Premier Brad Wall said Saskatchewan continued to move forward during the fall session of the Legislative Assembly which wrapped up on December 8.
"During this session, we continued to see strong job creation and wage growth, and a huge increase in building permits in the province," Wall said. "The Mid-Year Report showed that the province's finances are improving and in a surplus position, and most independent forecasters are now saying Saskatchewan's economy will lead the nation in 2011.
"Saskatchewan is on the right track and our government is working hard to make sure it stays that way."
Early in the session, MLAs unanimously passed an emergency resolution calling on the federal government to reject the proposed takeover of PotashCorp by BHP Billiton as it did not represent a net benefit to Canada or Saskatchewan. On November 3, the federal government announced that it agreed with Saskatchewan's position and rejected the takeover bid.
"The Legislature and the people of Saskatchewan spoke with one voice to deliver a clear message to Ottawa and the federal government listened," Wall said. "This was a great example of how our country should work."
During the session, the government introduced a number of pieces of legislation - most of which will be passed during the spring session. However, the government did pass some new legislation this fall, including: amendments to The Animal Protection Act to increase penalties to those convicted of animal abuse; andamendments to The Correctional Services Act to allow corrections facility staff to monitor inmate phone calls in order to crack down on gang activity and prevent inmates from harassing victims.
A great deal of the debate during the session focused on health care. Wall said while there is more to be done in this area, a recent poll indicated that Saskatchewan residents have the highest level of satisfaction with their health system of any province in Canada.
"Our government has now reached its target of 800 new nurses working in Saskatchewan and we are continuing to work toward our target of reducing surgical wait times to no more than three months by 2014," Wall said. "There is more work to be done, but our health system is improving and putting patients first."
