Legislative Report
(30 June 2016)

Keeping Promises and Keeping Saskatchewan Strong

It is a tremendous honour and a huge responsibility to be chosen to represent your constituents in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. My colleagues and I are all working hard to live up to that responsibility. The first sitting of the new Legislative Assembly focused on the government keeping its election promises and on keeping Saskatchewan strong. The 26 day sitting wrapped up today.

Our government made just a few promises during the recent election campaign and have already kept most of them, including increased investment in fixing highways, a new First Home Plan that allows young people to use up to $10,000 of their Graduate Retention Program credits toward the down payment on a new home, and moving forward with the privatization of 40 liquor stores.

During the spring sitting, the government introduced 37 bills including legislation to:

• Remove Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) from The Crown Corporations Public Ownership Act to allow the government to convert 40 government-owned liquor stores to private stores and create an additional 12 new private liquor stores;
• Give Saskatchewan residents the option to privately pay for a CT scan while requiring that another CT scan be provided to a patient on the public list for every one paid for privately;
• Strengthen The Adoption Act;
• Extend compassionate care leave from eight weeks to 28 weeks for employees who wish to take time away from work to care for a loved one;
• Improve auto injury coverage;
• Provide better protection of personal health information and increased accountability for those responsible for protecting those records; and
• Strengthen the protection of personal information by government agencies.

Most of the bills will be passed during the fall sitting which begins on October 19.

Our main commitment during the election campaign was to keep Saskatchewan strong through the economic challenges caused by low resource prices. We did that by presenting a budget that kept taxes low, made record investments in infrastructure and controlled government spending.

Saskatchewan’s population continues to grow and our diversified economy still has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country. The economic challenges are still there and there is a lot more work to be done, but Saskatchewan is strong and we are well-positioned to meet those challenges.

Saskatchewan continues to attract investment; recent announcements from Husky Energy, Crescent Point Energy, RII North America, K+S Potash, BHP Billiton and Raging River Exploration to name a few for over $8 billion in new investment. Investment made because of sound fiscal management and a strong economic outlook for Saskatchewan.

Meanwhile the NDP have been busy sending some alarming signals to job creators and to Saskatchewan’s entire economy. Here’s a few of their actions since the election:

• Hiring a new Chief of Staff from Ottawa NDP leader Thomas Mulcair’s office that actively campaigned against the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Keystone XL pipeline
• Appointing a Finance critic who voted to support the Leap Manifesto as a “high-level statement of principles” which advocates a shutdown of energy production, modern agriculture and wants to rip up all trade deals
• Appointing a signatory of the Leap Manifesto to co-chair the NDP “renewal” process
• Voting against a new patent box tax incentive for innovators in the province to help diversify the economy
• Refusing to even debate a motion in the Legislature supporting an oil well cleanup program that would get hundreds in Saskatchewan's energy sector back to work
• Calling a policy to allow home-based food producers to sell directly to businesses and clients “half-baked” and mocking the contributions of these entrepreneurs to our economy.

These signals and policy positions from the NDP would give any potential investor and job creator in the province more than a little pause.

It’s no wonder Saskatchewan people have placed their confidence in a vision and bright future for our province that keeps taxes low, controls spending, invests in infrastructure, and ensures help for our most vulnerable to keep Saskatchewan strong.

Past Legislative Reports