Legislative Report (2 January 2008)

Positive Changes Under New Government

The New Year will see positive changes for Saskatchewan as a result of promises kept by the newly elected Saskatchewan Party government. These changes secure the future of Saskatchewan and fulfill the promises made by this government.

The Saskatchewan Party campaigned to make government more accountable to Saskatchewan people. The first step was to set fixed election dates. The former NDP government spent more than $1 million in unbudgeted taxpayer money in health advertising in the days leading up to the November election. Fixed election dates will eliminate the gross misuse of your money and make government more accountable. As promised the next Saskatchewan general election will take place on November 7, 2011. This is a promise kept.

The Saskatchewan Party also promised to work toward making our communities safer. One of the many ways the Provincial Government plans to do that is by cracking down on drunk drivers. Crown Prosecutors have been directed to seek the forfeiture of vehicles of repeat drunk driving offenders. This will make our streets and highways safer for all motorists and pedestrians. This is a promise kept.

Legislation was introduced to create Enterprise Saskatchewan. Our platform stated that Enterprise Saskatchewan will create “a new public-private partnership between government, business, labour, First Nations, municipalities, post-secondary institutions and economic stakeholders.” Enterprise Saskatchewan will promote economic growth in Saskatchewan that will prevent the out-migration trend characteristic of the NDP government. Saskatchewan is seeing a reversal of this trend as the provincial population once again topped one million people and 8,000 new jobs were produced in November. This government promised to promote economic growth in order to create jobs and population growth. This is a promise kept.

Reducing the provincial debt is important to the Saskatchewan Party government. The Growth and Financial Security Act will allow for $250 million in budget surplus to be directed towards debt reduction this year. This idea was outlined in the campaign platform and has now become a reality. Another promise kept by our government.

Common sense initiatives such as eliminating the PST on used vehicles were also enacted since the election of the new government. This idea will save buyers of used vehicles an average of $450 each. A smaller provincial cabinet was named by Premier Brad Wall which was also promised in the campaign platform, saving taxpayers money.

The Saskatchewan Party government scrapped an eleventh hour “pulp-fiction” Memorandum of Understanding the NDP made with Domtar over the Prince Albert Pulp Mill. A deal that would have risked $100 million of taxpayer’s money. Your government’s mission of reopening the P.A. mill will continue through negotiation with all parties involved but will not jeopardize public dollars in the process. This is a promise kept.

Good News for Livestock Producers

The Saskatchewan Party government is dedicated to helping the agriculture industry that was neglected by the NDP. Livestock producers across the province face financial difficulties due to the long-term effects of BSE, a high Canadian dollar, and the high price of feed grains. The Saskatchewan Party government is working to help by developing the Saskatchewan Short Term Hog Loan Program and Cattle Loan Program. This will:

• Allow cattle and hog producers to apply for a loan based on the amount of livestock that they own;
• Payout will give applicants approximately $75 per head for calves, feeders and bred heifers; and
• Hog producers will receive 90 per cent of the difference between $140 per hundred kilograms and the Saskatchewan weekly pooled market price for that week.

Applications for this program will be available in early January on the official government website in early January, see Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Party government has already kept these and many other promises in only ten short days of session. This is a trend that will continue over the next four years. We look forward to continue working for Saskatchewan people and securing the future of the best province in Canada.

Best wishes for the New Year!

Past Legislative Reports