Sometimes, activities in the Legislative Assembly can be similar to what you might see on the ice in a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game.
As in hockey, sometimes a player goes too far, and the referee kicks that player out for the rest of the game for breaking the rules.
That is exactly what transpired Thursday, as opposition leader Trent Wotherspoon was given the boot by the Speaker after his no-holds-barred attack on the provincial budget during Question Period.
The comments that landed Wotherspoon in hot water began right at the start, when he resumed his now-familiar lead off roasting of the government on the auditor’s report into the Global Transportation Hub.
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, before we get to some of the very serious concerns and questions about the deceitful, indecent and mean-spirited budget of the Sask. Party, I want to follow up on an interesting response of the Premier yesterday on another matter …
So direct to the Premier: when did he find out that the seller of the land had a direct relationship with the minister responsible?
Instead of the Premier, it was Minister of the Economy Jeremy Harrison who stood to respond, as he has done countless times before.
Hon. Mr. Harrison: — Well thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Of course the auditor has addressed all of these matters…
Wotherspoon then moved his focus to the budget. What follows are just small samples of the long exchange that erupted between Wotherspoon and Premier Brad Wall, as recorded in Hansard.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — You know, yesterday the Premier refused to let the Finance minister defend himself and the failures in his last budget. But I wonder if the Premier is so eager to defend the budget presented yesterday. This is the Premier who, time and time and time again, long before the last election, through the last election and up until just a few weeks ago, promised that he would never raise taxes.
… Will the Premier at the very least admit that he’s broken his word? Why wasn’t he straight with Saskatchewan people?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s fact-check time again for the interim Leader of the Opposition. He was in this Assembly when the former Finance minister, Ken Krawetz, delivered a budget wherein he indicated that at some point down the road we’d have to raise taxes, specifically EPT [education property tax]. I was here. I voted for the budget where those statements were made. So for him now to portray some sort of commitment that frankly did not exist, certainly during the last election, because we expressly said we would have to increase taxes, is just more of the same. It’s more of the same that we have come to expect from the Leader of the Opposition…
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, remarkable. The Premier, who said he’d never raise taxes, is increasing taxes by a billion dollars. He can spin this any way he likes, but that’s the truth, Mr. Speaker.
As Question Period went on the tone got more heated, with Wotherspoon at one point referring to a “deficit of decency”.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, it defies common sense. It’s a bad fiscal policy, and it’s certainly not fair for that Premier to try to defend tax cuts, tax breaks for the wealthiest and most connected, Mr. Speaker, at a time where he’s taking a pound of flesh from Saskatchewan people and where he’s running a massive deficit once again, Mr. Speaker.
You know, maybe those half a million dollars are so stuck in his pocket from big corporate money, Mr. Speaker, through his inappropriate . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: — I caution the members with the verbiage used. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — It’s a question about who’s pulling this Premier’s strings, Mr. Speaker. But clearly he’s forgotten who he’s serving.
I want to quote the vice-president of prairie and agri-business, Marilyn Braun-Pollon, from the CFIB [Canadian Federation of Independent Business]. She said she wanted to be positive about the budget, but she can’t, Mr. Speaker, because it is “. . . brutal from a small business perspective.” Brutal from a small business perspective. She tweeted, “We fear a $908 million tax hike will make a bad situation worse.”
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us why the Sask. Party is making a bad situation worse instead of getting us on to the road to economic recovery?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the road to economic recovery is well under way. Mr. Speaker, consider . . . Well the members opposite are laughing. The last job report that came out days ago had your province — that you should be proud of — leading the country with 8,000 new jobs created. In statistic after statistic, whether it’s manufacturing, whether it’s retail sales, we are leading the country right now. We want to continue that. We want to ensure that this province continues to be competitive.
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — … Mr. Speaker, has the Sask. Party really become that arrogant? Are they really that out of touch? Mr. Speaker, I don’t probably expect the Premier to answer that question. So I guess a very direct one: who asked him for the 8 per cent cut to the corporate tax rate?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, the number he just attributed to corporate income tax, well it’s wrong. That’s the reduction, that’s the reduction in personal income tax. That’s money back in the pockets of Saskatchewan families, of low-income people, of middle-income people, and yes, of high-income people — across-the-board tax relief, Mr. Speaker. I would ask the member to read the budget, Mr. Speaker.
…
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — … In the leaflets that they actually published to promote their mean-spirited, deceitful budget, they’re saying that they are investing in their priorities. Investing in their priorities. That’s what it says, Mr. Speaker. They gave a tax break to the wealthiest, Mr. Speaker, but they’re selling off STC [Saskatchewan Transportation Company] after promising of course that that wasn’t on the table.
… How can the Premier justify making the wealthiest a priority over seniors and rural Saskatchewan families seeking health care by selling off STC?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Well, Mr. Speaker, we’re not selling STC. This is not a privatization. Well the members are laughing. There’s not a commercial interest here to privatize. And we don’t think this is funny, unlike members opposite. We don’t think it’s a laughing matter because we know that the lives of 250 or so valued public servants changed significantly, and not for the better, yesterday as a result of a decision that we took. And so we didn’t come to the decision easily, Mr. Speaker.
