The New Democratic Party opposition in the legislature is blasting the provincial budget handed down March 20 as a "credit card budget."
Opposition finance critic Trent Wotherspoon dismissed the budget for "pushing costs into the future and onto future generations" in his conference call with reporters Thursday, one day after Finance Minister Ken Krawetz delivered the 2013-14 budget.
While the Sask. Party government was quick to call it a balanced budget, Wotherspoon slammed the government for a "costly new privatized approach to infrastructure in the P3 schemes that have been introduced."
He described the attitude of the government as being one of "just let the kids pay for it."
The finance critic was especially critical of the government's plans to look at P3 opportunities for a new Saskatchewan Hospital. Wotherspoon sees those P3 plans as amounting to another delay.
"Many, through the Battlefords, are going to be very disappointed with this announcement to basically delay and punt the Sask. Hospital into this privatized scheme and analysis that they're looking at."
Wotherspoon said "that was a clear commitment government made to build the Sask. Hospital and to do so publicly." He said many in the Battlefords would not be pleased with "what might be a significant delay, lack of a commitment and a broken promise to make sure it's public."
Putting hospital and school construction into private hands, said Wotherspoon, "costs us more, they bring risks and we sort of tie the hands of future generations to control that asset."
"That $100 million that had once been promised for that vital infrastructure for Battlefords and area and for the entire province has in essence been broken as a promise."
Wotherspoon said the Opposition will continue to call for that promise to be kept and construction to start but added "I don't support and we don't support the costly privatization scheme they're entering into. We'd like to see them honoring that commitment.
He also was critical of the government for pushing for a "smaller" Moose Jaw Union Hospital without a hyperbaric chamber instead of a larger one, noting the plan was disregarding voices from the region. "They're not listening to the voices of Moose Jaw, and I won't say just Moose Jaw - the entire region."
Wotherspoon also expressed disappointment with what he called "the lack of action in long term care and in health care," pointing to the government calling on the health regions and the cancer agency to cut $54 million.
Wotherspoon said the budget failed to address education concerns, noting class sizes have gone up and many classes were "bursting at the seams". He also noted universities were facing a debt crisis and many students were facing tuition hikes, and criticized the cutting of 350 educational assistants.
The budget "failed meeting the needs and pressures in the classroom," said Wotherspoon.
When asked how much money was needed, Wotherspoon said the budget needed to meet pressures in both inflation and population.
"This budget doesn't even meet inflation," he said.
