And I will,
thank you very much, pass the torch over to whoever’s next. Thank you.
The
Acting Speaker (Mr. Dennis): — I recognize the MLA from P.A.
Northcote.
Ms. A. Ross: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s a
pretty tough act to follow here tonight, but I’ll do my best. I’m really
pleased to be able to stand tonight in support of the budget put forth by the
Deputy Premier, the longest serving female cabinet minister in Canada.
Before
I start though, there are some people in my life I would like to thank. Thank
you to the constituents of Prince Albert Northcote. You know, it really is an
honour when you’re elected to a position like this and the trust that they put
in you when they bring forth concerns. And you know, I really do my best and
I’m honoured to be in that role for the people of Northcote. You know, I was at
a function for the Indian and Métis fellowship. It was their 60th anniversary.
I was just there over the weekend and I met so many truly wonderful,
appreciative people. So I have a lot of people like that in my constituency.
I
would really like to thank my family. As everyone said, this is not something
we can ever do alone. My son Rob stays with me. He’s having some health issues
so he’s staying with me right now, and he’s really good at keeping me in line
and giving me some, often . . . He’s my best critic, maybe is the
best way to put it. So he keeps me on my toes. He’s very smart. He’s usually
right with what he says. I will give him that credit.
[21:00]
And
I’ve never had a sister, but I have someone in my life I consider to be the
sister of my heart. And, Mr. Speaker, Rose and her husband, James, they are
just the best friends I could ever have. If I’m having a bad day or if there’s
things going on in my life, it’s a really safe place to go. They’re
hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people. They run a business out of their farm
and they just treat everyone who comes there so well. I really am blessed to
have them both in my life.
And
my Alberta family, I have three boys and two of them still live in Alberta. And
you know, it doesn’t matter what position I have, I put my heart and my soul
into what I do. And it’s very difficult to be able to get away sometimes to be
able to visit them. And of course with COVID, in my previous work, and now with
this work, it’s that much more difficult.
So
what I give thanks for, for them, is the patience that they have with me. The
fact that I just mailed my grandson . . . I have one and you know
what? I’m very blessed to have one and I may only ever have one grandchild. And
he’s the most interesting little dude you could ever meet. He’s his own unique
little soul. But I mailed him his Easter package here just the other day because
I wanted to make sure he has it for Easter. And then, because I just
. . . It’s a long way to drive to Calgary and back for three days,
and it’s hard to do that all the time. So I really thank them for their
patience. You know, they’re very supportive of what I do, and I can’t thank
them enough. I know I’m not as president in their lives as I would really like
to be.
And
I’d like to thank all of our caucus members, our Legislative Assembly staff,
the officials in the offices, you know, everyone who works in this building,
because the support that’s provided for members of both sides is really
incredible. And none of us could do any of this without all of those, all of
those individuals.
And
I need to thank my colleagues. You know, this is a great team, and we hear all
the time, like we’re kind of . . . There’s lots of boys here. But you
know what, I raised three so I’m used to having lots of boys in my life
. . . [inaudible interjection] . . . You’re very much like
boys, I tell you.
But
you know, it’s like a big family. And you know what big families are like. We
don’t always agree, but you know, we have fruitful discussion. We come to some
terms and we work it out. And never have I been treated with the degree of
respect and support that I have had from my colleagues in this position, and I
really thank each and every one of you for that.
And
I’d like to congratulate and thank the retiring members. Like what a legacy.
You know, I know we have retiring members on both sides, but what a legacy,
especially those who were here from the beginning. Like those were dark days
when they first came into power. Like we’d had mass exodus, rapidly declining
populations, school and hospital closures.
And
I was one of the ones who . . . you know, I exited in the previous
years. Those were the days if you went to a football game in Calgary, there was
more green shirts than there were red shirts. And there may still be; I haven’t
been to one for a while. And the big joke was, and I used to get it all the
time, so did you remember to turn the light out when you left? Yeah.
But
that two thousand and . . . election brought change to this province,
and it brought hope to this province. And that is when that wee province that
you inherited started to blossom.
The
Sask Party’s guiding principles of a strong economy means a brighter future. A
strong economy means more jobs and opportunity for the people of Saskatchewan.
A strong economy allows government to invest in vital services for the people
of Saskatchewan. Those principles created growth in our province, and Premier
Wall was right. Hope does beat fear.
Saskatchewan
has thrived under this government. We’re no longer the place to be from, but we
are the place to be. With investments, record investments in potash, uranium, agriculture,
mining, the future here is bright. Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan is open for
business.
And
the growth and strength of this growing economy has allowed this budget to be
put forth that focuses on three very important areas in investment for the
people of Saskatchewan: classrooms, care, and communities. This isn’t an
ideology; this is a fact. This budget has record investments in funding
increases to classrooms, to health, to communities. And all Saskatchewan is
growing. That wee little province has grown by almost a quarter of a million
people since those dark days of the NDP.
And
you know, the rest of this time I’m going to talk about Prince Albert because
that’s where I live. But we’re seeing growth there too. People now see
. . . of Prince Albert are seeing the promise in Saskatchewan. Some
are coming back like I did. And we have a lot of people moving in from other
countries.
We
have a large Filipino population in Prince Albert. I have spoken about my
students before, when I was teaching in the CCA program at Sask Polytech. They
came to this province because of the potential and promise that they saw here,
the hope for a better life for their families. They’re all working. They’re
working really hard. They’re buying houses; they’re buying cars; they’re going
on holidays — things that would not have been possible had they not relocated
to Saskatchewan.
Some
are buying businesses and encouraging family members to come here as well. I
have a favourite . . . One of my favourite coffee shops in downtown
Prince Albert are owned by a Filipino couple, and he also has a repair business
on the side. But when I was in here just a few days ago, he said
. . . He was so excited. He said, ma’am Alana, my cousin is coming.
She actually is coming through part of the human health resource action plan
and she’s coming here as a nurse. And she’s going to be going up to La Ronge
once she’s credentialed. And her husband is coming too, and he is going to be
looking for a small business to open here in Saskatchewan — something they
never ever dreamed could ever happen for them.
We
have an active East Indian community, heavily invested in the food service
industry in Prince Albert. And that’s one of my other favourite restaurants.
They make the best little cheddar and chive scones you could have and it’s not
very far from my office. Unfortunately I’m there too often.
We
have an active Nigerian community. Many of our physicians are professionals,
have moved their families to Prince Albert and the surrounding areas, and they
originally came from Nigeria. They’ve embraced . . . they love it in
and around Saskatchewan and they’re encouraging other professionals to relocate
to the city as well. Children from all of these groups, they’re active in the
schools. They’re active in participating in sports and in the arts. They have
become such strong, productive members of our city. Prince Albert and
Saskatchewan really has become their home.
So
the focus on this budget, Mr. Speaker, is classrooms, care, and communities. We
have three school divisions in Prince Albert and all are benefiting from this
budget. Sask Rivers has a 4.5 per cent increase in their operating. Prince
Albert Roman Catholic Separate School has a 9.7 per cent increase. And this
isn’t the proper name, but for my lack of French, I’ve forgotten everything
I’ve ever learned I think. The French school is getting an 11 per cent
increase.
Saskatchewan
Rivers is also receiving $2.6 million in preventive maintenance and
renewal. And the Prince Albert Catholic Division is getting almost $790,000.
