Hon. Mr. Moe: — Thank you very much to my colleagues and to you, Mr. Speaker. To you and through you, I would introduce to this Legislative Assembly, to her Legislative Assembly, to their Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker, Laurie Ireland. Laurie is joined by her friend and supporter, Ali Stajniak.

Mr. Speaker, it’s a year ago today that us, the province, and Laurie and her children lost Derek — Derek Meyers, or Duke as many people knew him, Mr. Speaker. And Regina, I would say, lost a great voice on the floor of this Assembly that advocated for his community and, more broadly, for this province.

In many respects the first year after losing a loved one is the most difficult year. You have a year of firsts without — first Christmas without a husband and a father, first birthday, first anniversary missed. Each one of these are firsts that are very hard for all to face. But we have, and Derek’s family has been surrounded by so many family and friends that helped to make that healing process maybe just a little bit easier.

We’re joined today, as I said, by Derek’s partner and Ali. And our caucus also, I would say, very much feels like a family. And it’s always hard to say goodbye. And while we continue to deal with the loss of our friend Duke, we should also remember to celebrate the outstanding life that he led, one year later.

I went back and looked at a few of the speeches that we participated in and gave on the floor of this Assembly, and words like “optimistic,” “positive,” “funny,” “larger than life,” “caring,” “a leader,” “an inspirational leader” were used many, many times. Derek carried that positive energy, and he lit up every room that he entered.

And it was a positivity that seemed unexplainable at times, considering the challenges that he was facing, quietly facing, and battling against with his cancer. And I said, that is a battle that he fought very quietly, and a battle that he fought while working to make this community and this province and this world a much better place. He led by example. And he fought to get here, to this Assembly, to the floor of this Assembly. It took him a couple tries, but he did it. And I would say that all of us are better off for his perseverance.

He was a fierce supporter for those facing mental health issues and challenges. He was a volunteer with the Canadian Mental Health Association, and he was a strong voice, not only in our caucus but again on the floor of this Assembly. And his input and his advocacy, I would say, made each of us here today better — better MLAs [Member of the Legislative Assembly], and better at what we do each day and better people.

And so to Laurie, we thank you. We thank you for sharing Derek, not just with us, his political family, but also with the people of Regina and the people across the province of Saskatchewan. We know the sacrifices, Mr. Speaker, we speak of them often on the floor of this Assembly, the family make that allow us to serve, to serve our constituents and to serve our province and to make Canada just a little bit better place.

And so I say thank you to Laurie. I say thank you, Laurie, also through you, to Dayn, Sebastian, and Eisley. And I would ask all members to join me in welcoming Laurie and Ali to their Legislative Assembly today.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Beck: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say thank you to the Premier for his heartfelt words, and you know, for Laurie for being here today. I’m glad you’ve got your friend, Ali, here for support.

To remember Derek Meyers, someone who, you know, no matter on which side of the aisle you sat, it was hard not to smile when he got up with that voice and with that optimism and with his arms flailing and . . . most of the time. But there was a joy, there was an excitement about being able to serve here.

And I want to tell members on the government side, and also to Laurie — and I didn’t know you were going to be here today — but his name came up just this week. I was doing an interview and we were talking about what it’s really like in here. And you know, sometimes we mean it when we’re fighting, often we do, across the aisle. But they were really heartened to hear stories from Derek about, you know, the sense of service, the sense of being able to get along with people across this province.

And when you were here for the service and the family was here, Laurie, I got a chance to meet Derek’s mom and dad as well and his family. And the love that they showed and spoke of you and your children, the love that Derek spoke of for his children and his family and his constituents, Mr. Speaker, and the love of this province, I think is something we should all commend and remember and smile when we think about that big booming voice and Derek’s presence and his reminder that it really is an honour to serve in this province. And we all leave a legacy of family, and we all share that, Mr. Speaker.

So on behalf of the official opposition, I just want to say welcome to Laurie. And we wish you all well and the children in the days and weeks and months ahead as you move on through your grief but fondly remember the special person who was Derek Meyers. Thank you.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Melfort.

Mr. Goudy: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce someone up in the west gallery as well, to you and through you, Doug Armbruster. He is a trustee with the Horizon School Division, and a number of us had met with him when the minister was travelling around the province meeting with the school divisions.

We had met there in Humboldt with Doug, and interestingly enough he had said that the de facto MLA, even though I’m one of them as well, for Horizon is the Finance minister, the member from Humboldt. And he actually explained to her that they discussed her name and her in dulcet tones. I had to look up what that meant, but that’s “sweet,” which is . . . That’s interesting.

So Doug’s wife is a teacher, Jocelyn, and he’s going to be moving from Raymore to Regina. So we appreciate Doug and all the trustees around the province, all their hard work. Please join with me in inviting and welcoming Doug to his Legislative Assembly.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Rosemont.

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to join with my friend across the floor to welcome Doug Armbruster, Pastor Armbruster, to his Assembly. I want to thank him for his service in education as a trustee. I’ve known Doug and Jocelyn for a number of years. They’re community builders and community leaders. Doug once, I think, coached a volleyball team with my dad out in Raymore. I have trouble picturing that. I venture Doug was the technical expert in the sport, Mr. Speaker, on that front.

I know Doug is someone who cares deeply about this province and his community. He was the pastor of the Raymore Baptist Church for a long period of time. He’s moving to Regina to the Calvary Baptist Church in north Regina. Welcome to Doug in that service within our community. We wish his wife, Jocelyn, all the best as well and thank her for her services as a teacher. But on behalf of the official opposition, it’s a real honour to welcome Pastor Doug Armbruster to his Assembly.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Walsh Acres.

Mr. Clarke: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To you and through you, I’d like to welcome a few students from Henry Janzen School here today. We’ve got Kollins Kvisle, Sofia Lapchuk, Izabella Hanson, and Izabella’s mom, Nicole Hanson-Bailey, who’s brought the girls to watch proceedings today. And I’m looking forward to having a chat with them after question period today. I ask all members to join me in welcoming them to their Legislative Assembly.

PRESENTING PETITIONS

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Douglas Park.

Ms. Sarauer: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise yet again today to present a petition calling on the government to improve labour laws in Saskatchewan. Those who have signed this petition wish to bring to our attention the following: that even after the October 1st increase to minimum wage, Saskatchewan’s minimum wage remains the lowest in Canada, Mr. Speaker; in addition, the official opposition has twice introduced paid sick-leave legislation since the onset of the pandemic, calling for a minimum of 10 paid sick days each year. Paid sick leave has been proven to save employers money while making workplaces healthier and safer for all workers.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately 71 per cent of workers in Canada have experienced workplace violence and/or harassment, and much more needs to be done to ensure that workplaces in Saskatchewan are harassment free.

I’d like to read the prayer:

We, in the prayer that reads as follows, respectfully request the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan call on the Government of Saskatchewan to improve conditions for Saskatchewan workers by passing legislation to increase the minimum wage, guarantee paid sick leave, limit nondisclosure agreements which could silence survivors of workplace harassment, and require employers to track and report incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, all of these provisions can be found in our private members’ bill, Bill 613, the fairer workplaces, better jobs Act. All very reasonable provisions. We do hope that the Minister for Labour takes a look at that legislation and passes the legislation in its entirety, or at least pieces of that legislation, if that’s suitable for him. I know that workers would appreciate anything forward for this direction in this province from this minister.

Those who signed this petition come from Meadow Lake. I do so present.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Northeast.

Mr. Grewal: — We, the undersigned residents of the province of Saskatchewan, wish to bring to your attention the following: whereas the Trudeau Liberal-NDP [New Democratic Party] coalition carbon tax is one of the main causes of affordability issues and inflation in the nation of Canada; that the federal Liberal-NDP government was politically motivated in issuing a carve-out for home heating oil; and that the Government of Saskatchewan’s decision to not collect or remit the carbon tax on home heating in Saskatchewan has led to a drop in inflation; further, that despite the decision to not charge the carbon tax on home heating, Saskatchewan families continue to pay that tax out of pocket at the pumps, grocery stores, and more.

We, in the prayer that reads as follows, respectfully request that the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan take the following action: to call upon the Government of Canada to immediately suspend the carbon tax across the nation of Canada and acknowledge its significant impact on affordability and inflation in Canada.

The below undersigned are residents of Martensville, Saskatoon. I do so present.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.

Ms. Conway: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m on my feet to present a petition calling on this Sask Party government to open up vacant Sask Housing units for occupancy.

The undersigned residents wish to bring to attention the fact that the official opposition, the auditor, SUMA [Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association] have observed approximately 3,000 Sask Housing units are currently vacant across Saskatchewan; that some of those units require renovation, but the Sask Party government has cut the maintenance renovation budget approximately 40 per cent over the last decade and failed to invest in the housing stock; that thousands of people in Saskatchewan are unhoused, according to a provincial point-in-time count those numbers are growing year over year; that the vast majority of unhoused people in Saskatchewan are Indigenous, a legacy of colonialism; and that homelessness has tremendous cost — a human cost, paid by unhoused people, and a dollar cost, paid by tax dollars; that the province’s expenditures on emergency hotels, which have risen year over year, tripled under the Premier, in fact is one example of the cost of the Sask Party government’s failure to maintain the public housing stock.

I’ll read the prayer:

We, in the prayer, respectfully request that the Legislative Assembly call upon the Government of Saskatchewan to renovate Sask Housing units that require renovation, make units available and affordable, and ensure that all the currently vacant Sask Housing units are occupied by October 2024.

The signatories of this petition reside in Regina. I do so present.

[10:15]

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Douglas Park.

The Meaning of Easter

Ms. Sarauer: — Mr. Speaker, as we gather in this Chamber today, I rise to reflect on the significance of Easter, a time of renewal and hope for the people of the Christian faith and around the world. I’m planning on celebrating Easter with my family this weekend, so I’m turning my mind to what Easter really means. Now my kids would tell you the meaning of Easter is tearing the house up and eating chocolate by the fistful. But it’s more than egg hunts and Easter baskets, isn’t it, Mr. Speaker?

For some, it’s a time for cherished family traditions. For some, it’s about religious observance. But it can also be a time for reflection and gratitude. It follows Lent, which is a time to reconnect to our faith through prayer and sacrifice. Easter is about resilience, redemption, and hope for the future. We are, all of us, looking to cast off old burdens and be better people. And today, Holy Thursday, is an invitation to all of us to serve with love.

I can think of no better time than Easter to look inward and explore what it takes to serve with love, Mr. Speaker. I wish all the members a Happy Easter with their families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Cut Knife-Turtleford.

Retired Teacher and Author Enjoys Farm Life

Mr. Domotor: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Joan Forbes, a children’s book author from the Senlac area, published the book The Huckleberry Helper in May of 2022. The Huckleberry Helper reinforces the importance of family of all kinds and the idea that making new friends among those who are different or have different lifestyles can prove to be very enriching to young children.

Joan, who grew up in a farming community, spent countless hours as a child imagining how the animals of the prairie lived in their hidden homes. She began writing stories as a young child and produced pages of pencilled work about the lives of forest animals.

Mr. Speaker, Joan is now a retired kindergarten and elementary schoolteacher. Joan continues to live on the Craigievar Farm despite losing her spouse, Neil, of over 50 years. Mr. Speaker, together her and Neil enjoyed all aspects of farm life, including raising their five children. Today Joan continues to enjoy the outdoors with regular visits from the squirrels, birds, and deer, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all members of this Assembly join me in congratulating Joan Forbes on her recently published children’s book and wish her every success as she continues to pursue her passion of writing. Thank you.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatoon Meewasin.

Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility

Mr. Teed: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. March 31st is Transgender Day of Visibility, a day wherein we celebrate the joy and resilience of trans and nonbinary people everywhere by elevating voices and experiences from these communities.

