The Battlefords once again figured prominently at the legislature this past week.
In particular, it was a construction milestone for the new Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford that had Battlefords MLA Herb Cox enthused on Monday. His statement in the Legislature, as recorded in Hansard, was devoted to that topic.
Mr. Cox: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last Friday I along with the member from Cut Knife-Turtleford had the privilege to join with hundreds of people from the community, health professionals, and construction partners to celebrate that the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford is now 60 per cent complete, is on time for completion, and is on budget.
Those of us from the North Battleford area have been seeing this amazing complex rise up over the last couple of years, and the progress has been astounding. This fast progress can be attributed to the contractors who have put in more than 535,000 hours of work to keep the new Sask Hospital North Battleford on time and on budget. I would also like to note that 20 per cent of the workers on site are indigenous, with 25 per cent of the companies involved so far are from Saskatchewan.
Mr. Speaker, it was a fitting milestone that fell at the conclusion of Mental Health Week and shows how our government has been investing where it counts to make sure that Saskatchewan has world-class facilities. And it shows that our government is acting on the recommendations in the mental health and addictions action plan. There’s increasingly an innovative approach to delivering mental health care and supports, which will ensure people get the help they need when they need it and in the best possible environment.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask all members of this Assembly to join me in thanking all those who are working so hard to make this project happen, and thank the community of North Battleford which has rallied being this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
But not everyone in the legislature was as excited with what was happening with the Saskatchewan Hospital construction.
In particular, the use of public-private partnerships to build that project, and others in the province, came under fire from the opposition. NDP critic Cathy Sproule roasted Minister of Justice Gordon Wyant over the practice of paying out honorariums to losing bidders in the P3 tendering process, on the grounds that these payouts were a waste of money.
Ms. Sproule: — Mr. Speaker, this isn’t just business as usual. And the fact that the Sask Party thinks it is, the fact that the Sask Party thinks it is explains a lot about how we got here.
P3s cost money, period. They’re good for the party making the announcement, but everyone else pays the price, Mr. Speaker. On the Swift Current long-term care facility, there were two payments of $300,000. The Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford, two payments of $500,000. On the Regina bypass, there were three payments totalling $3 million, Mr. Speaker. On the joint-use school project no. 1, 600,000; and on project no. 2, $500,000 for each. All of them, Mr. Speaker, for failed bids.
Mr. Speaker, this year’s budget is full of taxes and cuts that will hurt families and local businesses, but the big corporations get to pay less and collect more cash. Mr. Speaker, why won’t the Sask Party simply admit that the P3 process costs Saskatchewan families too much?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
Hon. Mr. Wyant: — Mr. Speaker, I argue with the preamble. This is business as usual, Mr. Speaker. P3s are being used, Mr. Speaker, in over 40 jurisdictions in this country, successfully, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to be saving over $500 million for the taxpayers, Mr. Speaker. Even . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: —I recognize the minister.
Hon. Mr. Wyant: — Mr. Speaker, even the Notley government in Alberta is using the P3, and they’re paying honorariums, not only with respect to the Anthony Henday, Mr. Speaker, but most recently the P3 that that government announced for the south Calgary bypass, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this is about innovation, Mr. Speaker. And if the members opposite want to look to see where the savings are in our P3s, they only have to go online. They only have to go online, Mr. Speaker, and look at the value-for-money reports. All the numbers are there, Mr. Speaker.
But again, Mr. Speaker, the interim Leader of the Opposition acknowledged the importance of honorariums in committee last year, Mr. Speaker. So for the fact that they stand up and think this is a big surprise, Mr. Speaker, some big, hidden number, they only have to look online to look at the actual numbers, Mr. Speaker. We’re saving the taxpayer, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, these honorariums amount to no more than one-third of 1 per cent of the total contract price, a small price to pay for innovation.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of opposition leader Trent Wotherspoon to go after Premier Brad Wall on P3s. This time, Wotherspoon’s beef was with money going to companies outside Saskatchewan.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, no answer. Of course the question was about how much money is flowing to these companies outside Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker. So more grandstanding but no transparency.
And you know, time and time again, we see the Sask Party putting the interests of their party and the wealthy and the well-connected ahead of Saskatchewan people. You know, what we see is the Sask Party’s mortgaged the future of our province with their costly schemes. Hundreds of millions of dollars, billions, in so-called partnerships with corporations who will collect money from Saskatchewan people for decades.
Mr. Speaker, P3s [public-private partnership] let the Sask Party make announcements, cut ribbons, put on the full dog-and-pony shows, but again it’s Saskatchewan people who are being forced to pay the price, and they’re on the hook for decades, Mr. Speaker.
For example, the Swift Current long-term care centre is worth $108 million, but the Sask Party’s forcing Saskatchewan people to pay more than two and a half times that amount — $279 million, Mr. Speaker. That’s on top of the hundreds of thousands of Saskatchewan dollars handed to companies with failed bids on this project.
Mr. Speaker, with the real costs of Sask Party mismanagement mounting, will the Premier at least admit that the Sask Party has failed with their costly P3 schemes?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, in the member’s preamble he’s conveniently forgetting to note that part of the advantage of a P3 is that it contemplates maintenance throughout the life of the project, Mr. Speaker, at least for decades into the project, which is why, Mr. Speaker, an independent evaluation of the long-term care facility that he has raised indicates that it will save taxpayers $60 million.
It’s also why that same independent analysis has demonstrated that with the P3 projects undertaken by this government the savings have been about a half a billion dollars, Mr. Speaker, over all of the P3 projects undertaken by the Government of Saskatchewan.
Now he says, the Leader of the Opposition says, well these are just about ribbon cuttings and press releases. I’ll tell you what, Mr. Speaker, they’re actually about a brand new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford. They’re about a bypass for the city that’s been needed. They’re about brand new schools in the province of Saskatchewan that have been needed because of population growth. Mr. Speaker, they’re about projects like a long-term care facility in this province.
What we have seen, Mr. Speaker, in the last eight years is both a conventional and a P3 approach to building infrastructure. Why? Because this was ignored by members opposite for 16 years, including their last four years when they were sitting on about $750 million and kept telling the people of North Battleford, you can wait. And he kept telling the people, those mental health patients that needed that hospital, you can wait.
We took a different approach on this side. We used a P3, Mr. Speaker. They’re saving money, and they’re getting projects built finally in the province of Saskatchewan.