And great excitement for the French community in Prince Albert. École Valois,
new site planning continues, and that school will soon be replaced. And it’s in
dire need of replacement. It’s in an area of the city where they actually have
to go and sweep for needles every day before the kids come. It’s not safe for
the kids to go there on their own. So everyone is looking forward
. . . The community is so excited because they’re going to be moving
up to a new location with a new school to offer more opportunities for the
students there. And there’s also funding in the budget to begin the design and
construction of the improvements on the St. John Community School.
And
I’d like to take this time too to thank the teachers for the good work and the
dedication they have to their students. You know, we’re going through a tough
time right now, but we have to remember that we’re dealing with the STF; we’re
not dealing directly with the teachers. And you know, our teachers put in a lot
of time. I’ve got teachers in my family. I have friends who are teachers. And
when I see their devotion and how concerned they are for students missing out
on events, you know, it’s sad that they aren’t able to have the voice they
would like to have. They would like things to be done.
Prince
Albert is also benefiting in this budget in health care, the caring part. An
additional new 150 beds to support the ROSC [recovery-oriented system of care],
system of care for recovery will be added to the existing 150 which is a huge
benefit for the province. Just because those beds aren’t in Prince Albert, it
doesn’t mean we can’t access those beds. So that is a very, very important
addition to the province.
And you know, the phrase that they used
— they used a couple phrases there — that really, really resonated with me, and
one of them was, “harm reduction without recovery is palliative care where
basically supports someone to die.” And that really struck a chord with me. And
it’s something we should always think of when we’re thinking about recovery.
And something else they talked about is, there’s no such thing as, you know, a
safe injection when you’re using illegal drugs. There just isn’t because you
never know what’s in those drugs. So those were very important things that came
to me out of that conference.
In terms of mental health, there’s
$2.4 million being invested for psychiatry supports in Prince Albert and
Saskatoon, and I’ve been assured that there’s ongoing recruitment for the new
pediatric psychiatrists in Prince Albert. It’s going to continue until we find
the ones we need. And this is a highly competitive field, so we are competing
with cities from across North America for this position.
The pediatric unit and the neonatal intensive
care units received $1.6 million to increase pediatric programming, as
well as $497,000 to enhance staffing capacity for the ICU [intensive care unit]
and non-salary costs at the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital. Increased
investments of $11.6 million for new positions in high-priority positions
in the rural areas, including Prince Albert.
Investments in women’s health in the
province, including ovarian cancer research. Women diagnosed with this terrible
disease only have a 44 per cent chance of a five-year survival, so that
research is going to be extremely important for all women. With the
announcement of the new breast care health unit in Regina, that will provide
increased access for the women in southern Saskatchewan, but it will also
increase access for the women of the North and for central Saskatchewan,
because we’ve only had one centre up until this time, and that’s the Dubé
Centre in Saskatoon. So again, the entire province is going to benefit from the
opening of that facility.
[21:15]
So the Rose Garden Hospice in Prince
Albert, an absolutely beautiful facility. I was there; I had a tour. I had a
meeting with the Chair of the board here just this past weekend. Like, just an
absolutely wonderful place, like that home environment and providing wonderful
care. They’re receiving $2 million in this budget for operating to help
them provide that service to the people who are requiring end-of-life care.
I spoke with an amazing young nurse, and
I think her name was Olivia. I’m not the best with names sometimes, but
. . . And she was explaining how important it was to be able to
provide these services, you know, to be able to have the time and to be able to
provide that support not only to the clients but to their families, because that’s
what palliative care becomes. We provide comfort for the patient, but then we
also provide that support in this difficult time for the families.
Like I was very blessed. My last actual
direct care nursing role was in palliative care, and I was the coordinator and
director for the hospice in Red Deer. And the care that we were able to provide
there was . . . it was just absolutely incredible the support that we
could provide. And now we’re just so blessed to have that due to the hard work
from many people, including my colleague, the MLA from Carlton. We’re so
blessed to have that facility in Prince Albert.
The big highlight for this budget though
is the funding announcement of $180 million for the start of construction
for the Victoria Hospital renewal project. That’s a huge thing for Prince
Albert. This build is going to provide improved services to Prince Albert and
the entire northeast part of the province. The new tower that is being built
will increase overall capacity 140 per cent, from 173 to — oh, it’s just 40 per
cent — from 173 to 242 beds and will include a rooftop heliport, an expanded
emergency department, larger operating rooms, pediatric units, maternity and
NIC [neonatal intensive care] units, new medical imaging, and a First Nations
and Métis cultural space.
This project is so needed for Prince
Albert and northern Saskatchewan, and I am so pleased that Prince Albert Grand
Council supported this initiative and provided valuable support for the
cultural centre so that we’re doing that area the way it needs to be done. This
new facility is going to be such an integral part of our community, and it’s
important that it has space that is accessible and provides appropriate
cultural services to all. Local and Indigenous vendors will also be engaged in
building this facility. And this expansion will offer enhanced services closer
to home for not only residents of Prince Albert but for all the North. So it’s
going to be absolutely incredible.
The strength of our economy allows us to
invest in revenue sharing to support our communities. The $4.2 million or
14 per cent increase in municipal revenue sharing with provinces, cities,
towns, and municipalities bring this year’s total to $340 million in
investment, and that was very well received at the SARM convention. And I had a
meeting with our city manager this past weekend when I was at home and she was
very pleased to hear about this.
Our government is also working to make
life more affordable for those who may need additional supports. I have a
number of residents these initiatives will benefit from in my community.
Increases to the Saskatchewan income support program sees benefits — the adult
basic benefit, the shelter benefit, and the alternative heating benefit. The
Saskatchewan assured income for disability, or SAID, which ranks in the top
five in the country for similar programs and did not exist until the
Saskatchewan Party government was in power, will increase by $55 per household.
The senior benefit has quadrupled since 2007 and is now $260 per month. The
personal care home benefit, another non-existent program under the opposition,
has increased to $2,500 a month. A new investment will support low-income
students with children under the age of 12 and dependents over the age of 12
who have a permanent disability.
Our government is working hard to make
life more affordable for those who may require some support, and this is
significant for a number of residents in my constituency. Increases to the
Saskatchewan income support program sees increases to the adult basic and
shelter benefit and the alternative heating benefit. The Saskatchewan assured
income program for disability or SAID — whoops, I think I just repeated myself
— ranks in the top five in the province and will increase by $55 per household.
This program was non-existent prior. The personal care home benefit, another
non-existent program under the NDP, has increased to $2,500 a month.
Prince Albert will also receive
$2.6 million to rebuild the Meadow Green family building that was
destroyed by a fire in 2021. The YWCA in Prince Albert provides much-needed
programming, including supports for the homeless population. This budget
allocates $1.8 million to provide 45 enhanced spaces for a Stepping Stone
Shelter. I’ve been to that shelter. They do amazing work there. Mobile crisis
also provides critical delivery of after-hours services to Prince Albert and
they will receive $167,000 in this budget.
Mr. Speaker, I have highlighted just
some of the announcements that impact the people of my constituency, but I know
my colleague from . . . the hon. member from Prince Albert Carlton,
may have much more to add.
