To the Editor:
In recent weeks, NDP Leader Cam Broten has been asking our government – where did the money go? The answer is really quite clear. It went to debt reduction, to tax reduction and to much-needed investment in government infrastructure and services.
First of all, debt reduction. Since taking office in 2007, our government has reduced the province’s operating debt by $3 billion or 44 per cent, from $6.8 billion to $3.8 billion. That debt reduction is saving Saskatchewan taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in interest costs. So far, we have saved nearly a billion dollars in total – money that was re-invested in infrastructure and government services and money that went back into the pockets of Saskatchewan taxpayers in the form of tax cuts.
When the NDP was in power, Saskatchewan people were taxed far too much. That’s why our government has delivered the largest income tax reductions and the largest property tax reductions in Saskatchewan history.
Here’s one example. Under the NDP, a family of four earning $50,000 a year paid $2,302 in provincial income tax. Today, that same family pays just $95 a year in provincial income tax – a tax reduction of 95 per cent. On top of that, our government lowered the education property tax on their home, took the PST off the purchase of their used car and extended the PST exemption on their children’s clothing to age 18, saving them hundreds more dollars over the past few years.
Tax reductions are saving Saskatchewan residents hundreds of millions of dollars a year compared to when the NDP was in office. In total since 2007, our government has delivered over $5 billion in tax relief.
Our government has also invested billions of dollars to address the massive infrastructure deficit left behind by the NDP. We know there is more to be done, but in our first seven years in office, we have invested $6.6 billion in important capital projects like hospitals, schools and highways. That’s more than double what the NDP spent on infrastructure in their last seven years in power. We believe in planning for growth. The NDP was planning for decline.
In fact, you can see this investment all around the province. There are 40 new schools completed or in development across Saskatchewan, including nine joint-use schools to address increased enrolments and aging facilities. We have also made record investments in health care capital – over $1 billion since 2007 – to build 15 long-term care facilities, replace the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford, build a new hospital in Moose Jaw, and the new Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
We have also repaired and rebuilt over 8,500 kilometres of Saskatchewan highways, while still understanding there are more to be fixed because of the disastrous condition of Saskatchewan highways left behind by the NDP.
So that’s where the money has gone – into important investments in Saskatchewan’s future. Debt reduction. Tax reduction. Infrastructure projects. It’s a fair question, but we have a clear answer. And it’s a lot better than the question many of us were asking when the NDP were in office: where did the people go?
Ken Krawetz
Minister of Finance
