REGINA - The theme of “build and protect” was the overriding message from the 2023 Speech from the Throne delivered in the Legislative Assembly by Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty Wednesday.
“Together with Saskatchewan people, we will continue to build a strong province, a strong economy, strong communities and strong families,” said Premier Scott Moe at an embargoed media availability Wednesday prior to the Speech.
“And we will protect what we have built from the risks of global uncertainty caused by wars and unrest that we’ve seen around the world, and from a federal government that seems intent on shutting down many important parts of our economy.”
The Throne Speech opens the new session and outlines the government's priorities in this sitting of the Legislature. Here are highlights of the commitments mentioned Wednesday in the Speech from the Throne:
The government is planning the following:
To promote new home construction and help families with rising costs, new homeowners will qualify for a Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Rebate for New Home Construction, effective and retroactive to April 1 of this year. This will be alongside other incentives such as the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.
In addition, the government will introduce a Secondary Suite Program to help homeowners with the cost of a building a secondary suite and increase rental availability.
Moe said they had a similar program in place to April 1 of this year. This is a somewhat different and enhanced program and Moe said what this program will do “is give even more people the opportunity to incentivize our rental suite in your home and give even more people that opportunity to have an ownership of a home here in Saskatchewan.
Aimed at low income families, the province will introduce a new Saskatchewan Employment Incentive program to bolster the incomes of low-income working families with dependent children.
To build a strong economy, the government will be introducing a new Investment Attraction Strategy and a new Saskatchewan Jobs Plan.
There are also plans to protect Saskatchewan’s economic autonomy by using The Saskatchewan First Act to refer the federal Clean Electricity Regulations, Clean Fuel Standard regulations and the oil and gas emissions cap to the Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal to be appointed in the coming days.
“We’re seeing policies come from the federal government that very much threaten those investments that are being made in Saskatchewan,” said Moe. “Policies that have been quite frankly unconsulted with industries doing the work, and I would say are being put forward in a space where these industries in Saskatchewan are already putting out some of the most sustainable goods that you will find on earth, and I feel that should be recognized as well.”
The province also plans to move ahead to implement the new Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions, which includes the creation of 500 new addictions treatment or rehabilitation spaces across the province. In conjunction the province will be implementing the new Provincial Approach to Homelessness and create 30 new Complex Needs Emergency Shelter spaces in Regina and Saskatoon, something announced in the last couple of weeks.
The province plans to continue to build a number of hospital and health facility projects in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Weyburn, La Ronge, Grenfell and other communities. They are also continuing the Health Human Resources Action Plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain health care workers across the province.
The province is pledging to continue to build new schools in Regina, Saskatoon, Lanigan, Moose Jaw and La Loche. In doing so, they will continue to add more childcare spaces.
They also plan to expand mental health services for children and youth throughout Saskatchewan, including Estevan, Weyburn, Carlyle, Oxbow, Regina, Saskatoon, North Battleford, Humboldt, Prince Albert, Kindersley, Yorkton, Swift Current and Moose Jaw.
There is also expanded support for second stage housing to protect individuals fleeing interpersonal violence.
Some other bills mentioned in the Throne Speech that the government will introduce include the following:
The Workers’ Compensation (Extending Firefighter Coverage) Amendment Act to expand presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters to include six additional types of cancer;
The Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Amendment Act to raise the legal age for smoking and vaping from 18 to 19;
The Protection from Human Trafficking (Coerced Debts) Amendment Act to relieve human trafficking victims of negative credit factors incurred through coercion;
The Saskatchewan Remembrance Day Observance Act to protect individuals’ right to wear a poppy in all Saskatchewan workplaces.
“These are just a few of the measures that will be mentioned in today’s Speech from the Throne that is designed and focused on building our province and protecting Saskatchewan’s economy, protecting our communities and protecting our families,” said Moe.
Interestingly there is not mention in the Throne Speech of the Parents Bill of Rights, the Saskatchewan Marshals’ Service or the Saskatchewan Revenue Agency. Those were major items dealt with in the session that wrapped up with the special sitting last Friday.
When it was suggested there weren’t a lot of “goodies” in the Throne Speech going into an election year, Moe emphasized the Throne Speech was the first “point of interest” which would continue with the Budget and with the election campaign in 2024.
“This is part of that conversation. Making homes more affordable in Saskatchewan is part of that conversation. Having a realistic and achievable attraction incentive, this is part of starting that conversation. Having a plan in place to achieve 200,000 additional people here by 2030… that’s part of that conversation,” said Moe. He said you can expect to continue to see announcements over the next year.
Opposition reaction:
In a news release the opposition New Democrats slammed the Throne Speech, with Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck taking aim at the government for doing nothing for seniors and for failing to address healthcare and the cost of living.
“There’s an emergency in our emergency rooms and Moe still hasn’t come forward with any game-changing solutions for healthcare,” said Beck. “Moe says he’s concerned about housing, yet his government sat on its hands as dozens of seniors were thrown out of their homes this last week. The rising cost of living and healthcare crisis are clearly not priorities for this government.”
The NDP was joined by seniors and their families at the legislature Wednesday, who raised the issue of closures of provincially regulated facilities such as Parkview Villa and Princess Villa which announced their impending closure yesterday. The NDP noted in their news release that a third home, Precious Memories Villa, gave families 72 hours’ notice last Friday.
“We’ve seen this government act with lightning speed to fix much less important issues before. Good affordable housing and the health and wellbeing of our parents and grandparents should be a top priority,” said Matt Love, Critic for Seniors and for Rural and Remote Health, in a statement. “Our parents and grandparents built this province, and the least the government can do is help them live their golden years to the fullest and ensure our hospitals work.”
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