Report from the Legislature – May 24, 2018

Premier Scott Moe advocated for Saskatchewan’s interests at the Western Premiers Conference in Yellowknife, including on the issue of pipelines, to ensure we can get our resources to world markets. Saskatchewan is a landlocked province looking for continued access to Canada’s coastline and we will fight for our constitutional right to get our products to port and to customers around the world.

We will ensure that opportunity is found here by standing with the people and the industries that drive growth and support our families. This means working to find solutions to transportation challenges, clearing the path to get our products to market, and it most definitely means no carbon tax.

Your Saskatchewan Party government has a vision for a vibrant and growing province where our children, and their children, have every opportunity to get an education, start their careers, raise their families and build a life. This vision is supported by the 2018-19 Provincial Budget which continues to provide strong, predictable and stable funding for Saskatchewan municipalities.

Revenue sharing has increased by 89 per cent over the past decade, providing municipalities with unconditional funding to be invested in local priorities. The amount is set based on one point of the PST collected by the government. Virtually no other area of government funding has seen the overall levels of funding increases municipalities have received through this program.

Our government’s goal is to continue providing stable and predictable revenue sharing while remaining committed to our plan control spending, continue delivering high quality services, keep our economy strong and return the provincial budget to balance next year.

As our province continues to control spending and meet fiscal challenges, our commitment to municipalities remains clear. In addition to revenue sharing, we continue to invest in a variety of municipal infrastructure projects and community services.

The 2018-19 Budget includes provincial support for municipal infrastructure, including the provincial portion of the New Building Canada Fund and the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, the Municipal Roads for the Economy Program, and the Urban Highway Connector Program.

Provincial support for municipalities is also provided through investments in housing as well as through grants for municipal policing and libraries, transit assistance for people with disabilities, the Discount Bus Pass Program, and the Community Airport Partnership Program.

Over the past decade, 36 community airports have benefited from cost-shared grants for repairs and upgrades. Twelve community airports in our province will benefit from the Community Airport Partnership program this year.

Whether it’s a mile of runway, or a mile of highway, our government is making a major commitment to move people and products safely and efficiently.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure operates and maintains 26,000 km of provincial highways and motorists can expect to see road work in every region of the province throughout the 2018 construction season.

You can check the Highway Hotline for road restriction information before planning your trip at saskatchewan.ca/highwayhotline.

A number of passing lane projects and other improvements currently underway. In addition to slowing down and being alert when entering work zones, please remember to be aware of large farm equipment on our highways, especially during the busy Spring seeding season.

Since 2008, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested more than $8 billion in transportation infrastructure, including $3 billion over the last three years, to improve more than 12,000 km of Saskatchewan highways.