Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads
The third session of Saskatchewan’s 28th Legislative Assembly is underway, and a pair of elected officials have shared their thoughts on the new session.
The fall session kicked off on Oct. 24 with the reading of the 2018 Speech from the Throne. The Throne Speech was delivered by the Honourable W. Thomas Molloy, lieutenant governor for Saskatchewan, and it was the first Throne Speech under Premier Scott Moe.
Molloy delivered the speech at the Legislature and the speech started by highlighting a story of kindness and strength in a rural Saskatchewan community. The speech refers to a farmer and father of three children near Milestone who died just as the 2018 harvest was getting started.
Mayor Jeff Brown of Milestone put out a call to the community for help to harvest a section of wheat for the farmer’s family. Brown expected six or seven combines to show up and to his shock and delight, 20 combines, four grain carts and 100 volunteers showed up to help out. The section of wheat was harvested in hours.
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The speech goes straight to talking about how low resource prices have created economic and fiscal challenges in Saskatchewan, but the province’s finances and economy are showing clear signs of improvement amid ongoing challenges.
World economic conditions, United States trade sanctions against the province’s steel and uranium industries, and decisions by Canada’s federal government continue to create challenges for the province. Moe states in the speech that his government will continue to meet challenges by standing up for Saskatchewan by managing taxpayers’ dollars, and delivering important programs and services to the people.
Kindersley MLA Ken Francis, who is experiencing his first fall sitting as a member of the Sask. Party caucus, said in an interview that the Throne Speech lays out the general plan for government with a “few key points.”
He noted that he had his opportunity to respond to the Throne Speech in the legislature on Oct. 30, and he stood in agreement with all of the points presented in Moe’s speech. He said the party’s MLAs do not have to speak positively about the speech, but he fully supports the premier’s plans.
Francis was elected after a byelection in March and, as a newer MLA, he said he is still in awe of being able to work in the legislature and having the opportunity presented to him to participate in government. He said he also commended the work of the public service.
The government plans to introduce new legislation to create an even friendlier business environment in Saskatchewan for oil and gas, mining and technology sectors, said the Kindersley MLA. Francis referred to the current economic focus.
“Our economy is still showing signs of improvement, but we’re facing some terrible headwinds,” he said, referring to challenges with trade, proposed federal taxation and the roadblocks to getting pipelines built to transport crude oil. “There’s so many headwinds, but we seem to still be having some growth (and) that’s a good sign.”
Francis said most people everywhere agree that emission reductions are important. The province’s minister of environment has introduced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province, and he said the plan is being implemented.
He said the government will continue to invest in infrastructure and the investment includes passing lanes on Highway 7 between Rosetown and Kindersley. He said the government has been investing in rural areas despite the belief that urban areas get a bulk of the infrastructure investment.
The MLA said he was looking forward to getting back to the legislature to work on initiatives with his colleagues in government. Despite what the opposition has to say, the government has a plan in place and Moe has his fingerprints all over it.
“I do see our new premier as being his own type of premier,” Francis said, recognizing that Moe has brought his own style of leadership to the party and he takes an inclusive approach within caucus. “There’s a large caucus here – 48 people, and everybody gets their chance to speak.”
Ryan Meili, leader of the official opposition and New Democratic Party MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin, said he believes the story in the introduction of the Throne Speech about a group of people showing strength and togetherness to help a family struggling after the death of a father is more in line with NDP values than Sask. Party values.
He said the speech spends more time highlighting the party’s past accomplishments than it does highlighting the party’s plans for the future, so it is symptomatic of the party looking backward instead of forward. The speech blames outside sources.
“There’s a lot of talk about factors that really are outside of the province’s control, and very little talk about things that could be done in the province to make a difference,” the NDP leader said, referring to how it is believed the addition of sales tax on construction trades has killed jobs in Saskatchewan.
According to Meili, he believes the speech was an opportunity for Moe to show the province’s people who he is as a premier and it was a missed opportunity because he is proving to be a premier without ideas of his own.
The government has highlighted investments in new schools and health facilities, but the emphasis is on the buildings and not the services being provided in those buildings, Meili said of the speech. There are 5,000 more students in the province, and the education sector needs more funding, he said.
He noted that the Moe government is looking at the next budget and nothing more, so the government is not looking 20 years to the future. The NDP leader said the opposition has added a new member and he looks forward to the new sitting.
“We’re headed into this session as a strengthened opposition,” Meili said, recognizing that the NDP caucus added the member after a byelection in Regina Northeast and the opposition is “coming in with a pretty strong focus on four key areas.”
The four key areas are the economy and jobs, health care and health outcomes, education with respect to the funding deficit, and bad choices made by the current Sask. Party government. The NDP has also released a document called Renew Saskatchewan that focuses on removing the cost barrier for people who want to reduce their energy costs.
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