While the human rights and human dignity of queer and trans people is being brought into question and debated, often dredged up for political points, it is important to counter this by taking time to recognize queer and trans joy, and with it make queer and trans people more visible. Mr. Speaker, I am so proud of the transgender individuals in my life who continue to be a beacon of light for all those who come after them.

This year Sarah Kate Ellis accepted the Governors Award on behalf of GLAAD [Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] at the 75th Emmy Awards. In her acceptance speech she said, “More people have seen a ghost than know a transgender person. When you don’t know people, it’s easy to demonize them. Visibility creates understanding and it opens doors. It’s life-saving.”

I would ask all members to go out and engage with trans and nonbinary constituents in your ridings. Listen to them. Debunk myths when you see and hear them. Listen to experts. I would ask all members to join me in celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility today and for years to come. Thank you.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Arm River.

Young Curler Has Brilliant Future

Mr. Skoropad: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I strive to bring fresh material to the House, today’s statement’s going to be somewhat of a repeat. You see, it was during one of my first member’s statements ever, Mr. Speaker, that I introduced this Assembly to an amazing young woman, an Arm River constituent, Skylar Ackerman. At that time I pointed to Ms. Ackerman’s impeccable work ethic, strong character, and tenacious drive to excel at the sport of curling. At that time I drew attention to Skylar’s U18 [under 18] success with a brilliant future ahead.

Well, Mr. Speaker, that brilliant future recently got even more brilliant as she and her team captured the Saskatchewan Viterra Scotties in Tisdale, making her the youngest skip in our province’s history to do so, at 22 years of age. Last month, Mr. Speaker, Skylar and her teammates Kaylin Skinner, Taylor Stremick, and Ashley Thevenot made our province proud by creating quite a buzz while wearing green at the Canadian Scotties tournament and narrowly missing out on the playoff round with a four and four record.

Earlier this week, Mr. Speaker, shocking to all those except those who know her, Skylar announced she would be stepping back from curling to pursue her passion, a career in the health care field in Saskatchewan. What a loss for curling, Mr. Speaker, but what an enormous gain for our health system. So with that I would ask all members to join me in congratulating and thanking Skylar for continuing to serve our province with her service and talent.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatoon Riversdale.

Honouring Indigenous Students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Mr. Friesen: — Well it’s another great day in Riversdale, Mr. Speaker, and not only Riversdale but Saskatoon and all of Saskatchewan. On Monday this week I had the honour of attending the Indigenous honour awards ceremony at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and bring greetings on behalf of SaskTel and the Government of Saskatchewan.

Mr. Speaker, the president of Sask Polytech, Dr. Larry Rosia, gave me the statistics on the nursing program retention in the province and what the numbers are. Well it certainly isn’t the numbers that the NDP will come up with. Here are the actual stats from the nurse program I was speaking with: 99 per cent stay here in Saskatchewan. Ninety-nine per cent, Mr. Speaker — that’s a big difference from what we hear from the NDP opposition.

Mr. Speaker, a very important part of being early at these events is to speak with the students, teachers, and parents. Chatting with the students, parents, and teachers in this program and honouring these students for their hard work and perseverance has been an absolute privilege. The pride in the room is nothing short of amazing, as these students are mentors in their communities. It shows in the need for this program and how fast it’s growing.

I’d like to thank Derek Yee, Deanna Kematch, and all of the amazing team that teach and inspire these students each and every day. Thank you.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Lumsden-Morse.

Federal-Provincial Partnership Delivers on Infrastructure Needs

Mr. B. McLeod: — Mr. Speaker, through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, communities across Saskatchewan will receive a total of $45 million in joint funding for infrastructure projects, with the aim of safeguarding public health. These projects include the decommissioning of landfills and upgrades to wastewater treatment facilities and critical drinking water mains. Investments in critical infrastructure such as these will protect public health for generations.

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to growing communities and improving life for the people of Saskatchewan, communities like the village of Craven on the border of my constituency of Lumsden-Morse. Mr. Speaker, Craven will be receiving funding to improve their water treatment facility with two new water supply wells and the integration of two filters into the existing facility.

This is just one funding announcement, thanks to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, along with over 190 other infrastructure projects already announced with a total provincial contribution of nearly $275 million.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to give a warm Saskatchewan thank you to our federal partners for these projects. And we will continue to foster the partnerships that lead to projects like these so we can deliver on the critical infrastructure needs of our communities, both today and into the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Melfort.

Story of Forgiveness and Peace at Easter

Mr. Goudy: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the weekend many of us will be celebrating such a strange and victorious turn of events. For me it’s where we find hope for the future.

Like others in this House, I grew up knowing right from wrong, but found wrong too often, and right was harder to do than say. I was thankful to hear the hopeful story of a Jewish carpenter’s son who was stronger than sin and, it turned out, was stronger than death.

As both the Son of God and the Son of Man, he was able to reconcile our earth with his heaven, though the price for him was higher than we know. “Father, forgive them” were three shocking words, and yet beautiful words, from his bleeding lips. An innocent saviour, dying on the cross for the world that he loved.

For me, Mr. Speaker, forgiveness is the most humbling possession that I have, but also life’s most changing. It turns out the story of forgiveness isn’t over, and the one who forgives us teaches us to forgive one another. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

In a day when people seem so divided and we can fight over so many things, this shattered world, it needs Easter. It needs a peacemaking saviour with the power to let us start over, one who conquered sin and death. And lucky for us, we have one. And though he was dead, Jesus is alive. Happy Easter, everyone.

QUESTION PERIOD

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Fuel Tax and Affordability

Ms. Beck: — Mr. Speaker, this tired and out-of-touch government is failing to deliver on the number one issue for people in Saskatchewan. That’s the rising cost of living. Now yesterday the Premier found time to Zoom into a House of Commons committee to call out the feds. Fair enough, Mr. Speaker, but he hasn’t lifted a finger to provide relief for Saskatchewan people here at home. Let’s call it for what it is — hypocrisy.

Why isn’t the Premier doing anything to help people here at home? And why hasn’t he cut the gas tax to give families a break they so desperately need?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.

Hon. Mr. Moe: — Mr. Speaker, we take those dollars that are collected on a litre of fuel and we put it directly into the highways budget, unlike the members opposite when they had the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, didn’t put all of those dollars into the highways budget. They put some of it into the General Revenue Fund.

Let me maybe be a little more specific. When we removed 112,000 people from the tax rolls, Mr. Speaker, in this province, the provincial tax rolls altogether, how we did that was we raised the limit on where you started paying provincial tax. Under the NDP a Saskatchewan resident would start paying provincial tax at 26,000 and change. Today that same resident starts paying provincial income tax at $59,000 of income. Over $20,000 more income is being allowed to be made before there is any provincial tax at all, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to the taxes that we have on gasoline and home heating fuel, Mr. Speaker, whether it be natural gas or electricity, there’s no PST [provincial sales tax] on any of those charges, unlike provinces that are harmonized, like Ontario, that has removed a few cents off of their gas tax but has an 8 per cent PST that’s charged on the gas as well, Mr. Speaker.

And so over $2 billion in affordability measures each and every budget, Mr. Speaker. And through the strength of the Saskatchewan economy, we’re able to continue with those through this budget, Mr. Speaker, through the next year, making Saskatchewan cities and communities some of the most affordable, if not the most affordable in the nation in Canada.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Social Housing Units

Ms. Beck: — Again, Mr. Speaker, we see a premier more interested in pointing fingers or picking fights than he is in actually doing his job — taking care of the basics, getting results for Saskatchewan people. We see that with a total lack of any cost-of-living relief, and we see that in this tired and out-of-touch government’s mismanagement on the housing file.

Mr. Speaker, we’re joined here today by Shannon Kay and her son River. They live in a Sask Housing unit in Saskatoon, a unit that is riddled with mould and has sewage in the basement, and it’s making River sick.

Does the Premier think that it’s acceptable for people, for children in this province to be made sick as a result of this government’s mismanagement on this file?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.

Hon. Mr. Moe: — Mr. Speaker, I would just first of all welcome Shannon and River to their Legislative Assembly. And I would say this, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister of Sask Housing would be more than happy to sit down with Shannon and River and ensure that the housing availability that we have is available for her and her young son.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Beck: — Mr. Speaker, it’s available; it’s just being mismanaged. And it’s making this little boy sick. But this is a government that’s more focused on picking fights and taking flights, and they’ve simply lost sight of the basics, the things that matter most to people — their kids, Mr. Speaker. Nothing matters more than that.

Now let me read from a doctor’s note for little River, and I quote: “This little six-year-old boy was exposed to mould in their apartment and developed an allergic reaction causing allergic conjunctivitis. His hands and arms are covered in a painful rash.”

Again, Mr. Speaker, does the Premier think that it’s in any way acceptable to mismanage our public housing so badly that it’s making children in this province sick?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.

[10:30]

Hon. Mr. Moe: — No, Mr. Speaker, and as I said, the Minister of Sask Housing will be pleased to meet with Shannon after and to make arrangements if that’s the case, Mr. Speaker. Not acceptable.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Beck: — It’s not acceptable that they have to come to the legislature to get the attention of this government, Mr. Speaker. It’s his job, it’s his job to make sure that people can access basic services in a safe and timely way, that there’s an ambulance when they need one, that their kids can get the supports that they need in our classrooms, or that public housing units will provide safe and affordable homes for a family.

This is a premier who continues to take his eye off the ball on what matters most to Saskatchewan families, and it’s Saskatchewan people, children, who pay the price time and time again. Will the Premier cool it with the trips and the fights and the flights, get back to basic, and start making sure that Saskatchewan people get the basic services that they expect from their government?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.

Hon. Mr. Moe: — Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition would well understand that in the case of Saskatoon, there’s a local housing authority that would be running the Sask Housing stock that we have in that community. And so the minister’s pleased to meet with Shannon and River about their specific situation. He would then have to reach out to the local housing authority in Saskatoon.

There’s many across the province to ensure . . . So that’s the process that is there, Mr. Speaker. But again I say, we welcome Shannon and River to her Legislative Assembly and the minister will most certainly meet with them.

On the broader investments that were made and have been debated over the course of this past week, and I suspect will be voted on and passed quite likely today. When it comes to investing in our classrooms, we’ve seen operational investment in this year’s budget — which will be passed today, and we’ll be watching if the members opposite vote for it — at record levels, Mr. Speaker, up 9 per cent, record levels of classroom supports, funding being provided in that.

Record levels of funding going into our health care system in the province, over 10 per cent lift to our health care system, Mr. Speaker. And the SHA [Saskatchewan Health Authority] will be providing the services that Saskatchewan people affect because of that funding, Mr. Speaker.

And last but certainly not least is a 14 per cent increase in the municipal revenue-sharing funding that goes directly into our communities across this province, Mr. Speaker. Classrooms, care, and community, Mr. Speaker, all receiving record levels of funding only possible due to the strength of the Saskatchewan economy.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.

Ms. Conway: — Mr. Speaker, I’ve seen River and Shannon’s home first-hand. I saw River’s health issues. I saw the doctor’s notes. I immediately brought this to the minister’s attention. That was two weeks ago. I sent him a letter detailing the horrors that this family’s had to endure — black mould in their home, shoddy repairs that don’t fix the underlying problems, sewer backups that destroy property and leave their home stinking of urine and feces.

So while it’s nice to hear the Premier’s words today, I didn’t even get a response from the minister, Mr. Speaker. This is no way for anyone in this province to live. How did the minister allow this home to become so unsafe? And what is he going to do for this family here today?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Social Services.

Hon. Mr. Makowsky: — Mr. Speaker, in terms of Sask Housing units in general, we have 17,000, north of 17,000 here in our province and many of them are quite old. There’s a lot of money that is put into upkeep and repair. It’s an important part of affordability here in our province. Many of those units are rent geared to income.

