The 2016-17 Saskatchewan budget was not easy for many.
The admitted deficit shortfall of $434-million (based on $14.02 billion in revenues — $968-million less revenue than last year — and $14.46 billion in expenditure) was just the start of the story.
This figure did not include the extra $1 billion in borrowing for capital expenditures that will have to be repaid. Nor does it reflect Saskatchewan’s public debt that will increase by $1.3 billion to $14.8 billion by the end of 2017.
The past two years has seen some of the fastest rising debt in Saskatchewan history, at a time when the budget shows oil, potash and uranium revenues as being stagnant.
Economic growth in Saskatchewan in 2016 is predicted to be .5 per cent — third-worst in Canada and only marginally better than 2015’s minus 1.4 per cent GDP growth.
Notwithstanding Finance Minister Kevin Doherty’s bold prediction he will turn things around by the 2017 spring budget, this will be the province’s third consecutive deficit budget and sixth deficit budget among the nine budgets Premier Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government has presented.
This is a rather dubious record for a government that has presided over some of the most bountiful years in Saskatchewan history, with oil prices over $100 US a barrel.
Finally, it is quite obvious that we are already feeling the pinch that seems to be accompanying Saskatchewan’s dwindling prosperity.
The 2016-17 budget increases the Children’s and Senior’s Drug Plan by $5 per prescription.
It closes the Buffalo Narrows Community Centre. Aboriginal policy consultant groups will be reduced by $580,000, the aboriginal courtworker program will take a $600,000 hit and special investigations unit (to investigate allegations of municipal police officers misconduct) will be cut in half.
The $540,000 in funding for urban parks in Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Prince Albert, North Battleford and Weyburn will all be eliminated.
The Sask. Party government is eliminating the Active Families Benefit personal income tax refund to save another $5.5 million.
Apprenticeship training and support will take a $3.49 million hit and the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement will lose grandfathering provisions to save another $2.5 million.
It’s far more bad news than we are used to seeing from this Saskatchewan Party government — bad news that will hit rural and urban residents, alike.
And, of course, there is the foreboding notion of more change in the future.
One of the things clearly on the chopping block is local hospital region boards. While not everyone in rural Saskatchewan has been enamoured with the work of these boards, losing local representation and having more decisions made in Regina may not be a good thing.
But despite the budget’s bad news, there was good news to be found in the 2016-17 budget — especially for rural folks.
The agriculture budget was actually one of the winners with a 7.5-per-cent increase.
SaskPower and SaskEnergy are both looking at transmission and distribution expansions that will largely take place in rural Saskatchewan.
As promised by the Sask. Party in the March election campaign, highways spending will be increased by an additional $70 million in the next three years to fix more roads. Twinning from Estevan to Beinfeit, $12.3 million for improvements to Hwy. 55, $1.3 million for passing lanes from Regina to Estevan and 100 kilometres of rural highway upgrades including Hwy. 322 north of Silton and Hwy. 354 near Dilke are among the other highlights.
There was $41.9 million for on-going capital school projects, including those at St. Brieux, Langenburg, Gravelbourg and Martensville. And North Battleford and Kelvington will see on-going financial commitments to the building of their health care facilities.
It was a tough budget, but there was some good news to found.
Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics for over 22 years.
