The Saskatchewan government's throne speech for the 2013-14 year has been released with the theme of meeting the challenges of growth.
Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit says that it's not a surprising direction for people who have been paying attention. It fits in with the province's Plan for Growth 2020 and continues in the direction the government wants the province to head in.
In health care, there are new initiatives to improve care for different people. Seniors, for example, will be able to receive house calls in order to reduce their amount of travel. There is a pilot program called "hotspotting" which identifies heavy users of the health care system and looks at the reasons behind their heavy usage and directs them toward different options for care that are more efficient, as well as make emergency room care more efficient.
"When you see some patients costing the system a million dollars in emergency room visits, there seems to be an issue there. I would not say they're abusing the system, but they're not getting the services they need effectively. It's hard to say what's causing that, but it's something we need to look at to try to change the system."
Education sees the "Student First" approach to education, which will involve consultations with parents, teachers and students to look at what needs to happen in the education system. There will also be anti-bullying legislation introduced, responding to something Ottenbreit explains is a growing problem in schools world wide, and something that needs to be addressed.
Advanced education will see more spots, with more training for residence in order to meet training need. That plan is reflected in the support of the Parkland College, in particular the development of the Trades and Technology Centre.
Highways will also continue to see new twinning and passing lane initiatives. Ottenbreit says that the Highway 10 passing lane, between Fort Qu'Appelle and Balgonie, is an example of how passing lanes can improve travelling, as a regular user of the highway instead of a government representative.
There is also a desire to improve safety on the province's highways, with stricter focus on distracted and drunk driving. He says that it's as much about changing attitudes as it is about enforcement, but that enforcement is a way to change those attitudes.
"Distracted driving, or texting and driving to be more specific, has actually surpassed drunk driving [in the number of accidents] so there has to be initiatives put in place that will deter those behaviors that cause those accidents and deaths," Ottenbreit says.
Head Start on a Home is expanding towards including rental properties and life lease programs to help with the province's continuing housing shortage. Ottenbreit says that the existing program does open up the rental market a bit, but with expanding role of the program it will further put available units on the market and stabilize it. Ottenbreit says that the government believes that rent control just leads to run down properties and discourages the development of new units, and their focus is expanding the rental market.
The throne speech indicates a government confident in their direction, working to improve programs and continue down the same path.
"It's not reinventing the wheel, but refining," he concludes.