The strength of Saskatchewan’s economy
enables our government to make these important investments for the Saskatchewan
people. Saskatchewan today is a far cry from the dark days of Saskatchewan of
the NDP government where people were fleeing the province in droves, many never
to return. But I am proud to say that due to record investment and the strength
of the economy in our province, the lights are shining brightly in Saskatchewan
in 2024.
I will be supporting the budget put
forth by the Deputy Premier and seconded by the member from Saskatoon
Willowgrove, and I will not be supporting the amendment.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member from Prince
Albert Carlton.
Hon.
Mr. Hargrave: — Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. And there goes my Prince Albert stuff. That seems to be already taken
up, so that makes my life a little easier.
But anyway I want to start like many
others just with the thank yous and a few people that I want to thank. You
know, one, the constituents of Prince Albert Carlton who have brought me back a
couple of times and maybe one more, and so I’m hopeful for that. And Prince
Albert has just been an incredible city, and we’ve got so much going on in that
city right now. And whenever I’m meeting with people and talking with the mayor
and talking with other people, it’s pretty incredible what’s going there and
they’re all excited.
They’re excited about the new Victoria
Hospital renovation and expansion. That’s just going to be a wonderful thing
for our city and the economy in our city. Not only is it needed — it’s long
overdue. But it’ll help the economy of the city. Rose Garden Hospice, which is near
and dear to my heart and Alana, both of ours. I mean we both think it’s an
incredible facility and it’s nice to see that up and going. You know, and the
forestry industry is kicking in and with the OSB [oriented strand board] plant
coming. And there’s other things in the works, so it’ll be really nice to see
that.
So I want to thank those . . .
the constituents there of not only of Prince Albert Carlton but of all Prince
Albert. They’ve been very supportive of both Alana and myself, so we’re pretty
grateful. I’m pretty grateful for that.
I want to thank first — next I guess —
and probably the most important person is my wife, Fran. She is truly
wonderful. I mean I just couldn’t manage without her. She works so hard. She
gives so much. She is my biggest supporter by far. Yeah, I just . . .
We’ve been together for 30‑some years, married for 28 years. Thursday’s
her birthday. She’s much younger than me, and . . . much, much
younger.
But she’s there. She works at the
. . . and oversees our dealership in Melfort. She oversees the house.
We’re doing some renovations at the house and at the lake and whatever. She
oversees everything, arranges everything. And I just sort of swoop in at the
end and say, great job, because she does a wonderful job. And so I just
. . . yeah. I just couldn’t be without her. She’s just incredible. I
love her so much and she is truly the love of my life.
The rest of my family, they’re all
incredible as well. I love them all dearly. And we have four kids, seven
grandkids. My son Trent is the oldest, and you know, he runs the dealership in
Prince Albert and does a great job. And him and his son Elias, I mean they
travel down here. They were here for budget day actually. My grandson’s 15
years old and it was his first opportunity. Well he come in when I was first
elected in 2016, but he was pretty small then. And now he’s taller than
Grandpa, so that’s . . . yeah, and growing. So it’s pretty wonderful.
My daughter Angela and her husband, Joe,
are a great couple in P.A. as well. They’re involved with the dealership as
well. And their two kids Noah and Layla — and wonderful kids as well — doing
extremely well. Layla’s in pretty much everything. She takes band. She takes
dance. She takes sewing. She takes everything. If you say, hey, you want to try
this? — she says, yes. So she’s just an incredible young lady and getting to
there.
And then there’s my son Colby, Colby and
Becky. They’re in Prince Albert as well. And their two kids, they’re just
incredible. We went to the track meet in Saskatoon on the weekend. Hannah was
competing in there in hurdles and in long jump. And I don’t know how anybody
jumps over them hurdles, but she’s pretty fast and she can do it very well. And
then their son Myles, and Myles is a very special boy. And we just . . .
They’re special people, Colby and Becky and their two kids.
And their two kids are the smallest, the
youngest, and you know, Madilyn is just an acrobat. She takes cheer in Warman
and she is one of the young ones, but she’s one of the few that can do
cartwheels across the room. If you wanted her to do five in a row, she can do
five in a row. They won’t, in fact . . . She’s the only one in her
group that they let do cartwheels because she can do them consistently, and she
can do three or four or five in a row without blinking an eye, and she is just
a little, real girl. I mean she just loves life. She’s got a smile on her face
all the time.
And then there’s little Lucas. Well
Lucas is the youngest. He’s three. And Grandma takes him and spends lots of
time with him, takes him to swimming, does, you know, that sort of thing with
him. And he gets to stay with Grandma and that’s his sort of favourite place in
the house. He’s got a special spot he puts all his toys and whatever he needs
and he knows what he’s doing. And he is quite the little man, that’s for sure.
So the other people I want to thank is a
lot of the staff around the building. There’s my ministry staff, Denise Macza
and all of her staff. There’s about a thousand people over there that work at
SaskBuilds, so I won’t name them all. But Denise and her staff are incredible
to work with and I’m enjoying that very much.
[21:30]
Then in my office there’s Sean, Kamel,
Bonnie, and Josh, and it’s been a real pleasure working with them. They’re
just, again, great people doing a good job and are committed to the government
and committed to making Saskatchewan a better place. So they’re great.
And our caucus staff, you know, led by
Angela Currie. And Ang has always done a fabulous job, you know. And she used
to be my chief of staff for a number of years when I was the Minister
Responsible for Crown Investments Corporation, and is doing a great job in our
caucus, running our caucus office. So that’s always great for her and it’s
great for us and great for our party and great for me.
Anyway I will want to reflect on a few
things based on my portfolio and just to talk. So let’s take a moment to
reflect on the significance of the decisions made within the chambers of our Legislative
Assembly. The ’24‑25 capital budget isn’t just a financial document; it’s
a road map for our province. With an allocation of $4.4 billion, it
represents the largest investment in Saskatchewan’s history, a testament to our
dedication to growth and progress.
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of
SaskBuilds and Procurement, I would like to draw your attention to a
significant comparison between the budget allocations under the previous NDP
government and the ’24‑25 budget set forth by our government. Our
debt-to-GDP ratio is 14 per cent, half of what it was in the final year that
the NDP was in government. There is no new operating debt in the budget, and
capital debt is retired over time. The final NDP capital budget was
$535 million, which is about a quarter of what we just introduced.
Mr. Speaker, when the NDP stand up and
criticize borrowing for capital, what they’re actually saying is they do not
think P.A. should get a new hospital. They don’t think north Regina should get
a new school, and they think that people should just fix their own roads.
The disparity between the capital
budgets under the NDP government and our government highlights our commitment
to transformative change and progress. This $4.4 billion capital budget
invests in classrooms, care, and communities that will build a strong economy
and a brighter future for all in Saskatchewan.
Mr. Speaker, allow me to begin my
discussion with health care, the bedrock of a thriving society. Our
government’s commitment to the well-being of every Saskatchewanian is
unwavering, which is why we are allocating $516.8 million to health care
capital projects. This significant, significant impact in investment marks an
increase of nearly 180 million compared to the previous year, a testament to
our dedication to ensuring accessible, high-quality health care for all.
