Thursday during Question Period, the Saskatchewan NDP urged the provincial government to suspend the policy that costs Saskatchewan people 15 cents per litre of gas.
Affordability Critic Trent Wotherspoon says suspending the provincial gas tax for six months would save households approximately $356.
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer says last year, the Sask. Party government provided every taxpayer $500 to combat cost of living pressures.
“I think $500 per taxpayer is a little bit more than their suggestion, but I give them credit. At least this time they have a suggestion,” Harpauer retorted.
In a written response from Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck, she says she is disappointed that the provincial government seems more interested in finger-pointing than rolling up its sleeves and helping people out. She adds that Christmas is approaching and families who have never struggled before are worried about covering the basics, let alone putting gifts under the tree.
Also during Question Period, the Saskatchewan NDP is saying there would be no need for the new Saskatoon Capacity Pressure Action Plan if the provincial government would have listened to the needs of healthcare workers.
Ater the Saskatoon Fire Department indicated that St. Paul’s Hospital was in violation of fire code requirements, with hospital beds crowding the hallways, the SHA released the plan to address capacity issues in Saskatoon.
NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat says the plan would have been unnecessary.
“The minister’s plan won’t fix any of these problems, and healthcare workers have no faith that this government will actually follow through on the commitments it made this weekend,” Mowat stated.
Minister of Health Everett Hindley says the SHA regularly speak to healthcare workers about their needs and adds that measures will be taken to deal with the over-capacity issues in the immediate term. This includes the SHA adding 32 transitional beds by the end of November.
The Official Opposition also shared concerns over the Saskatchewan Government’s purchase of a $765,000 pavilion in Dubai, an event space which will be used during the COP28 climate change conference in early December.
MLA Jared Clarke says the government is wasting taxpayer dollars on buying event spaces during an event it doesn’t care about. Clarke questioned why the Premier wouldn’t just stay in the Federal Government’s space.
Sask. Party Minister of Energy and Resources Jim Reiter says the reason that the large space is needed, is that representatives from 40 sustainable Saskatchewan companies are also coming along.
“Those forty-plus businesses that are accompanying the premier are the reason that Saskatchewan is leading the country in GDP,” Reiter added.
Reiter added that if they were to use the Federal pavilion, they would only be allotted 45 minutes of time, giving each of the companies just over 1 minute of time to share their story.
