Alec Salloum, Larissa Kurz
Regina Leader-Post
Three years of deficits ending in a modest surplus.
That’s part of a four-year financial framework that was laid out by the Saskatchewan New Democrats on Friday morning.
NDP Leader Carla Beck said the plan accounts for funding increases in both health care and education as well as zero tax hikes.
“We’re not wanting to make promises that we can’t keep. We’re confident in these numbers,” said Beck from Regina’s Atlas Hotel, where she announced how the party plans to fund its platform for the upcoming general election on Oct. 28.
“The two main expenditures in our fiscal plan are education and health care. I cannot justify not making those investments right now.”
If elected, the NDP would spend an additional $390 million across the two sectors during its first year in government.
The framework anticipates revenue growth of approximately four per cent each year, while expenditures are anticipated to increase by 2.7 per cent. The first deficit in 2025-26 would be $163.7 million, with two subsequent deficits of $83.2 million and $40.4 million. Then 2028-29 would result in a modest $57.1-surplus.
The financial framework does include a six-month tax holiday, with $164 million in revenue gone in the first year to pay for suspending the provincial gas tax and knocking the PST off items like children’s clothing, as well as other measures.
In a news release issued Friday afternoon, Sask. Party campaign co-chair Donna Harpauer called the NDP’s plan “dishonest,” and accused the party of hiding expenses, which she said would reveal a “$3 billion hole in the NDP’s costing document.”
Responded Beck: “They are increasingly desperate to distract from their own record, from the choices that they’ve made to prioritize their own interests over the education of our kids, to prioritize their friends and insiders over the health care that you and your family deserve.
“I will take no lessons from this government, from this premier, when he has doubled the debt in this province in six years.”
Senior advisor to the NDP Ron Styles said the framework is based largely on the government’s medium-term forecast for revenues and expenses, as well as its first-quarter financial report and the 2023-24 audited financial statements provided by the province.
“The NDP plan is affordable. It’s fiscally responsible, and it represents less than 25 per cent of the spending increases in the last four years,” said Styles.
In total, the framework identified $58.3 million in “waste and mismanagement” that would be cut in the first year of an NDP government. Cutting the Saskatchewan Marshall Service would save $20 million, but half of that money would get redirected into mental-health supports and the rest into new contracts with the RCMP and other police services.
There would also be savings to the tune of $20 million by reducing government advertising, plus $5 million from “retooling SaskBuilds,” $4.7 million by streamlining government operations, cutting administration at the Crown Investment Corporation (CIC) for $2 million, and another $1 million in savings from reducing “waste in executive council.”
During Friday’s announcement, Beck and Styles spoke about the general difficulty the party has had in getting information and figures from the government about certain projects. In particular, the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Projects’ long-term cost as well as small modular reactors.
Beck said the NDP is open to moving ahead with these projects but wanted access to more information on their costs and benefits.
Across the city, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe held a news conference in the Regina Mount Royal constituency to announce another slate of affordability-focused tax changes if re-elected.
Moe pledged to make the Saskatchewan Home Renovation Tax Credit permanent. He also promised to increase the Saskatchewan First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, the Personal Care Home Benefit, and benefits under the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) program for clients under age 65 living in care homes.
Around 560 seniors in Saskatchewan currently receive the Personal Care Home Benefit, along with 140 SAID clients. With the promised changes, Moe said 1,500 more residents would be eligible.
“This is all part of our plan to have a strong economy and a bright future in our great province of Saskatchewan,” he said.
In a joint statement on Friday, the Saskatchewan Realtors’ Association, Saskatchewan Landlord Association, and both the Regina and Saskatoon home builders’ associations expressed support for the housing-related promises, arguing that they will “without question, provide direct affordability relief” to homeowners.
This week, the Sask. Party also pledged to reduce provincial income tax, double the Active Families Benefit, and increase the Grad Retention Program and Low Income Tax Credit.
Asked why the government hasn’t made any of these changes in the past four years, Moe argued that they are “in addition to” other affordability measures included in past budgets.
“As we’ve said many times, there’s over $2 billion in each and every budget, including this last budget, contributing to the fact Saskatchewan is the most affordable place to live in Canada today,” he said.
Immediately after Moe’s announcement, NDP candidate for Regina-Elphinstone Centre Meara Conway called his claim a “spin” during her rebuttal news conference just down the street
“These are existing programs, a bit of tinkering. It doesn’t get at the heart of the matter,” Conway said.
“It is the worst kind of politician that had years while in government to provide the help and the relief that people were asking for and did nothing. And now, well into a campaign, they’re making promises to actually listen.”