These funds will support vital projects
such as the construction of the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital redevelopment
project, the Weyburn General Hospital replacement project, and the La Ronge
long-term care project. By investing in health care infrastructure, we are not
just building hospitals and clinics; we are building a healthier, more
resilient Saskatchewan, a Saskatchewan where every citizen can access the care
they need when they need it most.
I want to bring something to your
attention when I say about getting the care and the care they need when they
need it most. I happened to be in BC [British Columbia] a couple weeks ago for
my brother-in-law’s funeral, and he passed away from cancer, which was tragic
but it does happen. Anyway so I’m a news junkie, so I watch the news. And
believe it or not, they trot out some people out there, and they were going,
complaining on the air. This is about the BC government, where they couldn’t
get a family doctor, and they had to wait two years to get in to a specialist,
and how the government was just so terrible that they weren’t doing that.
Then I talked to my friend, my oldest
and best friend for all of my life. We’re about a month apart in age and grew
up about 50 yards away from each other. And he moved three years ago out to the
island, out to Vancouver Island. Him and his wife moved out there. Three years
and he still doesn’t have a family doctor.
Now you’ve got to remember, this is a
strong NDP government with a good plan of how to make those . . .
everybody has a family doctor. So I don’t know how the members opposite think
that they’re going to make that big change. But there’s a big demand for
doctors and nurses and specialists, and there’s like a bidding war out there.
You know, articles are on the news all the time about smaller communities
unable to keep doctors because bigger cities manage to just spend more money
and attract the doctors. So it’s just all, you know, one of those things that
we just . . . that is sort of happening within our culture these
days.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to, you know, talk
a bit about the Victoria Hospital project. That’s really close to my heart, Mr.
Speaker, and you know, it’s the constituency I represent right now. It moves
into Northcote in the new boundaries but, Mr. Speaker, my fellow members and I
have heard many, many of the members opposite stand in this Chamber, almost
every day, and complain about shortage of beds and health care infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, in fact it’s the NDP which has made the people of Prince Albert and
the whole of Saskatchewan suffer from a shortage of health care services when
they were in the hospital-closing program.
The people of P.A. in this province
still remember when the NDP closed 52 rural hospitals. They closed the 55 beds
at the Holy Family Hospital in Prince Albert, and they weren’t just satisfied
to just close the Holy Family Hospital. So the next year they closed the 303
beds at the Plains hospital right here in Regina with no plans to make up for
those closed beds.
Mr. Speaker, it is our government which
is building back Saskatchewan one step at a time. The Prince Albert Victoria
Hospital is one step. The Weyburn General Hospital is one step. And yet there’s
many other hospitals in the planning, Mr. Speaker, and that’s going to make the
difference in this province.
Mr. Speaker, education. Education is the
cornerstone of progress and prosperity, and it is our duty to ensure that every
child in Saskatchewan has access to world-class education. That is why we are
investing 216 million in education capital. Mr. Speaker, since 2007 our
government has made record investments of over $2.6 billion in schools and
education infrastructure. This record investment has resulted in 85 new major
school infrastructure projects including 69 brand new replacement schools, 32
major renovation projects.
In the ’24‑25 budget we have
allocated $170 million to support ongoing projects including 11 new or
consolidated school projects and three major renovations, 8.8 million in
funding to begin planning for nine new schools and two renovations,
12.8 million for minor capital renewal projects that allow school
divisions to address structural repairs and renovations to prolong the life of
schools across the province. Mr. Speaker, I would go in and name all these projects
but there’s far too many to name. Needless to say it’s significant, and we’re
very proud to be able to do that for the citizens of our province.
Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan’s population
is growing at an historic rate. With this incredible growth comes increased
pressures on our public service like our K to 12 [kindergarten to grade 12]
education system. Saskatoon, by the way, alone . . . I was talking to
Mayor Clark the other day, and he says Saskatchewan alone grew over 14,000
people just last year, Mr. Speaker. And that’s pretty incredible. And that just
shows you why there’s the need for ongoing hospitals, ongoing schools, and
long-term care facilities.
In response to this pressure between the
amount budgeted in the ’23 budget and the additional investment recently by our
government, there will be an additional $48 million for 70 relocatable
classrooms that will be up and running by the beginning of the ’24‑25
school year to address class size pressures in our faster growing areas.
Seventy relocatable classrooms, Mr. Speaker. That’s going to make a significant
difference on classroom sizes.
Mr. Speaker, this budget invests in the
classrooms, care, and communities of a growing province, and it’s only possible
because of the strength of a growing economy. This budget will ensure a
stronger economy for a brighter future for all residents of Saskatchewan.
Mr. Speaker, our government believes
that education is the great equalizer, the key to unlocking the full potential
of our people and our province. By investing in education infrastructure, we
are investing in the future of Saskatchewan, a future where every child has the
opportunity to succeed regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances. Mr.
Speaker, we will not take any lessons from the opposition because, as we all
know, the NDP closed 176 schools when they were in government. Mr. Speaker,
that’s roughly one school a month.
Mr. Speaker, I feel very proud standing
here telling my fellow members and the people of Saskatchewan about the great
projects in our province. In addition to health care and education, we are also
investing in critical infrastructure projects that will lay the foundation for
future growth and prosperity. Projects such as the construction of the Regina
General Hospital parkade and the Saskatoon urgent care centre are aimed at
improving access to essential services and enhancing transportation networks.
Furthermore we are committed to
advancing projects like the St. Paul’s front entrance expansion project and the
Estevan long-term care redevelopment projects, which will further strengthen
our health care infrastructure and support our communities’ needs. These
advancements are not just about building roads and bridges; they are about
building a stronger, more connected Saskatchewan, a Saskatchewan where every
community has the infrastructure it needs to thrive, Mr. Speaker.
But our commitment to progress doesn’t
end there. We are also planning for transformative projects that will shape the
future of Saskatchewan for generations to come. From the construction of the
Regina long-term care specialized beds project to the planning for new schools
and renovations, we are laying the groundwork for a brighter, more prosperous
future.
Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to say that
82.3 per cent of contracts have been awarded to Saskatchewan-based companies.
In fact when there was a Saskatchewan bidder, Saskatchewan companies secured
the contracts 92 per cent of the time in the competition. These projects are
using the best local Saskatchewan workers, creating jobs and employment
opportunities for people of our great province.
These investments will not only support
our previously announced capital projects but also pave the way for new
initiatives that will address the evolving needs of our province. Whether it’s
expanding health care infrastructure, modernizing educational facilities, or
improving transportation networks, we’re committed to building a Saskatchewan
that works for all.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, the ’24‑25
capital budget for Saskatchewan is more than just a financial plan. It is a
blueprint for progress, prosperity, and the well-being of all Saskatchewanians,
with a record $4.4 billion capital budget investments in classrooms, care,
and communities. Let us seize the opportunities before us, and in courage and
determination, let us work together to build a Saskatchewan that is inclusive,
resilient, and prosperous for generations to come, Mr. Speaker.
And in conclusion, I want to also thank
many of the members that are retiring and not seeking re-election on both sides
of the House, members that have served. And I believe everybody that puts their
name forward to serve deserves credit for doing that. Whether they’re NDP,
they’re independents, they’re Sask Party, it doesn’t matter. It takes a lot of
courage and commitment to be able to do that.