In terms of this specific case, absolutely as the Premier had mentioned, would be happy to learn a little bit more about this situation, Mr. Speaker, and see if we can help this family. In this year’s budget there is an increase for upkeep and remediation and turning over units as much as we possibly can. That work is constantly continuing, Mr. Speaker. But in this particular case, we’ll work to rectify the situation.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.

Ms. Conway: — Mr. Speaker, Shannon is a single mother of seven. She’s been banging down every door. She eventually came to me. I immediately went to her home in Saskatchewan. I wrote to the minister two weeks ago and I haven’t received a response, and she hasn’t gotten any action.

She shouldn’t have to come from Saskatoon to her legislature just to have her voice heard. Their case is one of thousands where Sask Housing units aren’t kept in good repair and aren’t able to provide safe and affordable housing to people in need. Shannon’s neighbours — I’ve heard from many of them — report cockroaches, bedbugs, in addition to black mould and frequent sewage backups. When will the minister ensure that this family has a safe place to live, one that’s free from mould, sewage, and pests?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Social Services.

Hon. Mr. Makowsky: — Mr. Speaker, as I said in my previous answer, not aware of the specific case. I’ve heard of situations with Sturby Place last year, as I believe is what the member referenced in this case. And Sask Housing officials did inspect the place at that time, as I recall, going off memory here of course.

But again, Mr. Speaker, we want to have safe and affordable places to be able to have families here in Saskatchewan put a roof over their head, which is obviously very important for this family and many, many across our province who do find, in fact, adequate and affordable housing with the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation. So in this specific case, obviously we’ll look into this closely and try and find a solution as quick as we can.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.

Ms. Conway: — Mr. Speaker, the minister’s mistaken. There was another case around Sturby Place, another single mother with a rat infestation that came here about a year ago. But this is a different case. I wrote to the minister two weeks ago. Shannon has independently followed up. We’ve received no response. We’ve seen no action.

This tired and out-of-touch government isn’t focused on the basics. And Saskatchewan people deserve so much better. Shannon shouldn’t have to fight so hard just to have a safe place to live for herself and her children. No one in this province should have to live in a house plagued with black mould, sewage, pests, rodents.

Their unit in Saskatoon isn’t the only one that’s fallen into disrepair. There are thousands of vacant units across the province that should be providing safe and affordable homes but aren’t, because this government has cut the maintenance budget by 41 per cent while construction costs soar.

When will we see a real plan from this government to fix up our housing stock and provide safe housing for families instead of performative announcements at election time that are too little, too late?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Social Services.

Hon. Mr. Makowsky: — Mr. Speaker, in terms of a 41 per cent cut to maintenance and repair, I don’t know what the member is talking about. She’ll have to inform me about that. That has been consistent across the last many years and including this year, an increase of $9.6 million, Mr. Speaker.

So we’re working very hard to turn over as many units as we can. I know there’s challenges with tradespeople that work in certain areas of the province, but we’ll continue with our investments and working with local housing authorities to ensure there’s safe, affordable places for people to stay in Saskatchewan. And so this is work that is constantly under way, Mr. Speaker. Certainly more work to do and we’re prepared to do it.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.

Ms. Conway: — Mr. Speaker, we’re talking about the very basics here. A safe place to live free from mould; free from raw sewage in the basement, not once but three times; free from cockroaches, bedbugs. A safe place for one’s kids. These are the basics.

Saskatchewan is a wealthy province. It shouldn’t have to be this way; it doesn’t have to be this way, Mr. Speaker. This tired and out-of-touch government isn’t focused on taking care of the basics for people. They’re more focused on picking fights and blaming others. It’s time for them to get back to the basics, Mr. Speaker.

When will the minister do his job, respond to basic requests, and make sure that Sask units are providing safe and affordable housing for the people of Saskatchewan?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Social Services.

Hon. Mr. Makowsky: — Mr. Speaker, in terms of vacant units, sometimes there is turnover when people move out, and it’s very basic and it’s just a cleaning situation. But several times there’s extensive damage unfortunately that does occur. And that’s into the tens of thousands of dollars, and then there’s the time it takes to find tradespeople to do some of that work to be able to turn those units over.

And so that’s a challenge, as I mentioned, with tradespeople to be able to perform that work. But that’s constantly happening all the time. We work as quickly as we can. The Sask Housing Corporation, with the local authorities, work as hard as they can to turn over units as quickly as possible when there is a changeover, Mr. Speaker.

And if there’s somebody in a situation that the member brought up, we will look to find alternate locations that will serve that situation as well. So again we’re constantly working on this . . .

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Walsh Acres.

Health Care Staffing and Provision of Care

Mr. Clarke: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this week we were joined by Shannon Orell-Bast, a cancer survivor and health care worker who came to her legislature to sound the alarm about the culture of fear and burnout created by this tired and out-of-touch government. And one of the things that bothered her the most that day was the total lack of any willingness from the Sask Party to listen. The Minister of Health even came after me and tried to say that listening to health care workers was some kind of bad idea.

Why won’t the Sask Party listen? Why do they continue to ignore health care workers and refuse to act on the solutions that come from the front lines?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Mr. Hindley: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to be clear, what I indicated was that it is important to listen and that is what we as government do, but it’s also important when you listen to front-line health care providers — to doctors, to nurses, to other health care workers — that you act on the things that you are being told, which we are doing, Mr. Speaker.

An example of that is some of the work that’s being done here in Regina, and also in Saskatoon with the capacity pressure action plan set to address some of the issues at St. Paul’s Hospital, for example, Mr. Speaker. As an example I have had several meetings with nurses at St. Paul’s Hospital, including also being there on a couple of occasions, Mr. Speaker.

And as a result of that we’ve had some very good conversations between us, the front-line health care providers, senior leadership at the SHA. And nurses at St. Paul’s — and this is just one example, Mr. Speaker — have been providing ideas and solutions, and the SHA is working with the nurses and doctors to be able to act on those and implement those. We’ll continue to listen to front-line health care providers and implement the solutions that they bring forward to us, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Walsh Acres.

Mr. Clarke: — Mr. Speaker, we have a plan for health care and it’s one that we built by listening to health care workers. They want to hear it? Then they should listen up right now.

We’re going to strike that nursing task force that nurses have been calling for, for over a year. We’re going to bring back local voices by restoring the community health advisory networks. We’re going to build a grow-your-own strategy so that we can train Saskatchewan people. And we’re going to reform the ambulance system to make sure that people can get an ambulance when there’s an emergency.

And yes, most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we’re going to listen to health care workers and end the culture of fear and burnout that this tired and out-of-touch government has created. Where is the Sask Party’s plan to start listening to front-line workers and fix our broken health care system?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Mr. Hindley: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The member opposite forgot to . . . leave out the rest of the plan which was, in addition to the 52 rural hospitals that were closed during their time in government, but the additional 50 hospitals as recommended by the Fyke report that the member for Regina Rosemont said, when he was the temporary leader of the opposition, that he would have got around to doing that, Mr. Speaker. And it’s important to get said on the record.

Mr. Speaker, the health care plan from the provincial government is very clear. It has been in the health human resources action plan that was released in September of 2022. It was in a document released not that long ago called the provincial budget, Mr. Speaker, where the government is investing record amounts, $7.6 billion, into the health care system, a 10.6 per cent increase in health care over the previous year; an $85 million amount of funding, a $29 million increase, for our health human resources action plan.

More training seats, more residency seats in this province, Mr. Speaker, so we’re training more health care providers. More capital. More projects. The list goes on and on, and I’ll detail it in future answers, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Regina Walsh Acres.

Mr. Clarke: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is what Shannon Orell-Bast had to say to the Regina Leader-Post: “For me as a breast cancer patient, listening is important. Health care employees are not okay. They’re not well, especially after COVID. We need to look after our people.”

When will the minister get it? When will he start listening to our health care workers so Saskatchewan people can get the care that they need?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Mr. Hindley: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am honoured to serve as the Minister of Health and I take that role very seriously, which is why I engage with as many front-line health care providers, patients, people right across this province whenever I have the opportunity to do so.

[10:45]

I have taken the opportunity to visit over 40 communities across this province, meeting with health care providers. Mr. Speaker, just since, you know, having the opportunity to serve as Minister of Health since late August, I think I’ve had over 100 meetings. I’m just looking at the list right here — nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners, pediatrics, dental surgeons, researchers from the university, foundations. That is important work.

And I would say this. Earlier this week we had a couple of advocates from endometriosis Saskatchewan here, and they wrote back to me and said that they were grateful. They said:

I thank you for an efficient and productive meeting on Tuesday and for your attention in taking these steps towards examining and approving surgical, medical, and clinical management of endometriosis. We’re encouraged to see your interest in researching possibilities and continuing the conversation with us and your expressed dedication . . .

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatchewan Rivers.

Irrigation Project and Government’s Fiscal Management

Ms. Wilson: — Mr. Speaker, the latest numbers from the government on the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project are shocking. They are spending 1.1 billion on just the first phase. All said and done it’s projected to cost 44,000 per acre. Mr. Speaker, these numbers are based on the original estimate. Given this government’s track record of mismanagement projects, there’s no telling how high the cost can get. This government seems to think $13 million per new hospital bed is a good deal, and that’s what they’re paying in Prince Albert.

Mr. Speaker, how can this government explain such gross neglect and mismanagement of taxpayer money?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Trade and Export Development.

Hon. Mr. J. Harrison: — Well thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. With regard to the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project, we were pleased to announce at SARM [Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities] that we are moving forward with constructing the first 90,000 acres of that important project, Mr. Speaker, a $1.15 billion investment into phase 1.

And obviously something that we are focused on is value-added agriculture. And that is something that we see — working with producers, working with partners in industry — as building our economy of the future, Mr. Speaker, which is working. We’re seeing nearly, I think over $20 billion of ag exports this year. We want to see those numbers increase and a big part of that is going to be value-added agriculture.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatchewan Rivers.

Government’s Energy Policies

Ms. Wilson: — Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Crown Investments referred to their SMR [small modular reactor] nuclear project. This is a new untested technology that could bring massive financial liabilities to the province. By allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to the fund, the government is gambling with public money on an unproven nuclear venture.

The true costs of this project are unknown, yet this government has committed to shutting down all our reliable coal-fired plants by 2042. Promoting wind, solar, and unproven SMNR technology is an irresponsible energy policy that could cost Saskatchewan residents for generations.

Mr. Speaker, will this government commit, commit today to reinvesting in clean, affordable coal instead of their destructive net zero by 2050 agenda?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Crown Investments Corporation.

Hon. Mr. Duncan: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have to say I’m a little bit surprised to hear this question from the member opposite, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The member, her own party held a meeting in Weyburn at, of all places, the Tommy Douglas Centre, Mr. Speaker, so I shouldn’t be really surprised what comes from that member.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to make investments into all-of-the-above approach when it comes to . . .

An Hon. Member: — Your president was there.

Hon. Mr. Duncan: — I can guarantee you he wasn’t. Mr. Speaker, it’s an all-of-the-above approach, when it comes to power generation including nuclear energy, which would be good for this province including for the North where that member resides.

We’re going to invest in natural gas, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to continue to run our coal fleet, and we are going to continue to investigate the possibility of deploying technology including small modular reactors, which I think the people of this province are supportive of.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatchewan Rivers.

Ms. Wilson: — Mr. Speaker, in case that government and those ministers need a reminder, let me read to them the following statement on SaskPower website: “In 2020 the federal government set a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. They’re committed to reaching the target.”

Mr. Speaker, they go on to state that their goal is to decarbonize our energy grid. They state to reach net zero we must transform our entire power system. Furthermore they state their plan is to replace half of our energy grid with 3000 megawatts of wind power by 2035.

Mr. Speaker, can this government explain why they are pursuing the destruction of our energy sector for failed options like wind and solar?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Crown Investments Corporation.

Hon. Mr. Duncan: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would first of all say that net zero doesn’t mean zero emissions. We’re going to have a complement, a mix of energy generation, electrical generation that will include a variety of different methods including natural gas, which we’re opening up a 377‑megawatt natural gas-fired generation station outside of Moose Jaw later this summer. We’re also looking to proceed on the next 377 megawatts near the Lanigan area, Mr. Speaker.

And we are beginning a pre-consultation on what will be the next form of generation, both on natural gas as well as nuclear power which have no emissions but which could provide for a path forward for this province to be able to ensure that we have electrical generation that can support the people of this province and industry, including in the wintertime, so we don’t get into a situation that was left by the NDP in Alberta, Mr. Speaker, where we had to provide power to that province in the dead of winter.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

Bill No. 159 — The Revenue and Financial Services Amendment Act, 2024

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Finance.

Hon. Ms. Harpauer: — Mr. Speaker, I move that Bill No. 159, The Revenue and Financial Services Amendment Act, 2024 be now introduced and read a first time.

The Speaker: — It has been moved by the Minister of Finance that Bill No. 159 be now introduced and read a first time. Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt the motion?

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

The Speaker: — Carried.

Deputy Clerk: — First reading of this bill.

The Speaker: — When shall the bill be read a second time? I recognize the Minister of Finance.

Hon. Ms. Harpauer: — Next sitting of the Assembly.

[Interjections]

The Speaker: — Order.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

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 Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Beck: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It truly is an honour to stand here in my place on Treaty 4 territory, the homeland of the Métis, to deliver my remarks on the most recent budget. I guess I was a little eager to get to my feet today. Mr. Speaker, I will get into my budget remarks, but before I do that I want to take the lead from my colleague from Regina Rosemont and say a few words to acknowledge the Finance minister before she heads out the door.

And as I’ve made clear in the past, and I will again shortly, Mr. Speaker, in my speech, I’m sure I don’t always agree with the decisions that the minister has made in her role. But none of that takes away from the respect that I have for the service and for the commitment that she has given to this province. And that goes the same for her staff team, Mr. Speaker, and it goes especially for the sacrifices that we all know that her family has made in order for her to be able to provide this service to the people of Saskatchewan.

And, Mr. Speaker, I, like everyone else in this room, know that we couldn’t be here without the support and love of my family and without the support and hard work of a small but mighty staff team. Mr. Speaker, I suspect the minister’s staff team might be a little bit larger, but none of us could do this work without the people who work alongside us to be sure.

So, Minister, I want to thank you for your service, and I do sincerely wish you happy times with your family and especially with that beautiful new little grandbaby.

Mr. Speaker, now on to the budget. A budget labelled classrooms, care, and community, Mr. Speaker. It’s as if they think they can slap a new slogan on this budget and people will magically forget the record, Mr. Speaker. After 17 years in government, this Sask Party has grown so tired and so out of touch, even those who used to be big fans of this government, Mr. Speaker, used to say nice things, well they’re saying different things these days. They look at this budget and they see it for what it is — a desperate election-year budget. And, Mr. Speaker, everywhere I go in this province I hear the same thing over and over, more and more, Mr. Speaker: it’s time for a change.

People are tired of finger pointing, smoke and mirrors, and they’re tired, they’re tired of division. And they’re tired of this Sask Party’s scandal, waste, and an ever-growing sense of entitlement. And they are so tired, Mr. Speaker, of this government’s callous disregard for the reality, the reality that Saskatchewan people are facing. And, Mr. Speaker, change can’t come soon enough.

Now if you look at this budget, you certainly don’t see much of a change. You see a lot of empty commitments that will soon make their way to the growing heap of broken Sask Party promises. And people know, despite all the pinky-swear promises on that side, they know that this Sask Party government has made their lives more expensive. They broke the health care system, and they aren’t the ones who are going to be trusted to fix it, Mr. Speaker.

Now let’s look at their record. They want to talk about anything else but their record, but we’re going to talk about it for a bit. At a time when more and more people are finding it harder and harder in this province to make a go of it, the Sask Party, in the middle of that, hiked SaskPower bills three times last two years alone. They doubled, Mr. Speaker, their take on the PST. And they, Mr. Speaker, are the only government in Canada — the only one — to have shrunk the economy before, during, and after the pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, and on top of all of that, they’ve balanced only one budget in a decade. That’s nine deficits, for those struggling with math, Mr. Speaker.

And now they want Saskatchewan people to believe hand-over-heart that they’re going to magically, magically find balance in just one more year, Mr. Speaker, and they’ll do it right after the election, Mr. Speaker. Just trust them. Well, Mr. Speaker, they need to know. People out there, they’re not buying it. Mr. Speaker, if you trust what they’ve put in this budget, I’ve got a little bit of oceanfront property to sell you just a little south of Trossachs.

Mr. Speaker, since this Premier took over in 2018, this is his record. They might want to listen up. He’s doubled the debt in just six years. That’s quite a record — $35 billion. $3 billion this year alone. And he’s managed to earn the dubious distinction of having the worst job creation record in the country. Mr. Speaker, after 16 years, after six years of this Premier, it’s safe to say the Sask Party, well they ain’t what they used to be.

And I hear them over there, Mr. Speaker, and they’re not happy with what I’m saying. Well they should know, Mr. Speaker, that Saskatchewan people — they should hear this — Saskatchewan people are not happy with what they are doing either, Mr. Speaker. And they would do well to remember that this a small province, and they should know that people are saying this in rooms that they’ve taken for granted for a very long time.

[11:00]

Mr. Speaker, budgets are about choices. And time and time again we see this Sask Party government choose themselves, choose their donors over the people who call this province home.

I’ve got a list, but let’s just look at the last few weeks. We’ve seen example after example of Sask Party MLAs who’ve been using taxpayer dollars for their own interests, Mr. Speaker, whether that’s to tour around Paris in a Mercedes chauffeur or globe-trotting without tangible benefits for the rest of us here at home. Or, Mr. Speaker, even turning a buck — or many bucks — off the people in social services at a privately MLA-owned motel.

Mr. Speaker, they’d do well to know that these scandals do not just hurt their reputation, they hurt the people of this province. The people. They hurt people by directly taking money out of their pockets and by directing much-needed investment into the services that people rely on, services like housing, like we saw today.

Mr. Speaker, people have been coming and coming to this legislature to tell their stories, desperately trying to get the attention of this government. Whether it’s on housing or losing loved ones to overdose, whether it’s people waiting for surgery or long-term care for their loved ones, Mr. Speaker, the list goes on and on and on. And, Mr. Speaker, if this were a government that was listening, they would know it in the first place and people shouldn’t have to come here to get their attention. But, Mr. Speaker, they’re not.

And on top of the cuts and on top of the lack of supports, this Sask Party has piled on — wait for it, Mr. Speaker — more debt than Grant Devine. That’s quite a record. But they still failed to deliver on almost every measure that matters to Saskatchewan people. Mr. Speaker, there are some mudholes that you ought to say “whoa” in.

But no, Mr. Speaker, not these guys. While they cut services and run them into the ground, they’re more than happy to spend your money to tell you how great you’ve got it. It’s a look, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got story after story from the by-elections last summer — people emotional about paying their grocery bill, wondering if they were going to have to go back to work out of retirement to pay the bills. I could go on.

But I think there’s one image that I will never forget. At a time when we have 40‑year record rates of food bank usage in this province, what did this government do? I saw, driving home from Coronation Park across from the food bank, Regina Food Bank, a big billboard with the Premier’s face on it, declaring that’s “growth that works for everyone.” Mr. Speaker, that tells you about all you need to know about today’s Sask Party.

At least they figured out that that slogan wasn’t working so well. But now we have classrooms, care, and community. Problem solved, Mr. Speaker. But no matter how big they print those three words, it won’t make up for their refusal to work with teachers and parents and boards to fix the damage done by years of underfunding, cuts, and neglect by their government.

And it won’t rewrite their record of refusing, refusing to sit down with nurses and health care professionals, refusing to listen to their experiences. Why we’re losing 21 per cent of our nurses in rural Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker. Why so many of them are leaving the province or the profession altogether, Mr. Speaker.

And while families are struggling, struggling like we haven’t seen them struggle for decades, Mr. Speaker, in this budget, when everything is so wonderful, we don’t see one thin dime of relief to deal with the cost-of-living crisis that they seem to think is fantasy out there, Mr. Speaker. But we have five times mortgages in arrears in this province of any other province in Canada.

So while provinces to the east and to the west of us take action — they remove their gas taxes to provide some relief to the people in those provinces — this Premier has repeatedly, stubbornly refused to provide the relief that Saskatchewan people so desperately need. Mr. Speaker, how naive do they think the people of this province are? It’s actually insulting. Communities, care, and classrooms — and a pinky swear . . .

An Hon. Member: — Hypocrisy.

Ms. Beck: — Hypocrisy is right. Give us a break. Mr. Speaker, it may be an election year, but it’s not April Fool’s Day yet.

Now some of the best advice that I’ve ever received, and I think of this often: when someone shows you who they are, you believe them. Believe them the first time. And this tired and out-of-touch government has shown us who they are, time and time again.

Or maybe they prefer another quote. I’ll quote Brad Wall: “The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour,” Mr. Speaker. Saskatchewan people have seen what they’re made of over the last six years, time and time again.

Or maybe they want to hear this one, Mr. Speaker, because I’m hearing this a lot. As one former Sask Party supporter told me, “I didn’t leave the Sask Party; the Sask Party left me.” We’re hearing that a lot.

Now, Mr. Speaker, predictably they are too busy clapping and pointing fingers, self-congratulating, to even understand that they are losing people that they don’t even know they’re losing yet, Mr. Speaker. But they want change. This is a government that has lost the plot. Now they groan — we’ve seen it here today — they groan and point fingers and guffaw every time we point out that they’ve become tired and out of touch.

But clearly, Mr. Speaker, this is a government that stopped listening to the people of this province long ago. They have made decision after decision that does nothing to help people who are struggling to pay their bills, those who are working extra time and extra jobs just to get by, seniors who are going back to work to pay their power bills, Mr. Speaker.

And they certainly aren’t supporting overworked and burnt-out nurses and health care workers, Mr. Speaker. Total lack of respect, total lack of support for those who are dealing with packed ERs [emergency room], telling patients about incredibly long waits, or even telling patients that they found the lump too late, Mr. Speaker.

They’re refusing to address these conditions and the conditions that teachers are working in and our kids are trying to learn in, Mr. Speaker. Conditions, by the way, created after 10 years, 10 years of cuts and underfunding by that Sask Party government.

Now, Mr. Speaker, there’s some very ingrained wilful ignorance over there about how many supports have been lost and how demoralizing, how demoralizing it is for a teacher who wants nothing more but to follow their passion, their calling to teach kids in their classrooms. How hard it is for them to go home at night knowing that there’s just not enough of you to go around and that kids are falling behind, Mr. Speaker.

And do you know how heartbreaking or infuriating or both it is for a Minister of Education who knows not one thing, Mr. Speaker, about what it’s like to be a teacher in this province or what conditions are like in the classroom? How demoralizing it is for that minister to stand up and smirk and accuse them of being self-interested or of wanting to be on the picket line, Mr. Speaker.

In our province right now there are women who are looking to have to go to Calgary to get a mammogram, a basic diagnostic, Mr. Speaker. Forced to wait with a lump in their breast, not knowing when they’re going to get answers, let alone treatment.

And Saskatchewan people see right through, right through this tired and out-of-touch government, even if they haven’t woken up to it yet. Mr. Speaker, saying you suddenly care about the services you neglected and you broke right before an election shows that none of this — let me be clear — none of this was ever a priority, Mr. Speaker.

