The fall sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature is coming up, where a number of critical provincial legal matters will be discussed and debated at great length. The Government of Saskatchewan’s website states that this sitting will be the last before the 2016 provincial election.
The sitting will begin Oct. 13, but will not open with a throne speech — a fact that hasn’t been overlooked by the participating parties. Press documentation from the Saskatchewan Green party argues that the lack of a throne speech entails a lack of vision or planning for Saskatchewan people and the future of the province.
“The Speech from the Throne is supposed to reveal the overall direction of the government,” said party leader Victor Lau, in the statement. “It’s a mistake to have a fall sitting and not lay out an ambitious agenda for the people.”
Trent Wotherspoon, deputy leader of the Saskatchewan NDP and MLA for Regina Rosemont, called the lack of a throne speech a disappointing departure from past sittings, noting that it indicates a government that’s “running out of steam and ideas,” and lacking accountability, when it comes to laying out a plan where resources should be allocated.
Estevan Saskatchewan Party MLA Doreen Eagles described the lack of a throne speech for the upcoming sitting as unusual. She noted that the fall sitting will be operating on the premises and goals of the previous sitting’s speech.
In a media release on the Government of Saskatchewan’s website, Premier Brad Wall stated this session will lack a throne speech, because it’s a continuation of the 2014-15 session of legislature, and not having one for this session will give MLAs more time to debate new legislation introduced by the government, something he believes is necessary.
“The normal process is to introduce bills in the fall sitting and pass them in the spring sitting,” said Wall. “However, there will be no spring sitting until after the election. There are a few pieces of legislation we want to pass before the election, so we are deviating from the normal calendar just a bit, to provide more time to debate those bills.”
Eagles noted that the upcoming session will be a 25-day sitting, dealing with a few new things that have come up in the past season. A prominent topic of discussion will be an announcement of intentions regarding the recent farmland ownership consultations. Eagles has a number of goals going into the upcoming session, particularly in the case of laws relating to farmland ownership.
The sitting will entail decisions on how to regulate the sale of farmland, and questions of eligibility to purchase land, rules relating to government farmland transactions and the appropriate level of government funding and enforcement for such transactions. All of the laws and discussion surrounding them stem from a series of landowner consultations that took place over the past spring and summer, from mid-May to the end
of August.
“It affects all of rural Saskatchewan, and therefore cities too. We have to see what the results are, and go from there,” said Eagles. “I know what my people have told me locally, (and) I’m going to fight for that.”
Priorities for the Saskatchewan Party in the upcoming session, according to the party website, include a bill introduced last spring to reduce magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) wait times, by allowing private MRIs in the province, and an assortment of amendments to various municipal acts. These amendments are in response to recommendations that come from an inquiry into a conflict of interest in the RM of Sherwood, relating to the province’s essential services law.
Essential services legislation, in fact, is another topic Eagles plans on discussing at the upcoming sitting, since it continues to be an ongoing political conversation.
“Our government remains committed to protecting essential public services like health care and highway safety in the event of a strike. I think it’s imperative that people can expect that these essential services are available every day,” said Eagles. “We’re working on requirements as set out by the Supreme Court, and there’ll be debates on that in the house. It’ll be a continuation of last year.”
Wotherspoon said the NDP will be focusing on issues that matter to the people of Saskatchewan, putting forward an agenda that was done thorough door-to-door consultation with Saskatchewan families.
In a call with the Mercury, Wotherspoon was particularly critical of the government’s handling of cost-of-living pressures for Saskatchewan families.
“These take directly out of the quality of life of Saskatchewan people. So many are working hard just to keep up,” said Wotherspoon. “There are all sorts of hikes to the cost of living where wages have been really flat, (and) we want to make life a little more affordable, making smart investments addressing the high cost of living in Saskatchewan.”
The main topics the NDP will focus on include emergency room wait times across the province, seniors’ care, and education.
“When you look at education, this government has failed students and the next generation by not supporting proper education,” said Wotherspoon. “We see classrooms with more then 30 kids in them, cuts to educational assistants. Education needs to become a priority and our students need to be supported.”
Another area of focus for the NDP will be government spending accountability, criticizing what he calls the government’s “pet projects.” The NDP has a long-term fiscal accountability and management bill that they will continue to push for, in the upcoming session.
“It’s related to P3 accountability and transparency, requiring the government to be upfront, reporting full costs and comparisons,” said Wotherspoon.
The deputy NDP leader noted that another objective for the the party in next week’s sitting is to improve economic procurement in Saskatchewan, to keep big contracts and the economic opportunity they entail in Saskatchewan, and to strengthen economic conditions in the province.
Eagles noted that she’s not sure what sorts of questions will be coming up in the legislature because “legislature is a day-by day-thing. You never know where they’re going to come from.”
“Last year, it was predominantly seniors’ care in long-term care homes, and healthcare. It’s hard to say where the discussion will go this fall,” she added.
Eagles described the upcoming sitting as bittersweet, since it will the last one she attends as MLA. She is retireing from the position, with no intention to seek reelection, at the drop of the writ of the next provincial election.
“I’ve been so honoured and humbled to represent the people of this constituency for the last 16 plus years. I’m proud of the people of this constituency,” said Eagles. “They fight for what they want, and they do it in a very respectful and honourable manner. It doesn’t get any better than that. I thank them for the privilege of allowing me to serve
for them.”