We all — I don’t care which side of the
House you’re on — we all take heat. We all are meeting with people constantly,
and it just takes a lot out of a family and out of a relationship. And that’s
why, you know, I mentioned my wife and how important she is to me because she’s
my rock and she keeps me grounded and keeps me going. And when I have a bad day
— and we all do — she’s there to pick me back up and put me on my feet again.
And so that’s why our family is so important, because without them we just
can’t do this job.
[21:45]
Now I want to also thank all the rest of
the members. Like I say — I mean, I think there’s 15 members or 16 — there’s
lots not seeking re-election, Mr. Speaker. I won’t go through the list again.
It’s already been gone through a number of times. But I want to thank them for
their service to the government and to Saskatchewan, mostly to Saskatchewan,
Mr. Speaker.
So I want to say this and I will say
this because we always have to: I will be supporting the budget motion put
forward by the Finance minister and seconded by the member from Saskatoon
Willowgrove, and I will not be supporting the amendment from the members
opposite. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member from
Saskatoon Meewasin.
Mr.
Teed: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
It’s an honour to be on my feet here this evening, a little late in the evening
but an honour nonetheless to speak to budget ’24‑25. Mr. Speaker, before
I dive into my critique of budget ’24‑25, I also have some thank yous and
family I wish to thank.
You know, Mr. Speaker, we say it here
all the time. We don’t do this work alone. You know, we’re heading into the
Easter weekend and I’m very much, as we all probably are, looking forward to
time with our family, with our friends over food and dinner, you know, this
weekend, Mr. Speaker. We have my mom, Carolyn, my sister Melissa, my
mother-in-law, Kim, and James’s youngest sister, Katie, joining us at our house
for dinner. And then we’ve got James’s . . . The matriarch of James’s
family is in town, so we’ll be gathering there with his grandmother and
assorted aunts that I’m sure will be travelling from all over different parts
of Canada to attend Easter dinner. And so I have to say a huge thank you to all
of them for their tremendous support. We don’t, again, do this without that
support.
Of course I would be remiss
. . . You know, thanking the family for their support, I’d be remiss
not to thank my partner, James, mention him here. I’ve mentioned him before in
this Chamber. You know, he’s keeping the home fires alive back in Saskatoon.
You know, it doesn’t seem like a far drive, but some days by the end of a
Thursday in this building, you kind of just want to head on home and see the
fam. And so I’m just so appreciative of his support that he gives me. As I’ve
said, when I told him I wanted to run, it was not “if” but “when.” And I think
he’s still supportive. I think so. I think so, 100 per cent.
You know, he keeps his cards pretty
close to his chest, Mr. Speaker, but I do think, you know, he says what’s on
his mind. I don’t know if he’s watching tonight. I texted him, said I was up. I
don’t know if he’s watching, but you know, he says what’s on his mind but he
keeps his cards pretty close to his chest. But I do think he misses me a little
bit by the time Thursday rolls around. He might not say it.
But you know, he’s keeping pretty busy
with our two dogs, our cat as well . . . [inaudible interjection]
. . . Well thank you, yes. Yeah, I’m hoping. He just says “I’m proud
of you” when I’m not around. You know, he’s been busy taking care of our house,
the pets. He’s also jumped into a brand new career as I’d mentioned. He’s
actually started as a real estate agent in Saskatoon, so I’m so proud of him
for jumping into something new. You know, he supported me 100 per cent when I
decided to spend my summer campaigning, running for a nomination, running for
an election, and jumping into this world. And so now it’s my turn to offer him
that same support.
And you know what I . . .
Something really interesting that he messaged this morning was, in this new
career he has, he says there’s only 400 detached homes for sale in Saskatoon
right now. We are in an absolute housing crisis in this province. There are no
houses to buy, and so something to think about as we look at budget 2024 and
the lack of housing support, lack of money that we’re investing in building new
houses in our province. But I digress, Mr. Speaker. I’ll jump into the critique
in just a moment.
I want to say a huge thank you to all my
friends. You know who you are. I’m sorry that I’m always brushing you off,
saying I’m in Regina when you’re texting to hang out. I love you all and I
appreciate the support that you give.
I’d also be remiss not to thank, say a
huge thank you to my CA, McGinnis Reeve, who does such a fantastic job for the
people of Saskatoon Meewasin. She’s a huge advocate and I’m so grateful to have
her in my office covering the leave of my former CA, still current CA but on
leave, Jason Hicks, who’s gone on to lead COPE [Canadian Office and
Professional Employees Union] 397 as their interim president. I know I
introduced him once in the House, probably talked way too long, but Jason is so
well deserving of that praise. And I know he’s doing great things in the labour
movement as the interim president, COPE 397.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I’m so honoured to
be part of this team. I want to thank this team of MLAs, our leader, our caucus
office staff. Such great people to work with, so dedicated to the cause. Such
an honour to serve alongside you all.
And lastly I want to thank all the
residents of Saskatoon Meewasin for putting their trust in me, a fresh new face
showing up on their doorstep during a summer by-election. It has been an honour
and a privilege to serve in that community and get to know so many more people
in my Saskatoon community, Mr. Speaker.
Now I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. I
admit that we’re creeping up on the old bedtime here, but if I haven’t thanked
you, know that you’re an important part of my life.
Mr. Speaker, as we always say, it is an
honour to be standing in this Chamber. It’s an honour to be a member of this
official opposition, critiquing and entering into debate on the budget that has
been recently presented. Mr. Speaker, this is a budget dubbed communities,
care, and classrooms. Now I had to say this is quite a stark departure from
their now universally panned “growth that works for everyone” tag line and the
most recent “build and protect” language from budgets and Sask Party tag lines
of past. It would seem to me, Mr. Speaker, that they’re trying to present a
softer side of their government, one branding itself as caring for those
communities and those classrooms.
But we’re hearing a much different story
coming from government members. It doesn’t give me much hope. I would say that
these tired talking points and the old rhetoric coming from government benches
on this year’s budget is more telling of the direction that this Sask Party
government is going. If you are a government member, it seems like budget
talking points this year seem to be, everything is doing great in Saskatchewan,
but beware of that Sask NDP bogeyman who will ruin everything that we’ve built.
Because you know, like 17 years ago followed by some growth, build, protect
. . . Oh, and by the way, after all those years we care now too,
ahead of an election.
And you know, Mr. Speaker, it’s almost
shocking that these government members stand in their places and they talk more
about us than they talk about their budget. Like they’re kind of obsessed. I
think the member from Kindersley needs to find some help in his retirement
because he’s a bit obsessed with us. I mean I don’t know to be flattered, or I
don’t know if I should . . . Maybe I think . . .
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I caution the member to use the good
choice of words, please.
Mr.
Teed: — I will choose my choice of words
more carefully about the obsession that the government seems to have with us
here in our opposition. But I mean, Mr. Speaker, we could go back in time all
day long. Let’s remember the dark days of Grant Devine. I know it’s a name no
one on these benches wants to say because we crashed the economy, nearly bankrupted
the province. They had to change the name of their party after that fiasco.
I was just listening on the radio, after
the passing of the late Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, to a former premier who spoke
so highly. He said — Premier Romanow — that as he took office in Saskatchewan,
he had to have those phone calls with the PM [prime minister] at the time,
Brian Mulroney, about the state of Saskatchewan. We almost had to hand the keys
over. You know, so we can go back in time all day, all day and talk about these
things.
