The highly anticipated unveiling of the Saskatchewan government鈥檚 budget on March 22 left no budget item stone unturned. Premier Brad Wall wasn鈥檛 kidding when he said that his government looked at everything. Political pundits will have fodder for radio programming and news columns for months. In fact, this column makes hardly a dent in discussing all the sectors affected. This is the first time that the premier has had to make such an unpopular move, but he tried to be fair and make everyone unhappy.
In the morning after, the big question on everyone鈥檚 mind has been 鈥渉ow will this budget affect me?鈥� Rural residents have been hit hard, probably the hardest. Without smart management, small communities could face stagnation and even collapse. For example, municipalities get less provincial money, meaning fewer dollars for basic services like plowing snow. Councils will be trimming budgets and the first things to go will be axing all the 鈥渇rills鈥� like supporting community clubs and local events. Small towns will be relying a lot more on volunteers and donations to make up funding shortfalls. But that cupboard has become depleted. With more taxes and undoubtedly high prices around the corner, corporate donors and individuals have fewer dollars to put back into the community.
Having fun has even become unaffordable 鈥� a night out for supper or drinks will become more expensive. And it鈥檒l even cost you more if you just stay home and enjoy a cigarette on your back porch in the evening or munch on some chips while watching your favourite TV show. Smokers get a double-whammy tax from both the federal and provincial governments, and the PST extends to snack foods. Rural resident can鈥檛 curl up with a good book either. The public library system has been slammed.
All this will force rural folks to look for fun elsewhere like in Regina or Moose Jaw, but they can鈥檛 take a bus because the province has cut that too. And while the federal government professes itself a champion of the environment, it has cancelled the public transit tax credit. Both governments now send the message that its okay to guzzle fuel and pollute the environment with increased vehicle emissions. They鈥檒l just tax you for that. Moreover, seniors, students and the sick have enjoyed a higher quality of life in small communities and made use of public transport. Now they are left scrambling for alternatives and might start to question why they continue to live in rural communities.
On the spending side, rural residents will be paying more with the PST hike on more items as well as see costs increase to transport goods. With the STC courier service kaput, rural residents can expect higher costs by more expensive courier services added to their end products.
What makes 鈥渟mall town鈥� Saskatchewan such a great place to live are the countless groups, organizations, and activities available along with the thriving small businesses. But the two budgets tag-team to threaten this viability.
Saskatchewan residents have enjoyed the best economy on the planet for the past decade. It avoided the economic crises, war, revolution, terrorism and natural disasters felt by the rest of the world and other parts of Canada. With an economy dependant on raw resources, the prudent Saskatchewan government could do little but cut where they could and raise taxes if it hoped to avoid the unbridled spending and huge deficit of the federal budget revealed the same day.
The budget is only a band-aid solution at best, but it does make a case for future provincial leaders to focus not only on producing resources, but also on developing a manufacturing and processing base for these raw materials in order to 鈥淢ake Saskatchewan Great Again!鈥�
