YORKTON - So the Saskatchewan Party released its 2025 budget last week and the fanfare was frankly nowhere to be found outside the party caucus.
This was one of those budgets which includes no bells, nor whistles, and perhaps that was not surprising.
The Saskatchewan Party was returned to power in the most recent provincial election with easy majorities in most rural ridings – those which ultimately let them hold power.
Premier Scott Moe and company could easily read the strong rural voter support as everything outside Regina and Saskatoon is just ‘peachy keen’ in the minds of their core supporters so there was no need to invest in a different way via the budget.
Rural highways may have potholes but that’s OK, and so too are rural schools, and of course locally Yorkton is fine continuing its more than decade long wait for a new regional hospital because by the vote here the existing facility is just fine.
Of course there was little pressure on the Sask Party to offer anything new or innovative – although after being in power since 2007 one also hopes any good ideas the party has will have been implemented by now.
So we should probably expect a very status quo approach to things this term from Moe and company.
But wait, things are decidedly different this year. There is a tariff war going on, and American president Donald Trump has Canada squarely in his sights threatening the very sovereignty of this nation. It is a dangerous and highly volatile time for this country and for Canadian business especially as they are the initial target.
Now to expect anyone to exactly fathom what will happen is expecting too much. It’s pretty obvious if one listens to Trump’s daily tirade he has little vision of what will happen next. He largely overacts daily to any perceived slight of opposition, and then moves on to the next rant.
However, one cannot simply ignore Trump and his tariffs either – well more accurately they shouldn’t ignore them.
A look at the recent provincial budget certainly has Saskatchewan acting very much like the proverbial ostrich, its head buried in the Prairie loam in this case, hoping Trump will just go away. The budget doesn’t lay out even the most rudimentary framework to deal with the pressures of a trade war on Saskatchewan business and people.
Does that mean Moe and his party are leaving Saskatchewan business to simply fend for themselves in the face of tariffs?
If not, where then are the funds within the budget to help in the battle?
Such provincial support should be expected but it will impact the budget and yet seems to be little more than a non-existent element in the budget.
In the face of a loose cannon president with his mind seemingly set on Canada – and one can fear how far he may go – the Saskatchewan Party missed an opportunity to bolster our resolve to oppose the American president’s whims by at least laying a foundation to help via the budget.
