The Sask Party has delivered a high-spending budget, but Battlefords MLA Len Taylor says there is one key item missing from the budget.
"There is no funding, no mention of Sask. Hospital in the budget," said Taylor.
Taylor explained Saskatchewan Hospital, which provides mental health care services for the entire province, is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. He said he's disappointed the government is not delivering on four years of promising to address the situation.
"This budget is one of the highest spending budgets in the history of the province, and if there ever was a time to find funding for this project, it's now," said Taylor.
Prior to the release of the budget, Sask. Hospital was the subject of much debate in the legislative assembly.
March 8, NDP health critic Judy Junor questioned Health Minister Don McMorris about their commitment to Saskatchewan Hospital, saying, "In 2007, the Sask. Party promised they would build a new mental health hospital in North Battleford and they have broken that promise."
McMorris said in the last three and a half years, he had toured the facility three times and was aware of the condition of the facility.
"We know the facility is 100 years old this year. We know that it is in dire need of replacement," said McMorris, adding it was a priority on his government's list.
Junor then asked when they could expect construction, to which McMorris replied there was a steering committee in place to complete a redevelopment proposal.
He then pointed to a new facility recently completed in Saskatoon, saying, "For once, instead of a facility being built in the back bushes for mental health, this one is a state-of-the-art facility with a beautiful view."
Taylor later asked for an apology from McMorris for his reference to North Battleford being in the back bushes.
He said Sask. Hospital is anything but "hidden away," pointing to the public golf course and grounds, the museum in the facility and the public Remembrance Day services held there.
"I'm disappointed on one hand that he thinks so lowly of the Battlefords, but on the other hand, I'm hopeful he will deliver on his promises," said Taylor at the time.
His hopes, however, were dashed upon the release of the budget, as it seemed the Sask. Party didn't deliver on their promises.
McMorris said, "Just because it's not in this year's budget doesn't mean it's not a top priority."
He further added that his "back bush" statement "was not any reference to communities or facilities, it was saying mental health should not be hidden away or stigmatized."
McMorris said the government has a number of items on its to-do list, and pointed to the Sask. Party's investment of $200 million into a children's hospital in Saskatoon and $80 million in capital projects of 13 long-term care facilities, including ones in Biggar, Kerrobert, Meadow Lake and Rosetown.
"This budget really does put the patient first - not only do we continue to provide the services we provide, but we continue to build on the programs we have in place," said McMorris.
He pointed to a study released by the Canadian Institute of Health Information, which stated Saskatchewan had made the greatest improvement to their wait times in five types of surgeries.
"We are making the most progress of any province in Canada," said McMorris, adding they plan to reduce wait times for surgeries to a maximum of three months by 2014.
He also said the government had invested $450,000 to look into the scoping of Sask. Hospital.
Taylor said this wasn't what was needed, pointing to planning studies already completed by Prairie North Health Region in 2006. He said there were also public meetings held in North Battleford concerning the modelling of the new hospital. The NDP government had earmarked $40 million for the facility and was only waiting on the project to go to tender.
Taylor said the Sask. Party, at minimum, could have put $1 million towards getting the project to tender.
"Four years, $40 billion of spending, and they haven't even tendered the project yet," said Taylor.
"People should be angry about this, but they should also keep in mind that this issue isn't over," he said, explaining he believed the Sask. Party had undervalued revenues and by the end of the first quarter, the government could use surplus revenue to fulfill their Sask. Hospital promises.
Taylor also spoke of three areas the budget fell short of the community's needs; highways and transportation, post-secondary education and housing initiatives.
"We would like to ensure that we have sustainable growth in the community," said Taylor, explaining in order to attract industrial and manufacturing industries, "we need to have adequate housing, training opportunities and improved highways and transportation."
He spoke of a need for increased funding to North West Regional College, work on highways that represent major economic links to the Battlefords, such as Highway 378, and incentives for the construction of affordable housing.
"We have a budget that's not making living in our community any more affordable. It is misunderstanding the pressures of growth in a community like the Battlefords and fails to address our needs," said Taylor.
He said the $5,000 per unit incentive program, to a maximum of $1.7 million, offered by the government isn't what developers have expressed a need for.
"It's woefully inadequate to meet the needs of a single developer, let alone an entire community in need of housing solutions," said Taylor.
Cut Knife - Turtleford MLA Mike Chisholm said, "Housing is obviously a priority and we've addressed that in a number of ways," pointing to his government's investment of $33.9 million in social housing capital projects.
Chisholm also said the government is continuing it's commitment to capital projects, saying, "By the end of this September/October, there will be fully over $4 billion of capital infrastructure projects that will have been completed in the province over four years."
Chisholm further said the provincial government has set aside the funds to match the federal contribution to the Agristability and Agrinvest programs. Agristability takes the average of a producer's income and in bad years, the funds will bring the producer back up to what their average income would be. Agrinvest is similar to a savings account, wherein the two governments match every dollar the producer puts in.
"Under the former government, producers never knew if the provincial portion of the funds were going to be there and in some cases, they weren't," said Chishom. "Now on those matching programs, the provincial money is guaranteed so the farmers can go to the bank, they can count on it, the bank can count on it."
Chisholm summarized the budget by saying his government had devoted 6.2 per cent more to health care than last year and have created more housing units than ever before, all while posting a balanced budget.
"The direction is right for the province, the stability is right for the province, and I'm pretty proud of any part I may have had in this endeavour," said Chisholm.
Despite his concerns, Taylor was also quick to say there were a number of positive items in the budget, including the money for 30 additional police officers throughout the province and the pledge of additional support for day programming.
He said the Battlefords have requested four more RCMP officers, and he is hopeful they will be allocated.
Taylor also pointed to the Battlefords Trade and Education Centre's proposal for a new day programming facility, and hopes that proposal will be approved.
"We don't know if the additional support means capital support of simply operational support, but there is a possibility that the BTEC will receive some funding and that will be a good thing," he said.
Taylor's final remark on the budget however, was, "Despite that fact that these are two good things, it doesn't mean we can ignore the failures of this budget to meet the needs of a growing community."
For a detailed account of the provincial budget, visit www.gov.sk.ca.
