The Saskatchewan legislature was back in action for the first time in nearly three months last Monday, June 15, as they resumed what will be a three-week-long sitting to wrap up the session.
The sitting was conducted under new COVID-19 protocols and distancing procedures, with ten Sask Party members and five New Democrats sitting in the Legislature, with other members voting from outside the chamber. Before proceedings began, speaker Mark Docherty rose to say a few words.
The Speaker: — Well hello, everyone. So before we begin today’s proceedings I want to take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary nature of this sitting of the Assembly. I think it is fair to say that we’ve never had a sitting like this before.
I’d like to thank both government and opposition and especially the House leaders for reaching an agreement to reconvene. Many thanks to the Clerk’s office and the entire Legislative Assembly staff for their hard work that has made this sitting possible. Thank you also to the building staff and the cleaning team whose work is key in keeping us all safe and healthy in these challenging times. Thanks to the members of the press gallery who have relocated to the Speaker’s gallery for the remainder of the sitting for helping ensure the safety of our Hansard team.
There are unique and challenging times. And I am proud of the way that each and every of one you pulled together to keep each other safe while ensuring the important work of this Assembly can be conducted. Thank you.
COVID-19 concerns were top of mind during the first Question Period on Monday. The exchange between opposition leader Ryan Meili and Premier Scott Moe was recorded in Hansard:
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Meili: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to see everyone here, those who are able to be with us today. Thank you for all the efforts, for those who’ve got us into this room, and especially the folks at the Table and all those who have put in this work.
Mr. Speaker, in March health care workers spoke up about serious concerns with shortage of access to personal protective equipment or PPE. The Premier said that there was no such problem. SHA [Saskatchewan Health Authority] documents, revealed through a freedom of information request, show that there was already communication with the government about existing shortages of PPE. The Premier again went public and said that there was no problem.
Will the Premier please explain the disconnect between his answers and what was really happening?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Moe: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think the wording that I had used on that day and used on many days, Mr. Speaker, was that I had been informed that there was no shortages of personal protection equipment within the health care system here in Saskatchewan.
That being said, I think there were strains with respect to access to personal protective equipment around the world — not only in Saskatchewan, across Canada, but most certainly around the world — as all people around the world, Mr. Speaker, all entities, all health delivery entities were after N95 masks. They were looking to procure different kinds of gloves as well as gowns, all of the personal protection equipment that our health care system required as we provided the services that were necessary through this pandemic and continue to provide them.
Mr. Speaker, as it turns out, we did not have any shortages of personal protection equipment in the province, so we have had enough to date. We’ve worked closely with other provinces, worked very closely with the federal government to ensure that that has been the case to today, Mr. Speaker, and will be the case for days into the future.
The highlight on Monday was the long-awaited presentation of the provincial budget by finance minister Donna Harpauer, and along with it, a $2.4 billion pandemic deficit.
That was promptly followed by a non-confidence motion. The New Democrats immediately moved an amendment that stated “the Assembly has lost confidence in the government,” but that was easily defeated 43-13. That was followed by another 43-13 vote in favor of the “budgetary policy of the government”.
When debate resumed Tuesday in Question Period, opposition leader Meili took aim at the budget and raised the spectre of cuts and Crown selloffs.
Mr. Meili: — … The Finance minister has said this isn’t going to be easy on the people of Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker, and we believe it with this government in charge. If this Premier is planning to bring back a balance in three years without cuts or Crown sell-offs, I’d like to see his math, Mr. Speaker. The people of Saskatchewan deserve to see his math. Is this Premier going to present that plan before the election, or is he going to expect people to just go on faith, faith that they’re not going to come around and do the cuts we know are planned?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Moe: — Let’s start with a Re-Open Saskatchewan plan, Mr. Speaker. Let’s then move on to a budget that was introduced yesterday. That is a first step in recovering the economy here in the province of Saskatchewan. Mr. Speaker, let’s go back a number of months to a strategic view of the economic fortunes of this province, full with targets on where we can get to by the year 2030: the Saskatchewan growth plan. Mr. Speaker, there’s a number of plans that we can look to as to what this government is going to do in the years ahead, Mr. Speaker...
... Mr. Speaker, I hear the member from Cumberland, who’s going to have a decision to make here come budget day, Mr. Speaker, because part of the health care investment is going into a long-term care home, not only in the community of Grenfell but the one in La Ronge.
On Wednesday, Meili doubled down on his accusation that the Crown corporations would be next to be sold off in the wake of the budget.
Mr. Meili: — ... Why just last night, Mr. Speaker, in response to questions from our member from Regina Rosemont, the Finance minister refused three times — she refused three times — to rule out selling off Crowns to balance the budget, Mr. Speaker. She said, and I quote, “I would love to have that kind of power but I don’t.”
Now it’s not entirely clear exactly what she meant, if she meant she’d like to have the kind of power to sell off the Crowns or the kind of power to be straightforward with people about her plans, Mr. Speaker. But the fact of the matter is people need to know. If the Finance minister won’t rule out selling the Crowns, will the Premier?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Moe: — Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the first part of that question with some of the comments that Mr. Harper has made, he’s referencing the federal government with the estimated between 250, $300 billion that has been estimated by the Parliamentary Budget Officer to be rolled out due to the . . . in the COVID response, Mr. Speaker. There’s some concerns and I think many in this province, including myself, share those concerns with respect as to how we are going to pay this as part of this nation of Canada. How are we going to pay for the incurring debt that is ultimately coming?
Mr. Speaker, we’re in a very different situation when you look at the per capita situation here in Saskatchewan. And much of that is due to the work of the Finance minister and her caucus colleagues as well as the hard-working officials at the Ministry of Finance.
And, Mr. Speaker, I think that work is most evident here this past week with the introduction of the budget, the first budget post COVID to be introduced in this nation to fully account for our COVID response from a health care perspective but also to fully account for our COVID response and how it impacts the province’s finances.
We’ve put that before this legislature for review. No other jurisdiction, including the federal government, has done such a thing. We would hope they would in the days and weeks ahead, Mr. Speaker, as other provinces will as they have the opportunity as we reopen our provinces, reopen our economy, and ultimately reopen our communities across this province.
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Meili: — Wow, Mr. Speaker. The question was clear. The Finance minister wouldn’t answer it last night, three times, and now the Premier didn’t either. Will the Premier unequivocally state that he will not sell off Saskatchewan Crowns, or will he tell us which Crown he plans to sell off first?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Moe: — There’s legislation in place that both of these parties have agreed to, Mr. Speaker. As long as that legislation is in place, this is government that will be following that legislation as well as other rules across . . . as well as the other pieces of legislation that have been introduced, supported by this government, Mr. Speaker, and the laws of the land...
…
Mr. Meili: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s amazing that this Premier can make Elwin Hermanson look like a faithful defender of the Crowns. As long as the legislation is in place. Brad Wall lied to the people of Saskatchewan and sold off STC, brought in Bill 40 and his two-step plan. Members on this side . . . Members in this room met with buyers for SaskTel, but this Premier won’t give us a straight answer because he doesn’t want people to know his plans. Which Crown does the Premier plan to sell off first?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Moe: — None of them.