Sometimes this is like — and I have my dad’s voice in my head from the dugout — watching an old ball team just fall apart, point fingers at each other, point fingers everywhere. I can hear him say, come on, boys, get it together. People of this province are saying, maybe get it together, but more and more, time for a change.

Now, Mr. Speaker, they want to know, and we hear it time and time again, well what would you do? I mean besides we wouldn’t have broke it in the first place, Mr. Speaker. It’ll come in time; don’t you worry. And I will admit, I will admit that I don’t have a magic wand to make everything better, Mr. Speaker. There is no magic wand, especially after the mess that they have made. But I note that New Democrat governments before have had to clean up the mess after tired, old conservative governments, Mr. Speaker, and we would love the chance to do it again, Mr. Speaker.

We know that whatever we do, it starts with listening. And while this tired and out-of-touch government has plainly become more concerned about their own friends, their own political self-interest than they are about the people of this province, on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, we trust the people of Saskatchewan enough to work with them, to be transparent, and to be accountable. Now maybe some of them are listening now, Mr. Speaker, and maybe they wonder — they should be wondering — why are people not trusting their government anymore. It’s because they stopped trusting the people of this province a long time ago, Mr. Speaker. They’ve taken so much control away from school boards. They’re not even asking teachers or nurses or municipalities, Mr. Speaker, even police officers about their experience, let alone how to fix it.

I’ve got one clear example. There are many, but I think this one illustrates it maybe more than any other. Mr. Speaker, this tired and out-of-touch government has spent $14 million on a marshals service without putting a single boot, a single officer on the ground, Mr. Speaker, while the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] and municipal forces are begging for resources. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt, there is no doubt that crime is an issue that needs to be addressed in this province. But, Mr. Speaker, imagine the arrogance of a government that doesn’t even listen to front-line police officers about how to offer those solutions, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, you can see it every day. They think they own this province. They walk around here, Mr. Speaker, like they own the place. Well here’s a tip, here’s a tip over there. You don’t. You don’t own this province. And they have taken this province for granted for too long, Mr. Speaker, and the people are having none of it. And just like the people that they’ve forgotten in the budget, the Sask Party members seem to forget that we’re here from . . . we’re from Saskatchewan too. We love this place. I grew up a farm kid, Mr. Speaker. My favourite places, my favourite people, my favourite nieces and nephews are still out there, Mr. Speaker. It’s where my roots are. It’s where my happy place is.

The member from Last Mountain-Touchwood might do well to listen, Mr. Speaker. People are talking out there. And I bet they’d be surprised to learn that their support is drying up out there too, Mr. Speaker, but they’ll find that out soon enough, Mr. Speaker. The people are making it clear more and more, it’s time for a change, Mr. Speaker. Not everyone who’s shown up and clapping for you folks is real happy out there. There’s a tip.

Now, Mr. Speaker, unlike the Sask Party, this team . . . And I just want to take a second to say how proud I am of this team and the work they do on behalf of the people of this province. We are taking nothing for granted, Mr. Speaker. We know, we know what a privilege it is to serve the people of this beautiful province. And as the member for Cumberland recently said, “That doesn’t matter if they voted for us or not.” Mr. Speaker, I love this province. We all do.

And Saskatchewan is bigger and more than one political party. It belongs to all of us, but more importantly, it belongs to the people of this province and it belongs to the future generations in this province. Those that came before us, Mr. Speaker, they stewarded the land and they built for us. Building together, leaning on each other — those values have never, never been a weakness in this province. Those values have been our strength, and now it’s on us.

[11:15]

I am so excited by the privilege and the honour to work with people from every corner of this province, to think about the kind of bright future that we all want, we all want for our kids and for our grandkids, Mr. Speaker. And while the Sask Party looks to the past — there’s another quote here I could use about looking in the rear-view mirror, but I think I’ve probably run out of Brad Wall quotes, Mr. Speaker — I know, I know that Saskatchewan’s best days still lie in front of us.

And I also know that it’s only by working with the people of this province and getting out of the way when needed, that we can deliver the real results, Mr. Speaker, not slogans and billboards but real, tangible results for the people of this province, earning their trust, showing them respect. Mr. Speaker, it’s clear. Unfortunately it’s clear from this budget, and so much more from the responses of those members opposite, that this government doesn’t want to hear any bad reviews, and they clearly don’t see any error in their ways. They’re not changing, Mr. Speaker.

But we’re ready to work with the people of this province to change this government and build the Saskatchewan for the next century.

And for all those reasons and more, Mr. Speaker, I will not be supporting the budget, and I will proudly be supporting the amendment put forth by the member from Regina Rosemont.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.

Hon. Mr. Moe: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to all members in the Assembly for their speeches to this year’s budget, the replies to the budget that was introduced this year.

You know, not a lot of criticism on the budget. Rightfully so. I think a significant investment, Mr. Speaker, in that budget which I am going to speak to a little bit as well from my perspective as an MLA, the perspective that I have working with what I think is just a fabulous caucus, one of the strongest caucuses across the country, Mr. Speaker, and a little bit maybe from the perspective of Saskatchewan people and how we need to continue to work with Saskatchewan people to ensure that this investment actually provides the outcomes that people expect.

But prior to that, Mr. Speaker, as is customary, I want to say thank you to a number of folks. Starting in my office, both the office here in Regina, Rhonda and Launa. I get to see them each and every day, Mr. Speaker. And I can honestly say that I have never walked into that office in the morning where both of them don’t have a smile on their face and really start my day and everyone that enters that office off on the right foot. And so thank you for what both of those ladies do each and every day in serving the people of this province and working alongside myself.

Back home in our constituency office, Mr. Speaker, we have Sally. Sally has been with us . . . Sally Jacobson has been with myself since 2011, since I was first elected and continues to work, serving the constituents of Rosthern-Shellbrook, and at times I would say beyond the constituency, Mr. Speaker.

And Cindy Painchaud has also joined our office, Mr. Speaker. Cindy, I grew up and used to ride the bus with her many, many, many years ago, Mr. Speaker, on our way to school. And her mom, her late mother was, she was my Sunday school teacher also many, many years ago, Mr. Speaker. And so thrilled that she had spent a career with the city of Saskatoon and has returned and retired in the community of Shellbrook. And had the opportunity, we had the opportunity for her to join our staff. And I’m very grateful for the work that both Cindy and Sally do, Mr. Speaker.

Raynelle Wilson, the head of our public service. Thank you, Raynelle, for all you do on behalf of the people of Saskatchewan. We have a tremendous public service in this province, Mr. Speaker, led by Raynelle, and I just want to thank her for her past year, or maybe two now, Mr. Speaker — as we had Cam Swan previously, now Raynelle Wilson — for all that she does in her leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I have one other deputy minister, Ashley Metz. She does the Intergov work, which has been a hectic area of government the last eight or so years, Mr. Speaker. And Ashley is the longest serving Intergovernmental deputy minister. She’s been in that space for many, many years now, and I would say is not only providing leadership on behalf of this province but indirectly through her experience in that Intergov space, Mr. Speaker, providing leadership for a number of provinces at our Council of Federation table, and ultimately, up to and leading into first ministers’ meetings, which are becoming a little more few and far between, Mr. Speaker.

The constituents in Rosthern-Shellbrook, thank you so much for reaching out to our office. Obviously thank you for voting for me once in a while, and for those that didn’t, we do strive to listen to you and to ensure that, as an MLA, we are representing — and I say “we” as the entire constituency office — representing the interests of you on the floor of this Assembly and with our contact throughout the various ministries. And thank you for what you do in the constituency, whatever that is, in providing a service for others in your community. Thank you for your volunteer work. And thank you for your contribution to the Saskatchewan economy. And I’m going to get a little bit into that Saskatchewan economy towards the end of my comments here as well. And more broadly, the same thanks goes to the people across the province of Saskatchewan.

We live in a great place. There’s more of us today, Mr. Speaker, than there’s ever been, that live in this great place, Mr. Speaker, and I dare say as we look ahead through the weeks and months, there’s going to be even more Saskatchewan residents that are moving here, Mr. Speaker, and most importantly staying here in a community where they were raised.

Last but not least — and I won’t go too much into this, Mr. Speaker — on both sides of the House there are members that are retiring. And this will be the last session, last budget before an election, Mr. Speaker, and I want to say thank you to all of those retiring members for their service, Mr. Speaker, yourself included. It is a service, Mr. Speaker. You serve, we serve, all of us, you know, with the love and support of our family and many, including yourself, served for decades, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to say on behalf of myself and more broadly on behalf of the government, thank you to all that have served, and in particular at this point, thank you to those that may not be running again in the next election. You’re a model. In many cases, many of you have been such a model for, you know, those that have came after you. And we appreciate your dedication to the people of the province of Saskatchewan.

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Leader of the Opposition’s speech, and there was a number of comments in there, two of which I agreed with somewhat — one and a half maybe. And I’ll get to those in a moment, Mr. Speaker, but I want to start with — well two and a half. I agreed with the Brad Wall quote as well, Mr. Speaker, so two and a half, Mr. Speaker. But the Brad Wall quote was, “The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour,” and I quote the former premier . . . I’d say great premier that this province had. Provided great leadership and still does provide leadership with all he does.

But I was going to read another quote, Mr. Speaker, by a politician that we all know, Winston Churchill, which really says the same thing but in a little different way, Mr. Speaker. And I quote: “I no longer listen to what people say. I just watch what they do. Behaviour never lies.”

So I think as we go through the next number of months, Mr. Speaker, it’s important for Saskatchewan people to identify with, yes, what people are saying. And we’re going to hear a lot of talk over the next number of months. Three provincial elections leading into a federal election, and quite likely overshadowed by an election of two older fellows running south of the 49th parallel, Mr. Speaker. There’s going to be a lot of talk over the next number of months in the lead-up to our provincial election here.

And I think it’s important for everyone to pay attention to past behaviour, Mr. Speaker. Past behaviour and policy initiatives, past behaviour and past actions when it comes to not only promising or committing to policies, but actually putting them into action and ensuring that in this case the budget investment actually translates into outcomes that Saskatchewan people expect.

And I’m very happy to discuss — and I will today a little bit — about our record here in the province over the 17 years that we’ve had the honour not to own the place, the province or the building or anything, but we’ve had the honour to serve the people of Saskatchewan as their government, Mr. Speaker.

This budget that was introduced, Mr. Speaker, I think we would take that as a point of behaviour. This budget was focused on classrooms, it was focused on care, and it was focused on communities with record investment in each of those sectors, Mr. Speaker.

And I’m going to talk a little bit today about some numbers, yes, but I would encourage everyone to think about the impact of those numbers, the impact of those numbers on students, on patients, on families, Mr. Speaker, and the impact of what those numbers mean to us as we go home to our communities over the course of the next week as we have a constituency week, Mr. Speaker, over the Easter break.

And so let’s start with the classrooms, Mr. Speaker. $4.4 billion is invested in the Education line item of the budget this year. That includes our post-secondary dollars. That’s a significant amount of money, Mr. Speaker, significant amount of investment that is being provided for our youth and our post-secondary education, of which I’ll get to in a minute.

But as we had said in the lead-up to the budget, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister of Education has spoken to many times, it includes a $2.2 billion transfer to our school divisions, Mr. Speaker, our locally elected school divisions, 27 of them, that are making decisions about where that investment is going to land, in which community, in which school, in which classroom, Mr. Speaker, to support our teachers that are educating our children, but most importantly to support the learning environment that our children have — $2.2 billion. Record amount of funding and a record increase this year of 9 per cent, Mr. Speaker, 9 per cent increase.

You can put that alongside, Mr. Speaker, the behaviour of the NDP in the province next to us, 3.4 per cent increase, Mr. Speaker, in that province and a commitment to return the taxation powers to the school divisions, Mr. Speaker, of which one has promptly increased the education property tax by 17 per cent. That is the behaviour of the NDP. It was the behaviour of the NDP in this province, Mr. Speaker, and it proves to be so today.