…
And at some point you have to ask the question, is that the core function of government, to subsidize to $90 a passenger for a bus company? Or is it rather health care and education and infrastructure, Mr. Speaker? And so we’ve made our decision, and it was not an easy decision to make, Mr. Speaker…
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — The Premier wants to get up and talk about the core function of government. A core function of a Premier is to be straight with Saskatchewan people. This is a Premier who didn’t say boo about this in the run-up to the election, through the election, or beyond. He looked in the whites of the eyes of Saskatchewan people. Hand over heart, he pledged that he wouldn’t sell off the Crown corporations. This is deceitful and it’s damaging, Mr. Speaker. It’s clear that the Premier’s word just isn’t worth much. To the Premier: does he have no shame?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the reality of the province’s situation, as we have already discussed, is that for now, the third year resource revenue . . . Well the Leader of the Opposition asked a pretty serious question and made some serious allegations about me and members on this side of the House. I hope he would have the respect and decency to listen to the answer, even if he doesn’t agree with it.
…
The Speaker: —I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, it’s a deceitful budget on front after front. Mr. Speaker, it’s callous and it’s mean-spirited. We have a Premier that wasn’t straight with Saskatchewan people in the run-up to an election and ever since, Mr. Speaker.
The reality, when you look at the budget, last year alone this province increased debt by $3 billion. If you look at what this government has done, they’ve increased debt since 2013. In just five years, they’ve doubled the debt all the way to $18 billion. Of course you didn’t see any of that featuring on the billboards in the last election, Mr. Speaker. You didn’t see this Premier being straight with people about his sell-off schemes. You didn’t see him being straight with his callous plan to shift benefits to the wealthiest at the expense of the rest of us, Mr. Speaker, and he didn’t put forward his schemes on the cuts, Mr. Speaker. And I guess at the heart of it, Saskatchewan people expect their Premier to be straight with them.
My question to the Premier: was he afraid that Saskatchewan people would have held him to account? Was he afraid that if they saw the costs of Sask. Party mismanagement, scandal, and waste that they would have held him to account? Was it that if they saw their schemes and their actual plan and their deficit of values that they would have held him to account? Why wasn’t this Premier straight with Saskatchewan people?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the member that he should be straight with the members of this House in question period in his preambles, that his facts should be accurate, that his characterizations, which are very serious, should be accurate. Mr. Speaker, he will know that this government has paid off — and obviously with these deficits we’re now eating into it — not completely, but we’ve paid off $3 billion in operating debt.
Mr. Speaker, CTV news Edmonton just did a report. They looked at the national situation. And guess, Mr. Speaker, which province has the lowest operating debt per capita in all of Canada, even lower than our neighbours in Alberta owing to some decisions that their counterparts in that province has made? Mr. Speaker, it’s the province of Saskatchewan — the lowest operating debt in Canada even as we’ve gone through three years of very difficult times with respect to revenue.
Moreover, Mr. Speaker, this province has the second-best, the second-best debt-to-GDP [gross domestic product] ratio in Canada, the second-best. Well, Mr. Speaker, that’s earned credit rating upgrades. We’ve been able to achieve this even though we’ve faced the headwinds of low . . . Well the member shakes his head. These are the facts, Mr. Speaker. …
It was after this response that Government House Leader Paul Merriman stood to raise a point of order.
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On four times in question period, at the clock at 24:30, 5:24, 2:05, and 0:15, the interim leader of the NDP used the phrase “deceitful.” And I’ll refer you to Beauchesne’s, debates, March 22nd, ’77, page 4257, where the word “deceived” was ruled out of order. They also ruled the word “deliberately deceived” in August 5th, 1960, page 7640. And I’d ask that the member withdraw and apologize.
Opposition House leader Warren McCall responded the phrase was within order, but Speaker Corey Tochor was ready to make a ruling.
The Speaker: — I believe I’m able and willing to rule on this point of order today, and I do find it in order. And I believe the Leader of the Opposition’s verbiage used today does not add to the decorum, and I would ask that he withdraw and apologize for his remarks today. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, with due respect, I will not apologize for a….
The Speaker: — I caution the Leader of the Opposition that there are sanctions that the Speaker has when a member would refuse to withdraw and apologize for remarks. I’d give the opportunity to stand and withdraw and apologize for his remarks or they will be the next step taken by the Speaker.
So I’d recognize the Leader of the Opposition right now, please.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — I can’t apologize for this deceptive budget and the deceit of this Premier, Mr. Speaker.
The Speaker:— Mr. Trent Wotherspoon, I hereby name you for disregarding the authority of the Chair, and pursuant to the rule 57(2), the member is suspended from the services of the Assembly for the remainder of the sitting day.
Later on, in a posting on Facebook, Wotherspoon did not back down on his words in the legislature.
“Out of principle I could not withdraw & apologize for using the words "deceitful budget" in the Legislature, as such I was booted out. The SKParty were not honest, from their budget mess, to their sell-offs of our Crowns, callous cuts and tax hikes on people, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest.
We'll keep fighting back to stop the damage and build SK together.”