Mr. Speaker, on the heels of this
election-year budget which seems to firehose cash in every direction to show
that this government cares, government members have returned to tired talking
points, an old narrative that we’ve all heard before, designed to scaremonger
an electorate ahead of a provincial election, all in an effort to distract from
their abysmal record.
In fact neither the Premier nor the
Finance minister nor members of this government seem to be able to point to one
ingenuitive policy or funding allocation to celebrate. No new taxes is supposed
to give us all a sigh of relief after years of PST . . . [inaudible
interjection] . . . Oh we’ll get to education funding in a moment.
After years of expansion of the PST to almost everything, this time it’s no new
taxes. It’s supposed to make us think ahead of an election that they have our
best interests at heart. But let’s peel back the layers of this budget and
expose what’s beneath the Sask Party’s shiny veneer.
I was inspired by a constituent who told
me to bring more art, more beauty to the legislature. So as critic for Parks,
Culture and Sport I think it’s on point for me to go to the arts for
inspiration. So as Shakespeare wrote and so many have said on stages around our
world, “There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.” Now, if you analyze
this quote, Shakespeare is referencing the state, the political situation of
Denmark and its leaders.
Here in Saskatchewan we are doing the
work of state right here as we enter into debate analyzing the plans laid out
in a budget that is supposed to chart the course forward for our province. The
political landscape is one of a tired and out-of-touch government that for 17
years has been led by the Saskatchewan Party, an unholy coalition of defected
Liberals and PCs [Progressive Conservative] of Shakespearean proportions.
Deeper analysis of Shakespeare’s quote and the use of the word “rotten” reveal
he is referencing a corroding, decaying, and unhealthy condition of Denmark at the
time.
Mr. Speaker, “unhealthy condition” seems
to be a fitting analysis for Saskatchewan under this Saskatchewan Party. They
talk a big game. They talk about growth and prosperity but the reality, Mr.
Speaker, is far bleaker for so many in our province. Saskatchewan is
languishing at the bottom of almost every economic and social metric, thanks to
the abject failure of this government.
In Saskatchewan our health care system
is in crisis, our education system is strained to the point of breaking, and our
social fabric is tearing at the seams. It’s abundantly clear that the Sask
Party has lost the plot. They are clinging to tired rhetoric and empty promises
in a desperate bid to cling to power. Their feeble attempts to deflect blame
onto the NDP of yesteryear only serve to highlight their shortcomings and
failures.
So the record of the Sask Party in 2024,
one where our province has fallen last or second-last on so many social and
economic metrics. After 17 years, Saskatchewan is at the back of the pack no
matter what these government members will tell you.
And, Mr. Speaker, I want to preface this
all by saying that I love this province. I love Saskatchewan. Every single day,
we as an opposition show up here because we love this province.
And the members opposite are laughing.
They’re laughing, Mr. Speaker. They are laughing at this statement. We love
this province and we know its potential. We want to see the lives of its residents
improve . . . Still laughing, Mr. Speaker, still heckling about our
love for Saskatchewan. I was not elected in this position to watch my province
fall to the back of the pack or be second last in the country. You know, I’d
have to think that the polling numbers that these members are seeing might be
having them running a little scared, Mr. Speaker.
An
Hon. Member: — They’re triggered.
Mr.
Teed: — It’s a trigger warning over here.
But when the government has failed so
miserably on so many fronts and pushed us so far to the back of the pack on so
many metrics, it only serves to light the fire of wanting change more than ever
before in this province. Because, Mr. Speaker, after 17 years under this Sask
Party government, our health care system is in crisis.
[22:00]
People can’t find a family doctor. One
in six are without a family doctor. Health care graduates are leaving at record
rates, higher than ever before. There’s been an exodus of nurses and physicians
from rural Saskatchewan since this Premier took office — 21 per cent of nurses,
Mr. Speaker, and 14 family doctors have exodused out of this province. They’ve
left.
Because of their failure to invest in
health care, women are being sent out of province on 16‑hour road trips
for basic mammogram services. Our surgical wait times . . . Yeah,
they sigh. It’s the truth. Our surgical wait times, no matter how high the
record number of surgeries we can put through this province, are the last in
the country. People languish on a hip- and knee-surgery list in Saskatchewan
longer than any province in the country. Our constituents . . . My
constituent laid on the kitchen floor waiting for an ambulance, not even sure
if one would ever come.
After 17 years, the Saskatchewan Party
government thinks that they are experts. They have become insular and they have
failed to listen to local voices in the health care system. The state of our
health care system after 17 years falls solely on the Sask Party government
that created this mess, and no amount of election budget dollars can convince
the people of Saskatchewan that they will be the ones to fix it.
Mr. Speaker, on social metrics, after 17
years of this Sask Party government, more and more families are resorting to
the food bank than ever before. Saskatchewan has the highest food bank use by
children in the country. Mr. Speaker, members opposite are blaming food bank
use on the carbon tax.
We have the highest rates of HIV [human
immunodeficiency virus] in the country. We see 20 cases per 100,000 in Saskatchewan.
That’s twice the next province. It’s five times the national average, Mr.
Speaker. That should cause us pause. That should cause this cabinet pause.
We have the highest . . .
[inaudible interjection] . . . Oh, we have the highest rates of intimate
partner violence, domestic violence in the country, but the member opposite
said I should just read Harry Potter to the room. Well, I could read Harry
Potter; it would be almost the same as their budget at this point, you
know.
An
Hon. Member: — Work of fiction.
Mr.
Teed: — Work of fiction. Magic. We can just
wave a wand and all the problems in Saskatchewan will disappear under this Sask
Party government. Well it’s been 17 years and this is their record, so I mean,
I guess, should we be renewing the lease? If these were your economic managers,
you’d be firing them at this point. It’s time for the people of Saskatchewan to
make a choice.
Mr. Speaker, we have the highest rates
of teen pregnancy in the country, yet we have cancelled, we’ve removed sex ed
from our curriculums. Bill 137, Mr. Speaker, has removed sex ed providers. It
has also banned children from being who they are in the classroom. We continue
to underserve the most vulnerable in our communities with some of the lowest
rates of social support and disability in the country.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Sask Party’s
impact on education the last 17 years has also been shameful. We have teachers
striking on the steps of the legislature because this government won’t get back
to the table and sign a deal. They have failed families and students in
Saskatchewan by digging in their heels and have shamefully, shamefully
villainized the federation representing our province’s hard-working teachers on
the floor of this legislature. It’s shameful, Mr. Speaker, shameful the way
they act.
And even with this record election-year
budget allocation, our per-student funding will actually get worse, Mr.
Speaker. We will slip from eighth in the country per-student funding to 10th in
the country for per-student funding — last in the country, Mr. Speaker, on
per-student funding. We will be last in the country when it comes to
per-student funding, another last-in-the-country metric for Saskatchewan under
this Saskatchewan Party government.
And the lasts or second-lasts don’t even
stop there, Mr. Speaker. On the economy, Mr. Speaker, the government’s 17‑year
record has been one of being the worst economic managers in the country. Our
GDP growth after six years under this Premier: second last in the country. Six
years under this Premier, we have the worst job creation records in the
country. We have the lowest wage growth in the country, the lowest minimum wage
in the country — dead last on minimum wage, Mr. Speaker.