Mr. Speaker, the conversation around classroom supports, an important one and one that we agree with and which that agreement was shown with an investment in classroom supports, Mr. Speaker, not only doubling down and annualizing the investment that was made mid-year of just over $40 million shortly after last year’s budget, but adding to that investment as well to a total of about $356 million that is going to our school divisions, Mr. Speaker, so that they can make the appropriate decisions in allocating those dollars into the community, in the school, in the classroom to support the learning environment that we have.

It’s also important for us to remember, Mr. Speaker, that if you’re going to fund classrooms and you have a growing population, a growing student population, you not only need to increase the operational funding but you need to build classrooms, Mr. Speaker. And this is what this government has been focused on for 17 years now. And again that continues with $216 million — a big number, yes — part of that global $4.4 billion number, Mr. Speaker. But we have now announced that we are in the process of building or renovating, significant renovations, over 100 schools in the province — 103 actually is the number, Mr. Speaker, 11 more in this year’s budget.

You contrast that with the behaviour of the members opposite, and we know the number. They closed a school a month — 176 schools over 16 years, Mr. Speaker. That is a tremendous contrast, Mr. Speaker, building 103 schools over roughly the same period of time that their behaviour was closing 176 schools, Mr. Speaker.

This is the choice that is before the people of Saskatchewan as we head to a provincial election this fall. One of these schools, Mr. Speaker — and I find this interesting, and I think this really is an indicator of the need for the operational, the operational funding that is being provided in this budget, Mr. Speaker, and quite likely some operational funding increases in the years ahead — one of these schools, I believe in the area of Brighton in Saskatoon, on the east side of Saskatoon, Mr. Speaker, is a joint-use facility.

I grew up in Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. We had a couple of hundred people in our high school, another couple hundred people in our elementary school — so 4, sometimes 500 at the most, Mr. Speaker, in our school system. And we thought we were a pretty good-sized community when we looked at Canwood and we looked at Leask, Mr. Speaker.

But I would look into Prince Albert at Carlton high school. They had 1,800 kids I think in some years, and I thought, man, that is a big urban school. And I think actually for many years it was one of the largest schools that we had in the province. We’re building a joint-use facility, Mr. Speaker, on the east side of Saskatoon that is planning to be a learning facility for 3,600 students.

Mr. Speaker, it is every bit necessary in this province that we continue to fund education at the levels that you see in this budget, Mr. Speaker. And I think Saskatchewan people can be very proud of the fact that Saskatchewan individuals, Saskatchewan families, have a higher per capita investment in our education system than any other individual, regardless of where you live across the nation, and any other family across the nation of Canada, Mr. Speaker.

I’m proud of that investment, Mr. Speaker. It’s increasing by 9 per cent on the operational side this year, building nine more schools, two significant renovations, Mr. Speaker. And we are locking in that classroom support funding for four years with our school divisions, Mr. Speaker, which I want to speak to next.

Mr. Speaker, again, past behaviour is an indicator of future behaviour, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak about the post-secondary education memorandum of understanding that we signed just over four years ago with our post-secondary institutes in this province, Mr. Speaker. And I would say, think of that statement, whether it be Premier Wall’s statement or Winston Churchill’s statement, Mr. Speaker. If past behaviour truly is the best indicator of future behaviour, this year $793 million that is being provided, invested in our future, Mr. Speaker, our training future through our post-secondary institutes.

[11:30]

Mr. Speaker, the U of S [University of Saskatchewan] president had this to say last week on budget day, and I quote:

Having the Government of Saskatchewan deliver on its multi-year funding commitment to USask enables us to move towards financial sustainability and better advance our shared priorities. The multi-year funding agreement [multi-year memorandum of understanding funding agreement, Mr. Speaker] demonstrated how much the government recognized the value that USask provides the province.

There is great value in all of our post-secondary institutes, Mr. Speaker, and that’s why the Minister of Advanced Education four years ago signed a four-year funding agreement, a long-term memorandum of understanding, of which the behaviour of this government was . . . We followed through with it through those four years and are now working with our post-secondary sector on another multi-year funding agreement.

And I say this, Mr. Speaker, because we are having a similar conversation when it comes to how we are flowing investment through our school divisions into our classrooms when it comes to classroom supports, Mr. Speaker.

If you compare the two asks, the asks of the STF [Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation], Mr. Speaker, to have that decision-making power transition to the union, Mr. Speaker, as opposed to the locally elected school division, the equivalent of that at the post-secondary level, Mr. Speaker, would be for us to not sign a memorandum of understanding with the post-secondary sector, so the University of Saskatchewan proper, University of Regina, Sask Polytechnic. But it would be signing that agreement with the professors and the instructors, Mr. Speaker. That’s the parallel discussion that is happening here, Mr. Speaker.

With that being said, Mr. Speaker, that investment has to be made and this government is committed to making it, and that’s why we signed a four-year agreement with the school divisions, Mr. Speaker. And we have every intent to follow through on that agreement, Mr. Speaker, if we have the honour of forming government this fall.

But again a choice, Mr. Speaker: a choice between behaviour of the government and following through on what they say they’re going to do, Mr. Speaker, and an opposition that ultimately says they’re going to give taxation powers back to the school divisions. We’re seeing that 17 per cent increase in Manitoba happening right there, Mr. Speaker. A decision and a commitment by the members opposite that they would, Mr. Speaker, sign that decision-making power over for that $350 million to the union, Mr. Speaker, circumventing, circumventing the decision-making ability that our locally elected school divisions have, Mr. Speaker.

This brings us to a . . . It’s kind of a challenging situation that our students and families are facing today — not kind of — a very challenging situation, Mr. Speaker. We saw the cancellation or ultimately the modification of our basketball tournament, Hoopla, here. We had this very same discussion a number of years ago with the previous Minister of Education, Mr. Speaker.

And so some of the extracurricular activities like graduation, for instance, we’re starting to field calls from parents who are concerned. They’re concerned that the STF is going to make a decision that is going to impact their children’s graduation. Many of these kids in grade 12 today, young adults, Mr. Speaker, are the very same students that missed their grade 8 graduation due to a global pandemic. And we have seen the impacts of not having access to our classrooms and extracurriculars through that time of a global pandemic. That’s why the Minister of Education and the Chair of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association are out today making a commitment that graduation is going to occur in our Saskatchewan schools this year.

And all the while, Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with respect to the STF, Mr. Speaker. We continue to work with them on an accountability framework to ensure that the 350‑plus million dollars that we have committed to is the baseline over the next four years with the school divisions. There’s going to be accountability in place to ensure that that funding does flow through to the classroom, does support our teachers, and does support the learning environment for our children, Mr. Speaker. And we respectfully ask the STF to return to the bargaining table next Wednesday so that we can find agreement on all of the other topics, put this labour dispute behind us, Mr. Speaker, and provide certainty for Saskatchewan families in their children’s education.

Mr. Speaker, 9 per cent was the operational lift in our K to 12 [kindergarten to grade 12] education budget, Mr. Speaker. Ten per cent — over 10 per cent — in health care. Previous Health ministers are quite envious of that number, Mr. Speaker, and I think a few of them have spoken to that. Mr. Speaker, this really gives us an opportunity to build off some of the successes of those previous Health ministers, Mr. Speaker, and really to advance our health care system in a post-pandemic environment, where I think not just in Saskatchewan but across Canada there were weaknesses in our public health care system that were identified, Mr. Speaker.

And I say that as it is a topic of conversation at our Council of Federation table, Mr. Speaker, and our first ministers’ table, with just signing the Canada Health Transfer update, Mr. Speaker. I believe the federal government has increased our transfer by about 2.6 per cent, if memory serves me correctly, Mr. Speaker. Provincial input, provincial increase is over 10 per cent, Mr. Speaker, so we’re a little light on the federal-provincial relationship when it comes to funding our health care system not just in Saskatchewan but nationally.

But we do appreciate the 2.6 per cent lift, Mr. Speaker, as it’s important, and it’ll be used to ensure that the Saskatchewan Health Authority is achieving the expectations that Saskatchewan people have in the way of access and in the way of the level of care that’s being provided. We’re building on the 1,000 physicians that have been added to our system in the last decade and a half. We’re building on the 5,000 nurses that have been added to our medical system, our Saskatchewan Health Authority roster in the last decade and a half, Mr. Speaker.

Again that’s the behaviour of this party, this government that we’re building on with 1,000 Canadian grads that are coming in and working in our facilities, been offered jobs, Mr. Speaker, and accepted jobs just this past year. Over 400 folks from the Philippines, Mr. Speaker — medical health practitioners, most of them nurses — also, Mr. Speaker, been offered jobs in our Saskatchewan Health Authority in a community near my community or your community, Mr. Speaker. A hundred and seventy of those are in our facilities, offering services today.

That is what we are building on, Mr. Speaker, as we build out our Saskatchewan health care system. And with the 10 per cent increase in investment, Mr. Speaker, the expectation now is that the Saskatchewan Health Authority has the investment necessary to provide the services that Saskatchewan people expect.

There are incentives in place for physicians to locate into rural communities, Mr. Speaker. There are incentives for nurses to locate to rural communities, Mr. Speaker. There are expansions of not only training seats — over 550 training seats, I think 18 medical health disciplines — the training seats have been expanded, Mr. Speaker.

And that, I think, in many ways builds off some of the earlier commitments that this government has made. And again, when you come to past behaviour being an indicator of future behaviour, one of the first decisions this government made, I think it was the member from Indian Head-Milestone many years ago . . . You were involved, Mr. Speaker, as Rural and Remote Health minister a number of years ago in expanding not only the infrastructure of the College of Medicine — past behaviour, Mr. Speaker; under the members opposite it was on probation — but expanding a significant outbuild of the College of Medicine, infrastructure outbuild and expanding the seats from 60 to 100, now to 105; expanding the residency positions in our province from 60 to 120, Mr. Speaker, making more physicians available to work in Saskatchewan.

And that is showing, with over 200 physicians attracted and working in our province, adding to the 1,000, Mr. Speaker, over the last 29 months, I believe, and over 100 in the last six months as well. That is building. That is building on, Mr. Speaker, the very platform of investment that we made over a decade ago. We’re adding to that with the investment, Mr. Speaker, in last year’s budget, adding to that with the investment in this year’s budget.

Mr. Speaker, that is the record and that is the behaviour of this government, is to build out our health care system, both infrastructure-wise but also from a service perspective. And if you’re going to build out the services, Mr. Speaker, you better be training the people at home. And that’s exactly what we are doing in this province, Mr. Speaker.

Very quickly I want to just speak about mental health, Mr. Speaker, and all too often, subsequent addictions. And yes, there’s over a half billion dollars invested in mental health supports through the government and various ministries each and every year. But this year it’s a little different with the update of our mental health and, all too often, subsequent addictions action plan that has been put in place, Mr. Speaker. That is a plan that is very much focused on recovery and providing those recovery opportunities, Mr. Speaker.

And I think that is the expectation of the vast majority of the people in this province, Mr. Speaker, is to focus on the capacity and the intake that we have for recovery opportunities so that we can support our family members, our community members that may be having a mental health crisis, may have slipped into a life of addictions and are ready for a change, Mr. Speaker.

And I would say first, when it comes to access, emergency room is likely not the best place — and that’s been proven, Mr. Speaker, sadly — likely not the best place to present if you’re having a mental health crisis or you have slipped into a life of addictions or are living a life with addictions, Mr. Speaker, and are ready to make a change.

We need a better access point than our emergency rooms, Mr. Speaker. And that is what we are building in the urgent care centres: one on north Albert Street; one coming in partnership with Ahtahkakoop First Nation or Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatoon, Mr. Speaker, as an intake.

