Page 14 - december 1 , 2016 - martensville messenger
Provincial Politics with Murray Mandryk
rural sask . Will Feel budget Pain
Take a breath ; this is going to hurt a bit .
This isn ’ t something you want to hear from your doctor-or your Finance Minister at a time when he has just announced that the $ 400 million provincial deficit has just leapt to $ 1 billion . We are all about to feel the pain . No , rural Saskatchewan , your name did not come up specifically . One even suspects that governance structure for things like rural municipalities will be maintained - notwithstanding that the Saskatchewan Party government has made it known that local school and health boards are clearly targets for reduction . It is passing strangely , given that the province has only 28 school boards compared to 111 in 1992 . By comparison , there are 296 rural municipalities - only three less than the 299 RMs we had in 1992 . Nevertheless , by no stretch of the imagination does that mean that rural Saskatchewan will emerge unscathed .
Can the government continue to fund RMs or towns and smaller cities at the current level ? Might we see a considerable shift in property taxes ? Will rural school boards have to seriously look at the teaching complement ?
Will bussing for rural kids continue ? And might we be in for another round of rural and smaller city hospital cuts ? All of these questions are now in play in the wake of current Finance Minister Kevin Doherty ’ s 2016-17 midyear budget update that sees the deficit grow to $ 805.6 million from the $ 434.2 million predicted in June - up by
$ 371.4 million . Add a $ 235.5 million deficit to the Workers ’ Compensation Board ( largely due to a $ 281-million rebate to businesses in June ) and the total summary deficit becomes $ 1.0421 billion . That makes for a billiondollar annual deficit - the likes of which we haven ’ t seen since the Grant Devine Progressive Conservative government of the 1980s when billiondollar annual deficits were the norm .
Most of rural Saskatchewan remembers the pain that came after the 1992 and 1993 budgets when the Roy Romanow NDP government closed 52 rural hospitals . Certainly , it would be tough for anyone not to remember those days , given that the Sask Party has spent the past nine years reminding voters about the rural school and hospital closings . The difference this time around is that Premier Brad Wall and his Sask . Party will not have the luxury of blaming past administrations for current problems .
This is Wall ’ s and Doherty ’ s mess to fix over the next four years . In making no mistake that we are in a mess , Doherty announced last week that he had to borrow $ 500 million just to pay for the operational costs ( line department expenses for schools , hospitals , roads , salaries , etc .) in this year ’ s budget . That means $ 500 million was directly added to the debt - right to the general revenue fund “ credit card ” debt that now soars to $ 4.6 billion from $ 4.1 billion . Of course , it ’ s not all bad news .
mla report From nancy Heppner
Falling tax revenue requires Fiscal restraint
During the NDP ’ s last 16 years in government , Saskatchewan was a have-not province with a declining population receiving equalization payments . Since our government was elected , Saskatchewan is a have province with a growing population that ’ s no longer dependent on equalization .
Over the past 9 years , Saskatchewan has grown and provided services to nearly 150,000 new residents . That ’ s equivalent to adding another Prince Albert , Moose Jaw , Yorkton , Swift Current , North Battleford , Lloydminster ( SK side ), Martensville , Humboldt , Melfort , and Meadow Lake .
At a time when our economy is showing signs of strength , lower than expected potash , uranium and continued low oil prices have hit government finances hard . This year ’ s revenue shortfall is now $ 806 million and we ’ re taking significant restraint measures to start getting the budget back to balance .
Since coming to office , our government has paid off 1 / 3 of the province ’ s operating debt . As a result , interest costs are down from over $ 1 billion annually in 1994-95 to $ 292 million today . And we have worked to build a strong financial footing for Saskatchewan , which includes :
• Aaa credit rating ;
• 2nd lowest debt to GDP ratio among the provinces
• $ 6 billion in tax relief for families
• $ 9 billion in infrastructure investment
• 2nd best job creation record in Canada .
We have the fiscal capacity to manage through challenging times . We will protect Saskatchewan ' s fiscal position and thanks to a low debt burden and a diversified economy , we will come through this challenging time stronger than ever .
Wait times for surgery in saskatchewan among shortest in canada
In Saskatchewan we ’ re seeing how innovation – not ideology – brings better choices , better outcomes and lower costs . For example , publicly-funded private surgeries have helped to take pressure off of the public system and have played a key role in reducing surgical wait times .
Under the NDP , Saskatchewan had the longest wait times for health care in Canada . Today , according to the Fraser Institute ’ s 2016 report , Saskatchewan has the second shortest wait times for Doctor to specialist and the shortest wait times from ABOVE : MLA Nancy Hepner seeing a specialist to getting treatment .
Better health care services for everyone in Saskatchewan is an important part of our plan to keep Saskatchewan strong .
Saskatchewan Children Benefiting from enhanced education savings
Our government understands the importance of post-secondary education and we hope Education Savings Week will encourage residents to save for their children ’ s education .
To help accomplish this , we offer the Saskatchewan Advantage Grant for Education Savings ( SAGES ) for contributions made to a Registered Education Savings Plan ( RESP ).
Through SAGES , the Government of Saskatchewan provides a grant of 10 % on RESP contributions made since January 1 , 2013 , to a maximum of $ 250 per child per year .
You can learn more at saskatchewan . ca / sages . As of June 2016 , more than 46,000 Saskatchewan children have received more than $ 17 million from the SAGES program .
We need to credit Doherty for already keeping departmental spending in line . And ( except for potash prices ), resource revenues like oil do seem to showing signs of recovery . Sure , tax revenue was down $ 400 million from the budget - largely due to sales and income tax revenue . However with a growing population paying taxes , tax revenue could easily recover in coming years .
The bad news is the problem in the here and now . “ To start moving the province back to balance , significant restraint measures are needed ,” Doherty said . This will include a hiring freeze , tougher wage negotiation , and , yes , tax increases that the Sask . Party said it would not impose . Even taxes like the $ 121-million farm fuel tax exemption – one that the Provincial Auditor has questioned - or the PST exemptions on fertilizer , seed , machinery repair , etc . could be on the table .
Take a breath , rural Saskatchewan .
Letter to the Editor
The Martensville Messenger welcomes letters to the editor for publication . Letters must be signed and a phone number and / or email address included so the writer ’ s identity can be verified . ALL letters are the opinion of the writer and NOT the Martensville Messenger . We reserve the right to edit letters for length , clarity or compliance with the current standards of public taste . Submit your letter to ssealey @ martensvillemessenger . ca or jottenbreit @ martensvillemessenger . ca or drop by the Martensville Messenger office at Bay # 7 - 301 Centennial Drive North .