We are seeing fewer and fewer housing
start-ups during a housing and rental crisis, Mr. Speaker. And small
businesses, they’re closing at alarming rates — even more so in rural
Saskatchewan. And the most telling indicator of the state of Sask Party
Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan has projected a loss of 950 million in
corporate taxes next year as companies and workers suffer under the poor
economic record of this Sask Party government. Under this Sask Party
government, Saskatchewan is dead last. Shameful, Mr. Speaker.
If last in the country, Mr. Speaker, on
so many social and economic metrics weren’t enough, we have some of the worst
rates of financial instability in the country as we live through a generational
cost-of-living crisis. The number one issue facing Saskatchewan people? Knock
doors in any corner of this province and you will talk to people who can’t
afford their basic necessities. More than 50 per cent of Saskatchewan residents
polled say they feel worse off, more worse off now than one year ago. These are
some of the worst numbers in the country. Saskatchewan has the worst rate of
mortgage arrears in the country, Mr. Speaker.
Nowhere in this budget does this budget
miss the mark more than on the complete lack of cost-of-living relief for
Saskatchewan residents. During a generational cost-of-living crisis, when
inflation continues to be the highest it’s been in decades and more people are
living paycheque to paycheque, this government has chosen to bring forward zero
new policies or programs to address cost of living. I’m going to say that
again, Mr. Speaker, for those in the back. Zero new policies or programs to
address the cost-of-living crisis, the number one crisis facing Saskatchewan
people. No new ideas, no new dollars, nothing.
We’ve been clear and propositional in
this area, Mr. Speaker. Members opposite always like to say they have a
. . . Do we have a plan? We’ve been clear. Utility rates frozen to
provide budget stability for families and small businesses. Those 32 new tax
and fee hikes that were raised — the largest PST expansion in this province’s
history — scrapped. And we would give families a break at the pump by
suspending the 15‑cent tax on gas and diesel, just like our neighbours to
the east, just like our neighbours to the west, and just like a Conservative
premier in Ontario is doing in his budget right now. Real solutions to help
families navigate the cost-of-living crisis.
Instead, the Sask Party has consistently
made life in Saskatchewan more expensive, with years of PST expansion and tax
hikes. They are collecting an additional 476.1 million in provincial sales
taxes this year alone. Mr. Speaker, that’s a 17.5 per cent increase in PST
received by this government over last year. Instead of providing solutions, we
see cost of living ignored in the budget ’24‑25.
Mr. Speaker, the effects of the pandemic
have left our performing arts organizations in Saskatchewan in crisis.
Audiences have not returned like they once did. With the expansion of the PST
on arts and culture — everything arts and culture, from Roughrider tickets to
museum memberships to theatre tickets — organizations have either had to pass
those costs on to their cash-strapped patrons or they’ve had to eat those extra
costs in an already fragile environment.
Inflationary pressures mean that
absolutely everything involved in the performing arts is costing more, from
building sets to hiring actors. Organizations need stable operational funding
now more than ever. Mr. Speaker, the arts give us so much. It’s time to give
back to the arts.
And from an economic standpoint,
investment in the arts creates huge economic spinoff for the communities, large
and small, across our great province. It was calculated that an investment made
. . . that from investments made to the Sask Arts Board, arts
organizations generated 74 million in economic output within Saskatchewan.
This means that for every $1 invested, the arts generated $13.50 in economic
output. I’ve said it on this floor before. That’s a pretty good return of
investment to me.
SK Arts-funded orgs supported 850 FTEs
[full-time equivalent]. For every $100,000 invested by the government in SK Arts,
15 full-time equivalents were created. And now more than ever, with the recent
32 new tax and fee hikes brought onto arts and culture, the arts contribute
even more to the public purse than ever before, all to the detriment of those
organizations.
Mr. Speaker, arts organizations and the
official opposition have been calling on the government to scrap those 32 tax
and fee hikes. Arts organizations, at the very least, have asked for even a
portion of those dollars to be returned to an industry in crisis. Mr. Speaker,
when arts organizations like the Regina Symphony Orchestra close, they will be
closed for good. They will not come back. These are industries in crisis.
And what are the first questions that
are asked by CEOs [chief executive officer] moving to Saskatchewan? Where does
the professor who is looking at taking up a posting at one of our universities
ask? They say, where can I go to the theatre? Where can I send my kids to art
camp? The arts provide quality of life well above their significant economic
impact.
As the Sask Arts Alliance put in their
budget release:
A status quo budget
for a sector in crisis is simply not good enough. Funding to SK Arts is
flatlined and well below historical levels, approximately 383,000 less than a
decade ago.
Budget ’24‑25 misses the mark for
a sector in crisis.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, if being last in the
country or having struggling industries unsupported by their government wasn’t
enough for the people of Saskatchewan, what should concern residents the most
of this province is the total lack of innovation in this year’s budget. There
are no new ideas to solve the big problems facing families in our province.
Nothing new for families. Nothing new for health care. Nothing new for
education.
We need new policies and programs that
will address these crises. We need to start listening to the local voices who
work in these fields every single day. That Sask Party government can firehose
money in every direction in an election year to make it look like they care, but
they have missed the mark if there is no new innovation to back this up.
Mr. Speaker, the Sask Party government
can promise balanced budgets in election years, but we know if re-elected it
will be deficit after deficit. If re-elected all those dollars sent to
education and health care will be slashed, just like we saw in 2016. How do we
know this? Mr. Speaker, it’s their record, their 17‑year record.
[22:15]
They have no new ideas. They are tired,
they are out of touch, and they don’t care. And if there are no ideas to be
had, Mr. Speaker, it’s time for change.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, it’s very clear
to me that this party that broke our hospitals and brought our health care
system to its knees won’t be the one to fix it, no matter how many
election-year budgets they can post. The party that has crippled our education
system won’t be the ones to save it. That the party that has overseen some of
the worst social and economic metrics in the country won’t be the ones to
reverse those trend lines.
Mr. Speaker, if this Sask Party
government can’t think outside the box, can’t innovate to find solutions to the
problems, Saskatchewan New Democrats are ready to take up that challenge as we
always have.
Lastly I will leave you with this
thought. We cannot have a strong economy when so many people are left behind
and are left out of the best our province has to offer. We cannot have a strong
economy when so many people are leaving, when they can’t find quality health
care, or when our education system is so strained.
It was Sask New Democrats who built the
social fabric of our province and set Saskatchewan up for so much success. It
will be Sask New Democrats who will fix this province after 17 years of neglect
and cuts by the Sask Party government. It’s time for change, and this Sask NDP
official opposition, under our leader, the member from Regina Lakeview, are
ready to deliver that change.
And so, Mr. Speaker, I will not be
voting in favour of this budget. Instead I will be supporting the motion by the
member from Regina Rosemont, seconded by the member from Regina
Elphinstone-Centre. Thank you so much.
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — I recognize the member from Regina
Coronation Park.
Mr.
Burki: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It’s
my honour and pleasure to be standing on my feet here to present, to be a part
of the debate on budget 2024.
I want to thank my family, especially my
wife, Shamim Mahnoor Burki, for her support. Without her support I would not be
able to achieve success. I’m very proud of her. Most of the time she takes care
of our children, pick up and drop off from schools, libraries, doctor’s
appointment. And thank you to all my daughters for their support at each and
every step with me and with my wife.
