Premier Brad Wall announced on April 20 that the first session of the newly-elected Legislative Assembly will begin on Tuesday, May 17 with the election of the Speaker in the morning followed by the Throne Speech that afternoon.
Wall said the government will focus on its election commitment to keep Saskatchewan strong.
“Earlier this month, Saskatchewan people gave our government a renewed mandate to keep Saskatchewan strong during this challenging time caused by low oil prices,” Wall said. “In the upcoming session, we will focus on doing just that in three key areas: keeping our economy strong, keeping our provincial finances strong and keeping Saskatchewan’s place in Canada strong by always standing up for Saskatchewan’s interests.”
Wall said the government is currently working to prepare its legislative agenda and the provincial budget, which will be based on its platform in the recent provincial election.
“We made only a few new spending promises during the campaign and we intend to keep those promises,” Wall said. “Obviously, the budget will be tight as we work to keep our provincial finances strong and get back to a balanced budget by 2017.
“In terms of legislation, we will be moving forward on our election promise to remove the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority from The Crown Corporation Public Ownership Act. This will enable us to fulfill our promise to convert 40 government-owned liquor stores to private stores and add 12 new private liquor stores.”
Wall also announced that the work on the new dome of the Legislative Building is nearing completion and will be unveiled in a public ceremony on Monday, May 16 – the day before the beginning of the new Legislative Session. More details will be announced at a later date.
“The new dome represents renewal on the outside of the Legislative Building and the new session will represent renewal within the Legislative Building,” Wall said. “I am looking forward to the new session as our government continues with the work of keeping Saskatchewan strong.”
