Rural Saskatchewan has certainly seen better budgets.
But it has also seen worse.
Let us examine today how rural Saskatchewan specifically did in the 2013-14 budget, presented last week by Finance Minister Ken Krawetz.
Any such examination should still begin with agriculture, where the Saskatchewan Party government is providing a record $198.3 million for crop insurance.
That said, a $52.5-million decrease in the commitment to the AgriStability Fund _ along with $10.2-million less for AgriInvest _ connotes a major shift away from enhanced payouts to deal with disasters in a year when some flooding seems a certainty.
In fact, there are no specific dollars aside for flood relief anywhere in the budget _ a potential problem, given its razor-thin surplus.
The government is also phasing out its support for ethanol initiatives in this budget.
Spending on Saskatchewan highways will be down almost $30 million from last year _ never great news for rural Saskatchewan. Nevertheless, there is the good news of a $63.8-million commitment to repave 280 kilometres of highway and another $63.8 million for the Regina West bypass, the Estevan bypass, passing lanes on Hwy. 10 and completion of Highway 11 twinning.
Other highway projects worth noting include: upgrading Hwy. 22 from Southey to Earl Grey; upgrading of Hwy. 42 from Tuxford to Eyebrow; grading and paving of the Dalmeny access road, and; continuing work of the St. Louis Bridge.
Proceeding with the previously announced new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford may be the big item in rural health spending. However, rather than capital investments, it may be a further initiative hopefully providing more rural doctors that will emerge as the biggest health positive out of this budget.
The Sask. Party government doubled its contribution to the locum pool to $3 million _ support that will hopefully add 20 rural physicians. There will also be an additional $250,000 more for the Rural Family Physician Recruitment Incentive Program to encourage graduating doctors locate to rural Saskatchewan.
Further wisely spent health dollars include an additional $350,000 for expansion of the Alzheimer Society's First Link program to add cites in North Battleford, Swift Current, Estevan and Prince Albert.
Also, $70.6 million is being set aside for the government to make good on its commitment to co-owned long-term care facilities in Biggar, Kelvington, Kerrobert, Kipling, Maple Creek and Prince Albert. Meanwhile, there will be $15.9 million to fulfill commitments to regional health authorities to complete facilities in Radville, Redvers, Rosetown, Shellbrook and Tisdale.
Additional spending for school and post-secondary education operating budgets may have been one of the bigger disappointments in a budget that needed to cater to a growing province.
Nevertheless, Martensville, Leader and Hudson Bay will see previous commitments translate into $18.7 million in funding while Langenburg and Gravelbourg will receive $1.9 million to begin planning new projects.
There was also an additional $4 million for continued construction of the Southeast Regional College in Weyburn.
Urban municipalities will benefit from the pre-budget announcement of 12 per cent more while rural municipalities will get an 8.5-per cent increase _ all courtesy of the sharing of a percentage point of an increasingly lucrative provincial sales tax.
There will be $6.6-million more for RCMP policing and other municipal policing grants will increase by $600,000.
And in recognition that a fast-growing province means an increase in family problems, there will be $800,000 more for women's shelters, including funding for a new shelter in Melfort _ the first such new transition house in the province to be added since 1989.
Overall, this austerity budget is offering less to rural Saskatchewan than it is has grown used to seeing at budget time.
But rural Saskatchewan _ and the province as a whole _ have seen far worse budgets.
