Saskatchewan's premier made his way to the Energy City last Wednesday evening to speak to a group of about 260 people attending the Estevan Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting.
Brad Wall noted that the facility they were in, Spectra Place, was a testament to the benefits that can be derived when various levels of government co-operate to make something happen. He also praised local emergency responders who acted quickly during last spring's flooding. He noted that about $91 million in disaster relief has been dispensed in the immediate area and figured there was still about $136 million in relief funds still to be dispersed.
Later, during an interview with the media, Wall added that last summer, the government conscripted additional people from other ministries to help expedite damage assessments, but "it's still not fast enough, but then you can't ever plan enough for something of this nature. I acknowledge we're still not answering the people as quickly as we wish we could."
During his main address, Wall drew a few highlights from the province's budget that was delivered last week. He said infrastructure items around the province need more attention. He added he was pleased to see more child care spaces coming on stream as a result of this budget and previous government moves.
On the health care and industrial fronts, Wall said positive movement is now being felt and noted that the newly opened Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute (SETI) in Estevan was another example of co-operative efforts coming together to make something happen.
"Weyburn, Swift Current and Lloydminster really wanted it, but the case was made for Estevan by your MLA Doreen Eagles and others. And since the big energy play was here, including the clean coal project which is important to the rest of the world, the decision was made to build it here," Wall said.
The premier added that the clean coal project at Boundary Dam is "the largest demonstration project in the world and it's obvious the world will continue to use coal so everyone is interested in what is happening here. There are environmental issues and enhanced oil recovery issues and we're prepared to invest in this project and in the Shand (clean coal experiment project) to make it happen."
Wall said he was happy to announce that of all the provincial budgets being presented this year, Saskatchewan's was the only one that was balanced, but to do so, some challenges had to be issued and met to enable them to continue to increase spending on health for surgical initiatives, the construction of a children's hospital in Saskatoon and a new emergency response program (STARS- shock trauma air rescue service).
"We're spending $42.7 million on long term care beds and we are just now starting to catch up and we want to keep providing income assistance for seniors who require it. Then with 500 new child care spaces and six new schools on the education side, it took some negotiating."
Wall said he was happy to report that crop insurance and agricultural support programs are fully funded and housing plans are getting freed up along with initiatives to entice doctors to practise in rural Saskatchewan.
"There is a Saskatchewan advantage and you can't pay down debt if you run deficits so that's why we'll stick to balanced budgets for the long term. There is only one province that has a balanced budget this year and it's your province," he said to a round of applause.
"I like Estevan and I like what you are building here and I don't want to see you go back," he said.
Later during the media interview, Wall noted the difficulty in scrapping the Saskatchewan Enterprise Regions program only four years after it was introduced. He said there would be no provincial participation in a re-opening of economic development regions or something similar. He said additional funds had been issued to municipalities and communities on a revenue sharing basis, and that money could be used by the various communities to advance their own development plans.
"If communities decide to get together and go regional, that would be good, but we're not going to participate again."
As far as the film tax credit program was concerned, Wall said that too was scrapped for logistical and economic reasons.
"The program had very little to do with taxes paid. It was more of a grant and the majority of the projects saw the participants set up a shell company for the life of the production to set up the tax program. These are good, creative people but what it does is just establish a bidding war among provinces and each province had their own scheme and each province was having to set up a richer scheme to attract film activity. So we needed to be competitive. We were told we needed to provide up to $3.5 million more if we were going to compete so we decided we weren't in the bidding war anymore."
As a replacement, Wall said they are now considering a new formula of refundable tax credits that would be of bigger benefit to Saskatchewan-based businesses that want to participate in the film and video productions on any level.
"That way Saskatchewan companies can benefit more. It would be easier on the treasury because it wouldn't be a net cost and the taxes that the Saskatchewan company would pay would just be reduced."
Wall said they are also willing to discuss the fate of the large Saskatchewan Sound Stage they currently own and have subsidized to the tune of about $1.5 million a year for the past couple of years. He said they would probably be willing to turn the sound stage over to the film and video industry and continue to support it for two years at the current level.
"We're trying to be innovative, but we're getting out of the bidding wars because it's not our money it's the taxpayers' money."
Wall said the provincial government is facing tremendous pressure regarding municipal infrastructure needs and highways, but they are moving forward with co-operation from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM).
"Around here alone, I'm sure you can still point to some highways that aren't very good. More needs to be done. In this area you'll see more work such as more passing lanes. There is important work being done here and there is still some flood-related work to complete. This area will get some attention because this is such a powerful economic engine in the province."
Wall said the ongoing SaskPower projects are vital to Saskatchewan and the world and as a result they once again won't be calling on any of that corporation's profits to balance the books in the near future.
"Carbon dioxide capture is a game changer. The interest is strong in the CO2 market. There is lots of interest," he said in conclusion.
