The theme of the provincial budget for 2014-15 is steady growth, and Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit says that overall, it's a good one for residents in the city.
For the Yorkton area, one of the big projects is the $4.5 million directed towards the Parkland College's Trades and Technology Center. This portion of the planned $10 million government commitment will cover the first year of construction, coming after $1 million last year that was used in the planning process. Ottenbreit says that the remainder is coming in 2015, and that the rest of the money could potentially come sooner if construction goes ahead of schedule.
Students will also see immediate benefits, with the Graduate Retention Program getting additional funds, and Ottenbreit says it's because there has been a great uptake in the program and the need to increase the budget shows that more students are staying within the province.
On the other end of the age spectrum, there will be an increase in funding for pre-Kindergarten programming in the province, with $1.2 million being spent on the province's youngest students.
Health is another highlight, he adds. The overall healthcare budget has increased by $144 million, for a total of over $5 billion spent in the province, and that will have direct benefits for the area.
Some new regional initiatives will also show benefits for Yorkton. These include a new Collaborative Emergency Center that has been announced for Canora.
Five of the centers will be built around the province, and emergency patients will be directed towards the health professional that meets their need, whether that's a nurse practitioner, doctor, or who else might be able to assist the patient. While the benefits are most immediate to those who live in Canora, as they will have emergency services in town, those benefits will extend to the entire region, as emergency capacity increases and is spread out.
"It will take some of the load off the region, with people from that area having targeted healthcare."
Other programs, such as the Senior's Income Plan, the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disabilities Plan, the Personal Care Home benefit and funds for community based organizations all also received funding increases. Ottenbreit says that continuing to increase support to those programs is a priority. "Things like that are really going to help people locally."
Municipal revenue sharing is an additional area where the region will benefit from the budget. The local MLA notes that the amount that Yorkton receives has gone from $1 million to over $3 million over the past seven years.
"That speaks well for the overall investment in infrastructure and what can be done locally... Cities for the most part had to apply for specific funding for specific projects, and we just thought this was a more efficient way to put money in the hands of the cities and let them use money how they saw fit."
As can be expected, the official opposition's reaction to the budget has been largely negative, focusing on areas where they believe funding should have been increased. Ottenbreit says that while no government is perfect, the path that the Saskatchewan party has been taking has been positive. "You have to make some tough choices, especially in a budget like this that has no increases so that you can still deliver those services. The people of the province are a lot better off than they were in 2007, and that's what I go by."
Overall, Ottenbreit believes the budget is a success, and what the province needs right now as it faces the challenges of growth.
"In this budget we see it's a balanced budget, there's no tax increases, there's actually decreased spending, there's a large investment in infrastructure which is needed for a strong economy, and we continue to invest in people, and it shows that overall people's lives are getting better."