I do understand that, as an MLA, our
life is very busy and we all have less time to spend with our families. On the
other hand it is a pride and blessing for all of us in this Chamber that we are
focused and committed to the best of our ability for the well-being of our
communities. I am very lucky that my wife and kids understand the nature of
this work, and I’m very proud of their support and care.
Mr. Speaker, as the MLA from Regina
Coronation Park, I recognize my constituency assistant, Bre Litzenberger, who
has done a great job providing services to our constituents. Bre is a very
committed, hard-working, energetic, and rolling-up-the-sleeves-attitude kind of
person who is always willing to help people who desperately need help.
I would also recognize my colleague the
member from Walsh Acres’s CA, Erin, and all of her co-operation, communication,
and thoughtful support in our shared office.
Mr. Speaker, I would also say thanks to
our Regina Coronation Park executive: Alayne Dubord, our president; Kelly
Hardy, our vice-president; Khalid Awan, our treasurer; Cheryl Stecyk, our
secretary; and all our executive, Billal Malik, Darin Milo, Jason Hammond,
Saadia Burki, Bre Litzenberger, Corrina Ward, and Randy Ward. Thank you for all
the time they’re spending over here for developing of our community of our
constituency.
And a thank you to our leader for her
leadership, valuing and listening to various communities and organizations
province-wide. People trust her for her caring attitude, for being their voice
and hope. Thank you all my colleagues for their guidance and support,
especially the member from Rosemont who helped me all the time in this new
role. He’s a great fan of hunting and ice hockey. I might be getting a hunting
licence very soon, but it is very hard for me to play ice hockey because I
don’t want to break my legs at this age, and waiting lists are long enough
already.
Mr. Speaker, I’m very lucky that I have
been serving my constituency and surrounding area as a driver educator since
2009 to 2023. Most families in the constituency I know very well before I took
on this role of MLA. Thank you for all their support, advice, co-operation at
each and every step.
Mr. Speaker, our constituency is one of
the most diverse and densely populated constituencies. We have five high
schools — Thom Collegiate school, O’Neill High School, Regina Huda School,
Harvest City Christian Academy, and the francophone school Laval. I am very
proud to be connecting with all those schools from time to time.
Mr. Speaker, during the by-election at
many doorsteps, the number one concern of the constituents was affordability,
not a pronoun policy. Right after the by-election, the Premier’s response to
the media was that we heard the message of the people loud and clear, then
immediately respond . . . of this government was to bring the pronoun
policy and using the notwithstanding clause to distract people from the cuts in
education and classroom class complexity crisis in our school.
They totally ignored the most important
issue of affordability. Mr. Speaker, most of the people living in Regina
Coronation Park, working-class families, with the current high rate of
inflation, skyrocketed grocery prices, power rates, and utility bills, they are
living paycheque to paycheque. Mr. Speaker, people are looking for a second job
to put food on the table for their children. Most of the families can’t afford
to keep their children in sports or extracurricular activities as the prices of
everything is increased.
Mr. Speaker, seniors are going through a
very hard time of their life. They are wondering whether to pay for their
medication or for food. Our seniors should not be in such a miserable situation
as they are now. They must have a life of respect and dignity. They spent all
their energy to build their province, which we call our home. It’s
heartbreaking.
The recent increase to the groceries has
put a significant strain on the food bank, but unfortunately, no relief for the
people in this budget. Due to the high interest rate, it is nearly impossible
for young people to become a homeowner. We have subsidized houses sitting empty
while the homeless crisis is worsened, and yet no relief for the people in this
budget.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier is increasing
the debt by 3 billion and still not delivering a dime of cost-of-living
relief to working families. No relief to the Sask Party fuel tax for families
struggling, rising costs. The Premier is making life even more expensive by
collecting an extra half-billion in the PST this year alone.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of people have
concerns about the long waiting time at emergency departments in our hospitals.
A lot of people are not able to find a family physician. Mr. Deputy Speaker, we
all witnessed our colleague from Saskatoon Centre, last year in the fall
session, fell on the front of the stairs of the Legislative Assembly and could
not get an ambulance immediately. People are without hope and taking patients
to the hospital’s emergency in their own vehicle, which is not safe and it is
not acceptable.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, one family told me
that they were waiting for a hip replacement surgery, but because of the long
waiting list they decided to go to Türkiye where the operation took place
immediately. This speaks volumes on the current state of our province’s health
care system. Mr. Speaker, one other family were waiting for MRI [magnetic
resonance imaging] for their loved one but were told that they had to be
waiting at least for six months. They went back home to their own country and
they did over there, the MRI, next day.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, a constituent also
told me that the knee replacement in Alberta is much faster. However by
receiving treatment in Alberta, Saskatchewan doctors will be not providing a
patient with follow-up care. Instead they tell patients to return to Alberta
for the following care. This does not seem right to send patients to another
province. We need to maintain our patients and our doctors here in
Saskatchewan.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, we have to
prioritize our Saskatchewan residents in professional education. We should be
training Saskatchewan people for health care jobs, I think specifically for
rural people and Indigenous people, people who are going to stay in the
communities where they live. The more professionals we have locally, the more
our province will be self-sufficient in the workforce, which is truly a
long-term solution.
The current state of things is that
women are waiting for too long to get their mammogram, MRI, biopsy they need.
Some women are being booked for a mammogram a year away. It is very frustrating
and disappointing. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate seeing plans for a new breast
health care centre being built to support women in our province instead of
sending people to Calgary.
But this has meant too much trouble and
heartache for too many. Mr. Speaker, it is time to please listen to the health
care workers, doctors, nurses, first-aiders and paramedics, lab technicians,
and aide care to handle all those concerns in the way that the people of this
province deserve. Mr. Speaker, the party that broke our health care system
cannot be trusted to fix it. People have been suffering, waiting for surgeries,
waiting for mammograms, struggling to find a family doctor. The people of
Saskatchewan deserve real results, not empty promises.
Mr. Speaker, our beloved seniors who
have spent their lives building this province to what it is today deserve
respect and honour. Last year in my constituency, the 60‑bedroom Lutheran
care home was stated to be closed. The SHA were planning to relocate seniors
into care homes without consulting the seniors, staff, and their families.
As we talked to the seniors at their
care home, they told us that, we cannot move from this place; this is our home.
Some of them were very close relatives who want to stay together, and most of
them were friends and they didn’t want to be apart from each other. Thank you
to all seniors, staff, and families that they stayed rock solid, and eventually
the SHA took their decision back. Mr. Speaker, all those seniors who have paid
taxes all their lives and raised their children and built these communities
deserve much better treatment.
Mr. Speaker, we all know the importance
of . . .
The
Deputy Chair of Committees: — It is now 10:30 p.m., and this House
stay adjourned until tomorrow 1:30 p.m.
[The Assembly adjourned at 22:30.]
Published
under the authority of the Hon. Randy Weekes, Speaker
Disclaimer:
The electronic versions of the Legislative Assembly's documents are provided
for information purposes only. The content of the documents is identical to the
printed record; only the presentation differs unless otherwise noted. The
printed versions are the official record for legal purposes.