Legislative Report
(7 July 2010)

Highways and Provincial Parks

A recent union advertising campaign suggests our government has an agenda to privatize highway maintenance and provincial parks. This is wrong.

Under the NDP, Saskatchewan’s highways were deteriorating. Under our government, they are in the best condition they have been in decades. The last three years of NDP government saw approximately 3947 kilometres of roadwork completed. In our first three years in government, we announced 5281 kilometres of roadwork. We achieved this by working with the same skilled highway workers, contractors and engineers we have in past. The only thing that’s changed is we have a government committed to providing Saskatchewan people with safe, modern highways.

Your Saskatchewan Party government is committed to publically-owned provincial parks. We funded the creation of approximately 600 additional electrified campsites. Plus, in our first three budgets, we committed more than $74 million to parks in Saskatchewan, which means campground renewal and development, new service centers and new picnic tables and barbeques.

Addressing Health Issues

Our government also has a plan in place to address the doctor shortage in rural Saskatchewan. We have committed $3.5 million for a physician recruitment strategy and the establishment of a Physician Recruitment Agency, which will recruit and retain more physicians to rural and urban Saskatchewan. We also launched a marketing campaign aimed at retaining expatriate physicians and U of S medical students. Our government will also increase the enhancement of the physician application licensure process and the enhancement of medical training to prepare graduates to practice in rural Saskatchewan.

Under the former NDP government, 52 hospitals were closed in rural Saskatchewan, health care infrastructure was crumbling, and our province had the oldest equipment in Canada. Under our government, $100 million was provided to regions in 2008-2009 to address urgent health facility maintenance and repair requirements – this was a record amount of funding provided for one fiscal year. We have also committed $143 million towards the construction of 13 new long term care facilities.

Our government is committed to building Saskatchewan for the future. Premier Brad Wall recently made changes to the provincial cabinet and MLA duties so that our government is well positioned to continue our growth agenda. Our new cabinet is a strong team that will keep Saskatchewan moving forward and address the challenges and opportunities of a growing, vibrant province.

I wish you and your family have a fun, safe and relaxing summer.

Past Legislative Reports