If you’re going to have an intake, you’d better have the capacity to back up and to provide those services that are needed, Mr. Speaker. And that’s why you’re seeing this Minister of Mental Health and Addictions creating partnerships and building out and announcements literally weekly on additional beds that are coming into our province, coming into our communities, Mr. Speaker. Intensive recovery beds for Saskatchewan residents, Mr. Speaker, publicly funded and being provided in communities across the province. We’re going to hit 500. We had a target of 150. We achieved that. We now have a target of 500. I think we will achieve that in the not-too-distant future, Mr. Speaker. And will that be the right number? I doubt it. We will likely have to set another target, Mr. Speaker.

So that’s the first track, is to provide that quality of care when it comes to mental health and addictions, to provide that recovery bed, to provide that health care practitioner and making sure they’re available when the people present, Mr. Speaker, through the access points that we have.

The second track, Mr. Speaker, quite frankly is this — it’s enforcement. We need to remove the drugs from the drug dealers, and then we need to remove the drug dealers from our communities. That’s why you’re seeing an investment in the Saskatchewan marshals service to ensure that we are there to support our RCMP services when needed, Mr. Speaker, that are keeping our communities safe. That’s why the Saskatchewan marshals service will be available to support our municipal police officers as well, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that our communities, whether they be rural or urban, are safe places to live and our families can go out for a walk in the evenings, Mr. Speaker.

That is the secondary track to this approach, Mr. Speaker. And that’s why you’re seeing investment not only in the Saskatchewan marshals but additional investment in specialized services, both in the RCMP and the municipal police forces. The warrant enforcement and suppression team, Mr. Speaker. The PACT team, police and crisis team, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you’re seeing the crime reduction teams as well. All investments by this government, Mr. Speaker, in keeping our communities safer.

Twin-track approach, Mr. Speaker, and if we have the honour of forming government this fall, we are going to continue on just that approach to keep our communities safe, Mr. Speaker, and provide supports for our family and community members.

Classrooms, 9 per cent. Health care, over 10 per cent investment, Mr. Speaker. Communities, through our municipal revenue-sharing investment, Mr. Speaker, we saw an increase to $340 million announced at the SARM convention. That is a 14 per cent increase, Mr. Speaker.

And if we are going to use any measure — well again, behaviour, Mr. Speaker — a government that promised a revenue-sharing program, never delivered, Mr. Speaker. Somewhat like the Humboldt hospital, actually. A promise to a municipal revenue-sharing program, never delivered it, Mr. Speaker. A government that promised a municipal revenue-sharing program. It was one of the first bills in the House, Mr. Speaker, was to deliver on that program.

Mr. Speaker, it’s only through the strength of our economy that we’re able to increase this funding by 14 per cent, health care funding by over 10 per cent, and our educational operational funding by over 9 per cent, Mr. Speaker. It’s only through the strength of our prosperous and growing economy. And if there’s any indicator of what that economy is doing, let’s use municipal revenue sharing as that indicator. Mr. Speaker, up 14 per cent just this year.

Mr. Speaker, this is in addition, that $340 million is in addition to all of the infrastructure funding that, yes, we partner with the federal government on and municipalities through the ICIP [Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program] program, Mr. Speaker. And respectfully ask the federal government, and maybe all parties, to put forward what their infrastructure plans will look like. Because that pot is empty, Mr. Speaker, and it’s time for it to be reloaded.

Mr. Speaker, every day we have a few questions with respect to the cost of living on the floor of this Assembly. Those are fair questions. I know the cost of living, Mr. Speaker, and the general economic fortunes of our province are on the minds of Saskatchewan people. And I would say I hear about it in my travels as an MLA, Mr. Speaker, and I know the members opposite will as well. Every day I get up and talk about, Mr. Speaker, the strong and growing economy that we have in Saskatchewan and how we are able to facilitate over $2 billion in affordability measures each and every year, Mr. Speaker.

[11:45]

That is why, if you open the budget documents, you are going to find a ranking of 10 major centres across the nation, and you’re going to see the city of Regina as the most affordable place to live in all of those income categories, save for one where I think it ranks third, Mr. Speaker.

That is due to the fact that we don’t charge PST on our gasoline in the province, Mr. Speaker. That is due to the fact that we don’t charge PST on our natural gas that we heat our homes with in this province, Mr. Speaker. That is due to the fact that we don’t charge PST on electric heat that we might use through our SaskPower Corporation here in the province.

That is due to the fact, Mr. Speaker, as I said in question period today, that we have increased the level at which you start paying provincial tax, income tax in this province from $26,000. Behaviour under the previous administration, the NDP government, it was $26,000 you started paying income tax in this province. Today you start paying income tax at $59,000 earned in this province, Mr. Speaker. That’s how, that’s how you remove 112,000 people from the tax rolls.

Indexation this year, Mr. Speaker, shields Saskatchewan individuals and families to the tune of about $400 this year. No carbon tax being paid on our home heating bills in this province, mirroring a decision that was made by the federal government largely impacting Atlantic Canada, Mr. Speaker. Very fortunate, families in Saskatchewan are going to receive that same benefit, about $400 saving this year.

That’s on top of what is already the second-lowest utility bundle that you can find in the nation of the Canada being right here in Saskatchewan. This is why Regina is ranked as the most affordable city in the nation to live, Mr. Speaker.

That’s not to say, Mr. Speaker, we always need to be working to do better to increase the opportunities that we have, the opportunities for jobs in our community, looking to increase the opportunities that we have in our communities to better our cost of living even beyond what it is today, which is why we made the decision when it comes to home heating.

But I would say I often talk of the recipe for success in Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker, and that recipe very much is focused on the exports that we have. That is the source of our wealth in this province. I dare say it’s the source of our wealth in this nation, as Canada is an exporting nation.

And we saw the Bank of Canada come out this week, Mr. Speaker, and say that we have an economic . . . What was the words they used? Economic productivity emergency, Mr. Speaker. This is some of what we were talking about at the federal committee meeting yesterday morning.

Mr. Speaker, I would say there are a number of policies at the federal level, many of which we have opposed, largely among them the carbon taxation policy. Took that to the Supreme Court of Canada, of which the members opposite said was a pointless crusade, Mr. Speaker. We were in opposition to the carbon tax before it was cool, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, but I want to talk about something that was asked at that committee. I believe it was from a federal NDP member, so one of the comrades or brothers and sisters of the members opposite, Mr. Speaker. And he said, Canada and Saskatchewan have some of the highest per capita emissions. And I very quickly said, well that may be true — I’m not going to say I don’t care; got me in trouble a few years ago — but we are also the highest per capita exporter, Mr. Speaker, in the nation. And we are exporting some of the cleanest, most sustainable goods that you can find on earth, and we’re displacing much dirtier goods and less ethical goods that are being produced in other areas, Mr. Speaker. And so why would you restrict . . .

Well let’s look at the Global Institute for Food Security, the study they released in Dubai, Mr. Speaker. Canadian wheat and canola on a per tonne basis are produced with 64 per cent lower carbon emissions per tonne than the next seven largest producers in the world. Field peas, Mr. Speaker, produced in this province are 92 per cent lower.

So let’s compare this on direct production. If you need a bushel or a tonne of field peas or a bushel of canola and it’s the same price and it’s the same high quality wherever it’s produced in the world, why wouldn’t you buy Saskatchewan’s because it has a much lower carbon footprint, Mr. Speaker? We would say, if you care about climate change and you care about the world, you should buy more from Saskatchewan. You should buy more Saskatchewan potash that has a 50-per-cent-lower-carbon-content per tonne than the next largest competitors, which are Russia and Belarus, Mr. Speaker. And I would say there are other challenges with dealing with those countries in today’s day and age.

But back to the exports, the source of our wealth. Twenty billion dollars in ag exports was mentioned earlier by the Minister of Trade and Export, which achieves our growth plan goal, Mr. Speaker, here in the province by about $50 billion overall — 1.2 million, about $50 billion overall.

Our per capita exports are highest in the nation. You look at Alberta, also a high per capita exporter, Mr. Speaker, they’re overall about four times our population. Their overall exports is about $175 billion. If you times ours by four, at 50 billion we are above Alberta per capita. That makes us the highest, Mr. Speaker. BC [British Columbia] is $56 billion, Mr. Speaker. We’re 50 billion. They’re five times our population. Ontario, the manufacturing superpower of the nation, Mr. Speaker, is $250 billion. They’re about 12 times our population, Mr. Speaker. Twelve times 50 billion is a lot more than $250 billion, Mr. Speaker. Manitoba, a province actually with a few more people than we have, their exports are twenty-one and a half billion dollars, Mr. Speaker, relative to 50 billion in Saskatchewan. This maybe helps us understand the equalization formula just a little bit better.

Mr. Speaker, this is a government that understands, that understands, Mr. Speaker, that if we can continue to provide the environment to the level that we can provincially so that we can increase our export wealth, Mr. Speaker, increase our export value, that is going to provide a strong and growing economy. And through that, the strength of that economy, we are going to be able to invest in classrooms, Mr. Speaker, to the tune of a 9 per cent increase this year and $2.2 billion.

That will allow us to invest in our health care system, Mr. Speaker, to the tune of increasing that investment by some 10 per cent this year and providing the Saskatchewan Health Authority with the opportunity to deliver on services that Saskatchewan people expect, Mr. Speaker.

It’s going to provide us with the opportunity to continue to invest in our communities with a 14 per cent increase in a municipal revenue-sharing program that was often promised but never delivered under the members opposite, Mr. Speaker.

It is going to provide us with the opportunity to continue to attract capital investment to this province, foreign and domestic capital investment into our communities, Mr. Speaker, into the most sustainable mining industry in the world, into the most sustainable and productive agriculture industry in the world, as we add value to those products.

And it’s going to attract people into our communities by providing jobs — 15,200 of them provided last year. Thirty thousand people arrived here last year, Mr. Speaker. This is a province that is growing faster than it ever has, and this is a province that is using that growth to invest, to invest right back into the people that we serve, Mr. Speaker.

This is a government that has been serving those people for 17 years and in a few short months is going to ask them for another four years. Four years to grow our economy, grow our communities, Mr. Speaker, and build on the past behaviour, build on the past behaviour that we have put forward. Build on that behaviour far into the future, Mr. Speaker.

Our province does belong to future generations. That’s the other statement I agree with, Mr. Speaker, that the Leader of the Opposition had said. Our province does belong to future generations. We are going to make decisions today that impact positively what this province looks like for those generations when it comes to their career opportunities. When it comes to the hospitals that are going to be available in their communities. There are going to be new hospitals that are built. When it comes to accessing the services, Mr. Speaker, whether that be educational services in our communities. We’re not closing schools; we’re building schools. Health care, health care services, we’re not closing and shuttering health care services. We’re building on not only the infrastructure but we’re building on the human infrastructure that we have in our communities, Mr. Speaker.

And this is where I disagree. We’re not building that only for the next century; we’re building it for the next decade. That’s why this is a government that is on its second iteration of the plan for growth, Mr. Speaker. This is a government that is going to continue to grow and prosper and encourage a strong and growing economy, so that we can build that brighter future for our children and the people that are going to be living in our communities in not only the next century, but the next number of years, Mr. Speaker.

With that, I am going to be not supporting the amendment that was put forward by the member from Rosemont, Mr. Speaker. I am going to be supporting the main motion that was put forward by our Deputy Premier, our Minister of Finance, the Iron Lady from Humboldt, and seconded by the member from Saskatoon Willowgrove. That is the motion that I’m going to be supporting, Mr. Speaker. And I look forward to the next number of months and working with the people of this province in enacting and ensuring that the outcomes that are invested in, in this budget show up in their community.

The Speaker: — It is my duty pursuant to rule 31(7) to inform the Assembly that the Minister of Finance is about to exercise her right to close the debate, and afterwards all members will be precluded from speaking to this question. I recognize the Minister of Finance.

