Many Saskatchewan residents will be grateful for the $500 the province will send out this fall, but the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) feel the money could have been employed more usefully.
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer announced on Tuesday that thanks to resource revenues, the province is up $1.7 billion from March’s budget projections. She announced the Government of Saskatchewan’s plan to provide affordability relief, including mailing a $500 cheque to nearly 900,000 Saskatchewan residents this fall — at a cost of $450 million.
Read the full release on Saskatchewan.ca.
“I think it might have been preferable to see something that is a little bit more urgent being addressed,” said Lori Johb, president of the SFL. “For example, they could have scrapped the plan to increase SaskPower rates, or the PST hikes. I think things like that would help a low-income family a lot more than this one-time relief cheque.”
The SFL released a statement on their website in which Johb said that the announcement proves what has been known for months — that the provincial government has been hoarding record-breaking resource revenues while raising taxes and utility rates.
“Many workers have already spent well over $500 due to tax hikes and inflation, and they need the government to come up with a plan that will lower the cost of living for the long term well after their rebate cheques have been spent,” Johb said in the release.
Johb called for additional measures, including the following points:
- Immediately increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and come up with a plan to introduce a living wage
- Scrap planned PST hikes passed in the 2022 provincial budget and cancel proposed power rate hikes
- Provide relief from high fuel prices
- Tax profits from companies experiencing record revenues from high resource prices
“We’re disappointed at the Federation that those funds couldn’t have been directed to education to reinvest into Saskatchewan youth and ensure they have the resources to be successful through their education,” Samantha Becotte, president of STF, said in an interview. “The education budget has, year after year, not been meeting the inflationary costs that school divisions are seeing. We’re also seeing an increase in population, which means there’s more students in the classroom and (the education budget) is not keeping up with those pressures either.”
Becotte said that unfortunately, investments in education are long-term, with returns taking significant time. The youth in the province are being passed by, she added, and the effects will be felt in the future.
“I think the timing of this is, frankly, a bit obvious,” Johb expressed. “I think it’s got a lot to do with the upcoming by-election this fall. The Sask Party had a really tough summer, and this is an incentive for people to look at them. So yeah, the timing is definitely suspicious.”
In response to Harpauer’s explanation that resource revenues are volatile, preventing the government from incorporating such revenues into operating budgets, Becotte said sustainable funding is important, “but that doesn’t stop them from putting additional funds in when they’re available.”
Johb noted that relief for small businesses is positive, as is paying down the provincial debt. However, she would have liked to see the healthcare system get some help.
“Our healthcare system is collapsing around us,” she said. “It’s not at the brink anymore, it’s over the edge. … There’s very, very little access to healthcare in our rural communities, and they’re the heart and soul of our province. That’s been ignored by our provincial government because they have a plan to privatize healthcare, and they’re sticking to that plan.
“It’s not of benefit to anybody, and I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
