75-Minute Debate (9 March 2023)

From Hansard (9 March 2023)

 

Government’s Record on Jobs, Affordability, and Health Care

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by Trent Wotherspoon (NDP - Regina Rosemont):

That the Assembly condemns the government for its unacceptable record of failure on job creation, on health care, and providing relief for families struggling with the cost of living.

Mr. Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees. It’s an honour to be able to be on my feet to enter into this debate on job creation, affordability, and health care. And I think it’s really important that we paint an accurate picture of where we are today and where our province is headed in the months and years to come under the guidance of this government.

I’m not going to dance around the edges when it comes to this very important topic, because our government takes this province’s economic well-being extremely seriously. Statistics are only useful when they’re analyzed in full context and not cherry picked like the opposition loves to do. Because they know what the full picture is and the reality of what is happening around this province doesn’t support the narrative that they are trying to push.

Jobs are being created all across this province, and they’re being created by the thousands. They’re good-paying jobs. They encompass every sector of our economy, from energy and resources, retail and wholesale, manufacturing, research and development, mining, forestry — the list could go on, but I think you get the point. There’s never been a better time to be in Saskatchewan. And everywhere you turn, there’s optimism.

So why is Saskatchewan so successful when it comes to jobs being created, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees? What’s fuelling this economic and population growth that we haven’t seen in over a hundred years? There’s a combination of factors, but really when it comes down to it there’s three keys.

First, for the last 15-plus years our government has been working to provide the right economic climate for job creators to invest in Saskatchewan — competitive taxes, fair regulatory standards, and most importantly a vision for the future. That future is one that is laser focused by this government on having more people moving here for a career, careers and jobs in all of our traditional and emerging fields, both private and public sector, and opening up the unlimited opportunities for new businesses to be established and for existing ones to expand.

We’ve alluded to it before, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, and I’ll just put it on the record again that Saskatchewan has what the world needs and the orders are coming in like never before for our food, our fuel, and our fertilizer.

But it doesn’t end there. We’re exporting more agricultural commodities, energy products, minerals, forestry products, farm machinery and parts, electronics, more vehicle parts and aviation components, and more general consumer goods. In fact our exports are reaching heights never seen before in this province’s 118-year history. The statistics, when analyzed in their entirety, tell a story that is resulting in growth that works for everyone. Just recently, we announced exports to Mexico topped $1 billion for the first time ever.

I spoke about it yesterday, but it’s worth repeating today, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees. New numbers out yesterday from Stats Canada show Saskatchewan is leading the nation in export growth. They’re up a staggering 56 per cent from January 2022 to January of this year, and that’s on top of 41 per cent increase in 2022 over 2021. Our province’s annual exports have grown by more than $20 billion since 2012.

To help and encourage that growth, our government has opened international trade offices: India, Japan, Singapore, Mexico City, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and later this year Saskatchewan will be opening an office in Germany. These trade offices are producing results for Saskatchewan residents.

I should note that among the other poor policy and operational choices, the opposition wouldn’t be doing this. Members opposite regularly criticize our government’s decision to ensure Saskatchewan’s interests come first and that we’re at the table face to face with our international trade partners. It’s very important to the people of Saskatchewan because it creates jobs.

I believe it was the member from Regina University who, just last year on April 7th, filled this Assembly with doom and gloom and a level of negativity that we hadn’t seen since probably the day before. But the member stated, and I quote:

This budget is a miss for the people of Saskatchewan and most confusingly, a miss on their own goals. One of the goals, Mr. Speaker: 1.4 million people living in Saskatchewan, and now we lead in people fleeing the Sask Party’s province. One hundred thousand new jobs. Well we’re down 23,000 and there’s no plan to add any more in this budget.

Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, there’s a very good reason why, when it comes to the economic well-being of our province, that this government will not be seeking the opposition’s advice, ever.

I believe it was on December 4th of last year that our province surpassed the population of 1.2 million people. That’s now been revised upward. As of yesterday on the StatsCan live population tracker, there’s now 1,210,270 people calling Saskatchewan home. And the number of good-paying jobs across this province keeps increasing. That, my friends, is good news and there is much more to come. It is growth that works for everyone, absolutely.

Over the last few months I’ve been privileged to meet and welcome over 1,500 new Canadians who proudly call this province their home. These are people who recognized the opportunities that our province offers for careers, from education to the promise of raising their family in a place that cares about them. They’re coming from all over the world: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Peru, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Ukraine. And I think, if I recall correctly, each citizenship ceremony represents newcomers from around 20 to 25 different countries.

And being a part of these citizenship ceremonies that are held in our province is incredibly fulfilling. Like many of those who moved west in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of our newest citizens have given up everything to come to Canada and, more importantly, to come to Saskatchewan because we offer stability, we offer opportunity, and we offer prosperity.

Year over year since we formed this government in 2007, our province’s economy has been strong and resilient. And it’s only getting stronger, despite the disastrous economic headwinds created solely by the federal Liberal-NDP coalition government of Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh.

But back here at home I find it particularly interesting that day in and day out like clockwork, the NDP opposition desperately grasps for a daily headline by disparaging our economy at every turn by twisting and cherry-picking statistics and presenting them in a negative narrative that only they could possibly dream up. I guess that’s what you do when you’re Jagmeet’s branch managers and you have to follow orders from above.

But anyway, the folks across the way in here maybe missed this memo from the Conference Board of Canada, who just last week had this to say, and I quote:

Saskatchewan’s mining and agriculture sectors are expected to be strong drivers of growth again in 2023. Farm receipts are expected to post a bigger increase in Saskatchewan than any other province in Canada, as the province continues its supply-driven recovery following the drought of 2021. The Conference Board of Canada forecasts Saskatchewan’s GDP to expand 1.6 per cent in 2023, followed by a 2 per cent gain in 2024.

I’m beginning to run short on time, so I’m just going to jump ahead here in my notes a little bit and just touch on the fact that Saskatchewan had 576,800 people employed last year. That’s an increase of 18,600 or 3.3 per cent from 2021. And in 2023 we’re off to a great start. In the month of January alone, employers in our province added 16,400 new jobs. This represents an increase of 2.9 per cent compared to January of 2022.

I’ll wrap this up, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, by putting this on record: Saskatchewan is exporting more goods and products than we’ve ever exported in our history. Our business community is as healthy as it’s ever been, and they’re creating more jobs than ever before. Combined with our government that’s committed to fostering and nurturing this growth, we’ll continue to see more opportunities for everyone, no matter where they live in Saskatchewan.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, for providing me with the opportunity to enter into this debate and to set the record straight on increased job creation and economic success, which is growth that works for everyone. I appreciate the time. Thank you very much.

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