Premier Brad Wall outlined the province's growth plan to a Battlefords audience at the Dekker Centre Monday.
The Saskatchewan Plan for Growth: Vision 2020 and Beyond, was the main focus of the luncheon hosted by the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce.
In the audience were business leaders as well as area municipal and provincial officials. Those in attendance included North Battleford Mayor Ian Hamilton, Mayor Chris Odishaw and mayor-elect Derek Mahon of Battleford, several MLAs including Herb Cox and Larry Doke, as well as a number of area chiefs.
The event also served as an opportunity for Wall to see the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts for the first time since it opened in September.
"This is a fantastic facility," Wall told reporters, noting the CUPlex was an example of why a growing economy is needed.
"We want the economy to grow because it gives us the tax base to invest in places like this," said Wall.
The province and the federal government together provided funding for the CUPlex through a jointly-funded $14 million Provincial-Territorial Base Fund grant, in addition to financing provided by the City, by fundraising and from other sources. Immediately after the luncheon, Wall and other officials were given a tour of the theatre by General Manager Moe McGuinty.
While the setting for Wall's speech was impressive, his address was mainly focused on growth and the future of the province.
"This growth is good because of what growth brings to us, what growth pays for," said Wall.
He spoke about the government's six-point growth plan that was unveiled a week earlier at a Saskatchewan Chamber event in Saskatoon.
Battlefords Chamber president Pat Smith and Executive Director Linda Machniak attended the Saskatoon presentation. Both had filled in Chamber directors a week earlier on what they had heard, but the speech at the Dekker Centre provided local people an opportunity to hear details from the premier directly.
The core activities outlined in the growth plan included investing in infrastructure, educating and training a skilled workforce, ensuring the ongoing competitiveness of Saskatchewan's economy, supporting increased trade, investment and exports through international engagement, advancing Saskatchewan's natural resources strength and and ensuring fiscal responsibility through balanced budgets, lower debt and smaller government.
The goals included a population target of 1.2 million by 2020.
Wall spoke a great deal about infrastructure issues, pledging $2.5 billion in infrastructure investment over the next three years.
Wall pledged the creation of a SaskBuilds fund for infrastructure projects. He told the audience this will be a central agency of government that will be responsible for long-term planning and also "responsible for canvassing, exploring, all the innovative options there are for funding large-scale capital projects."
Wall pointed to the $100 million-plus Saskatchewan Hospital project in North Battleford, as well as the $500 million pass around Regina and also bridge projects in Saskatoon and Prince Albert as examples of large projects that will need funding. He indicated SaskBuilds could help move ahead financing.
"We're going to have SaskBuilds investigate different kinds of partnerships - yes, P3s - to determine what is possible within public finance, what has been in other jurisdictions, so that we can move these up the timeline in a way that matches the economic needs, and the social needs and the health needs, of the people of Saskatchewan."
An estimated $150 million will be transferred from the Growth and Financial Security Fund to capitalize SaskBuilds, Wall said.
Other key points in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth include a pledge of $344 million to add 12,600 new housing units, as well as plans to address the labour shortage. Wall pledged to increase the cap on provincial immigrant nominees from the current 4,000 to 6,000, and also told the Chamber luncheon the government was committed to eliminating the wait list for Adult Basic Education programs by the end of the current term.
Wall noted that wait list was currently at 2,600 and called that number "unacceptable."
The premier also outlined plans for the Saskatchewan Heritage Initiative, with the use of non-renewable resource revenue to go into that fund. That plan echoes the Bright Futures Fund idea brought forward by the opposition NDP during the provincial election campaign last year, with the difference being the government's plan is contingent on the debt being fully retired first.
In speaking to reporters, Wall talked some more about the Sask. Hospital project as an example of a project that could be helped by the growth plan. The plan was about "investing in infrastructure like that facility, with more beds than there are today."
Wall indicated his desire to move that project from the detailed planning phase to next steps.
"We don't want to wait long, frankly. I toured the facility. We don't have long to wait. It needs to be replaced and soon. We have a timeline around 2015. It's coming up on us quickly. So it's a top priority."
Wall also said public-private partnerships are a way to finance major capital projects long-term and move them ahead.
"There's a way to do it which doesn't have an impact on the province's balance sheets. P3s is one of them. We're at least going to explore those opportunities," said Wall, who indicated the province would be examining the best practices in other provinces.
With infrastructure funding a topic of discussion among municipal leaders facing elections across the province, Wall reaffirmed the provincial government's commitment to working with municipal partners. The premier told reporters the provincial government is already negotiating with the municipal sector on an infrastructure agreement.
Wall also noted there was a 127 per cent increase in municipal revenue sharing to North Battleford (from $1.15 million since 2007-08 up to $2.6 million in 2012-13) because "we kept our promise to have a long-term revenue sharing deal with our municipal partners."