Hon. Ms. Harpauer: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this being my last budget that I will deliver in this Assembly, indulge me please for maybe a few more thank yous than I normally do.

I will always begin with thanking my girls and their families. They mean everything. You can do things over. You know, you can get a different job. You can move communities. You can move to a different house. The one thing you can’t do over is mother your children, and so that is my number one priority.

Mr. Speaker, you know, on budget day I introduced an addition to our family we didn’t expect, and perhaps one of the youngest people that have ever been in the Assembly. She was eight days old, Joy. And quite frankly she isn’t at her due date yet. She had to be taken in an emergency situation because her mom had gone into distress. So I’m truly blessed.

And if everyone in this Assembly will indulge me to have a little fun with my family. I had a text from one of my daughters saying, can you just say this once in the Assembly? And I will. Shannon is my favourite daughter — and now that she’s got her sound bite — some days, and other days she is not.

Mr. Speaker, through my career I have represented the Watrous constituency, the Humboldt constituency, now the Humboldt-Watrous constituency. I was born and raised in that constituency, and I can’t speak highly enough of the people that live in that region of the province. I know many of them. I went to school obviously there. And I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their faith in me through . . . I don’t even know how many elections.

I want to thank Susan Dunne, my constituency assistant that’s been with me right from day one. She actually had a lot of knowledge because she was working with government in Yellowknife and then came back to Saskatchewan, her home community. And she is the best, in my view, but also a very, very important friend.

Through all the portfolios I held, I have to say first-hand, I’ve worked with the greatest public service individuals that any province could have, in every ministry. You know, we are well served in this province, and I want to thank all of those that work in the public service and all the work that they do.

My caucus friends, past and present, thank you so much. You know, every path, lifetime experiences are so different. When I look at my caucus colleagues, you kind of identify their strengths and their weaknesses — we all have them — and you work with their strengths. And we become friends. And it’s kind of an oddball group because of where we come from. Some more odd than others. But I honestly can’t say . . . I just feel so fortunate to have such an amazing group to work with.

The office staff I have right now, my office has four staff. Brady, Jean-Michel, and Giovana are three in my office that have never ever been in the Finance office when we did budgets, so it’s kind of a learning curve like no other. And then there’s Jennifer Clarke, who has been with me for a while. She runs the office. She runs all of us quite frankly. She is absolutely amazing and we’d all be lost without her.

Because this is the last time that I will speak. Through the years, of course, I have worked with amazing office staff. I have been well supported in every single ministry, but there has been three particular people I want to single out because they’re exceptional. Because they were exceptional support for me, I wanted to do better when I worked with them. I didn’t want to let them down. And they pushed me and pushed me hard. I’ve often said, I’m a politician who happens to be a woman. These are exceptional people who also happen to be women. And that is Raynelle Wilson, Shannon Andrews, and Ashley Anderson. Thank you.

[12:00]

I’ve also worked with a number of leaders. And the media have asked me this, and I have said this. I’ve worked with Elwin Hermanson; then in an interim, Lyle Stewart; Brad Wall; and of course our current Premier. And extremely different gentlemen, extremely different. But they were all the right leader at the right time. I’ve enjoyed working with all of them and appreciate each and every one of them.

So with that, I’m just going to have just a very short story. It was tradition in this province — and was in other provinces as well; I don’t know if other provinces still do it — where on budget day the Finance minister, previously, buys a new pair of shoes and there’s a photo op and the shoes have a description that fit the budget. And I hate shopping. I despise shopping with a passion. So when COVID came, when we had a pandemic and I could flush that whole thing and I didn’t return to it, I actually wasn’t really sad about it because I’d have to go shopping. But I do love shoes, so there’s a bit of a dilemma.

So on the day before budget, the Premier shows up in my office. He said, put on your jacket; we’re going for a field trip. Well first thought was, because I also don’t eat breakfast so I thought, oh man, he’s going to take me out for breakfast and I’m going to have to eat breakfast and I never eat breakfast. And then he tells me he’s taking me shoe shopping.

So away we went. I love shopping so much I had a pair of shoes in 10 minutes. And we’re in; we’re out. I got my shoes. I would love to say because of the sentimental value of these shoes I’ll wear them just for special occasions, keep them forever. They’re really comfortable, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to wear the tar out of them. They’re going to hit the garbage, but the memory will be there forever.

Mr. Speaker, no budget’s perfect and there’s always more work that needs to be done. And there’s so much I could say with comments that members opposite have said, but I’m not going to actually do that in my address today. I’m just going to give a little bit of a briefing on how a budget is put together and why decisions are made.

Each year we identify the problems, and when I say “we” I mean government members, caucus members, cabinet ministers. We’re talking to our constituents, we’re meeting with stakeholders, we’re going to different conventions and annual meetings, and we’re identifying what is the priorities around the province. We decide what our expenses are going to be, broadly, and then we get projections on what the revenues will be. Because it is just a projection. We use data that is available at a moment in time and then we make our decisions on what’s a priority.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t do this alone. I serve with a treasury board of amazing members, and I want to thank them all for the number of hours that we sit together because it is not me alone that puts the budget together. I get the accolades and the insults, as you can well imagine. So thank you so very much to the treasury board members — the member from Indian Head-Milestone, the member from Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland, the member from Estevan, the member from Moose Jaw North, the member from Cannington, and the member from Athabasca — for those hours we sat together and helping me make decisions that brought forward this budget.

In thinking about forming a budget, and I know I always do this and never ever put it into words . . . I farmed for a number of years. I was raised on a farm and then actively farmed for a number of years. And there are many differences between a provincial budget and farming, but there are also very many similarities.

You know, as a farmer in the winter you kind of go through what your seeding plan is going to be in the spring. We had livestock, so you kind of go through your livestock management, how many calves you’re going to have coming in. You get that seed plan. You calculate your input costs. You price it out as best you can, and then you start watching the projections on what pricing is going to be and you calculate potential sales. If it looks good on paper — it always looks good on paper — you think about what possible capital investments you need to make in your farm, be it a couple more bins, or maybe a new shed if that’s going to be possible. You’ve got payments you’ve got to make. And then come spring, you put the seed in the ground and you pray.

I know a lot of the media have asked me when I do the briefing around the budget, you know, what do you do? And I say, you pray. Because it’s not a lot different. We, as a treasury board, sit together and we meet with each of the ministers and the officials. They bring forward their priorities, where they feel that there’s shortcomings. We have the information from all of caucus members meeting with their constituents, their stakeholders, and then we get projections on what, potentially, throughout the next year the revenues can be. And the revenues are going to be limited and there’s going to be more asks than there is money, and you have to put forward a plan, and in certain ways, pray.

Certain things with the farm, the biggest thing, of course, on the farm that’s completely out of the farmer’s control is weather. And he literally can lose his profits overnight, but sometimes over time. And there’s things out of government’s control as well, and weather is one of them. We’ve experienced that with the largest crop insurance claim in the history of the province which was weather induced, out of government’s control.

There is no government that planned for a pandemic ever, and we had that. There’s sanctions globally that affect our markets and therefore our revenues here at home. There’s port strikes that affect commodities that are able to leave our province. We are trade dependent. There’s interest rate changes, all of which is out of government’s control.

Ultimately though, what that farmer needs and what we need as a province is a strong economy. That farmer needs to know. Because he’s going to export his product, there has to be a market for his product. The global market has to be doing well, and then the prices will be well and that farmer will succeed. Provincially, it’s our provincial economy that’s so important, and it is the success of the provincial economy that’s going to pay for all of the expenditures within the budget in our priority areas.

Mr. Speaker, every one of our 17 budgets have been driven by the same principle — that a strong economy means a bright future for our great province. It’s simple. It’s just that simple. A strong economy means more people, more jobs, more opportunities, and it means that we can reinvest the benefits of growth in the vital services that make Saskatchewan the best place to live. It means that we can make investments in classrooms, care, and communities.

Sometime this year, Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan’s population will reach 1.25 million people, and that’s up a quarter of a million people since our government was first elected. This budget responds to the challenge of a growing province by reinvesting the benefits of a growing province.

This budget, like the 16 budgets before it, is designed to ensure that our province will continue to grow and that all Saskatchewan people can enjoy the benefits of growth — more opportunities, more jobs and careers, vibrant communities, and a great quality of life supported by important government services. This budget will ensure our province can grow, our economy remains strong, and Saskatchewan’s future is bright.

I was proud to move the motion, seconded by the member from Saskatoon Willowgrove, and I will not support the amendment. Thank you.

The Speaker: — The question before the Assembly is the proposed amendment by the member for Regina Rosemont and seconded by the member for Regina Elphinstone-Centre:

That all the words after “Assembly” be omitted and that the following be inserted:

does not approve the budgetary policy of the government because it fails to provide cost-of-living relief for families; and, further,

That the Assembly has lost confidence in the government.

Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt this amendment?

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

Some Hon. Members: — No.

The Speaker: — Those in favour of the amendment please say yea.

Some Hon. Members: — Yea.

The Speaker: — Those opposed please say no.

Some Hon. Members: — No.

The Speaker: — Call in the members.

[The division bells rang from 12:10 until 12:16.]

The Speaker: — All those in favour of the amendment please stand.

[Yeas — 10]

Beck

Wotherspoon

Teed

A. Young

Burki

Clarke

Sarauer

Conway

Bowes

Ritchie

The Speaker: — All those opposed to the amendment please stand.

[Nays — 41]

Moe

McMorris

Hindley

Reiter

Harpauer

Duncan

Merriman

Makowsky

Cheveldayoff

Skoropad

Kaeding

Cockrill

L. Ross

Eyre

J. Harrison

Carr

Hargrave

T. McLeod

Buckingham

Bradshaw

Fiaz

A. Ross

Dennis

Kirsch

Lambert

Ottenbreit

Francis

C. Young

Steele

D. Harrison

Bonk

Nerlien

B. McLeod

Friesen

Grewal

Goudy

Keisig

Lemaigre

Jenson

Wilson

Domotor

Clerk: — Mr. Speaker, those in favour of the motion, 10; those opposed, 41.

The Speaker: — I declare the amendment lost. The question before the Assembly is the main motion moved by the Minister of Finance and seconded by the member for Saskatoon Willowgrove:

That the Assembly approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt the motion?

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

Some Hon. Members: — No.

The Speaker: — Those in favour of the motion please say yea.

Some Hon. Members: — Yea.

The Speaker: — Those opposed please say no.

Some Hon. Members: — No.

The Speaker: — Call in the members.

[The division bells rang from 12:19 until 12:20.]

The Speaker: — All those in favour of the motion please stand.

[Yeas — 40]

Moe

McMorris

Hindley

Reiter

Harpauer

Duncan

Merriman

Makowsky

Cheveldayoff

Skoropad

Kaeding

Cockrill

L. Ross

Eyre

J. Harrison

Carr

Hargrave

T. McLeod

Buckingham

Bradshaw

Fiaz

A. Ross

Dennis

Kirsch

Lambert

Ottenbreit

Francis

C. Young

Steele

D. Harrison

Bonk

Nerlien

B. McLeod

Friesen

Grewal

Goudy

Keisig

Lemaigre

Jenson

Domotor

The Speaker: — All those opposed to the motion please stand.

[Nays — 11]

Beck

Wotherspoon

Teed

A. Young

Burki

Clarke

Sarauer

Conway

Bowes

Ritchie

Wilson

Clerk: — Mr. Speaker, those in favour of the motion, 40; those opposed, 11.

The Speaker: — I declare the motion carried. I recognize the Government House Leader.

Hon. Mr. J. Harrison: — I move that this House do now adjourn.

The Speaker: — The Government House Leader has moved to adjourn the House. Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt the motion?

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

The Speaker: — Carried. This House now stands adjourned till Monday, April 8th, at 1:30.

[The Assembly adjourned at 12:23.]

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.