Budget Debate (27 March 2023)

From Hansard (27 March 2023)

 

Budget Debate

Mr. Jenson: — Well thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And there’s a lot of things — the member from Melfort is correct — there’s a lot of things to be thankful for, but following him after a budget reply is not one of them. It was awesome. That’s all I’m going to say. And to the member from Melfort, you’re an inspiration every day that we get to come to work with you. Thank you very much for that.

So this budget, as the member from Melfort had said, this budget does so much in so many areas. There’s investments that are in all the right places, Mr. Deputy Speaker, whether it be health, education, helping those that need a hand up, or for those who are the most vulnerable in our society.

The other thing that I’m really proud of is the ability that we’re able to pay down some debt, and I’ll get into that in a minute. But like I said, there’s so much in this budget to be thankful for. It’s going to be impossible for me to cover this off in the time that I’ve got tonight. In fact this budget is so good, when I went home on the weekend, Mr. Deputy Speaker, my laptop bag wouldn’t even close because there was so much documentation. It was truly difficult to get through it all.

But before I get into that I just do want to say a few thank yous. First of all — and I know that they’re probably not watching tonight, but you never know — I want to say thank you to my wife, Angela, and my kids, Kolbie and Asher. As some of you may know, my son Asher plays hockey, and the member from Riversdale was there on Friday night when they won the city championships. And I just want to say thank you to my son and all of his teammates for making Warman proud, taking home the Saskatoon city championships in U18 [under 18] C.

There’s a special anniversary happening in my constituency later this year, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that’s my constituency assistant, Whitney Friesen. He’s going to be celebrating his 30th year as a constituency assistant in Saskatchewan. Whitney started with Bill Neudorf back in 1993 I believe, and he’s served a couple of other past MLAs — the late Ben Heppner as well as my predecessor, Nancy Heppner — and now me. And I fondly like to tell constituents when they ask, I am the fourth MLA that has worked for him.

And speaking of constituents, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to say thank you to the good people of Martensville-Warman. We have a lot of great conversations in the office, and in my previous life as a small-business person with my staff and with my customers I always had an open door policy, and I continue that today. My door is always open to anybody that wants to come in and talk, no appointment needed. I’ll drop what I’m doing if I can, and we’ll have a chat. We’ll have a coffee. We’ll talk football. We’ll talk things like budget, whether it be serious, whether it’s just a nice friendly chat. So to the people in Martensville-Warman, I thank them for their support and will continue to work hard on their behalf.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, there’s an empty seat on our back row, and that empty seat belongs to a gentleman that was elected with me and several of my colleagues in 2020. And he’s one of the good ones, Mr. Deputy Speaker. He’s one of the good ones. No, I mean he is truly one of the good ones with one of the biggest hearts you’ve ever seen. Derek is somebody who always takes the time to help others regardless of his own situation, you know. And he’s got that wry sense of humour and that enormous knowledge of professional and amateur sports. He’s an encyclopedia on two legs when it comes to sports.

You know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Derek’s wife and my wife really connected this past summer — the member from Walsh Acres — really connected this past summer and they haven’t been able to get together as much as they had hoped to.

So I just want to say to the member from Walsh Acres, whether you’re watching tonight or not, and I know I speak for all my colleagues in our caucus and our ministerial staff throughout the building when I say this, but we really miss your presence, dude. We’re all praying for you and for Laurie and your entire family. And you’ve got a large, large circle of friends, and we’re all here for you no matter what. So here’s to you, good friend. Keep up the good fight, and remember, we’re going to continue to walk beside you.

So on to the budget, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As I said earlier, there’s investments being made in all key areas that really need them. In health care we’ve got record level of funding overall. I’m extremely happy with the extra forty-two and a half million dollars set aside to reduce surgical wait times — I think that’s absolutely huge — and the investment of over $500 million for mental health and addictions programs and services as well.

And I just want to put this on the record. The two Health ministers have been accused of not listening, of not meeting with certain individuals. I’m here to tell you that these two Health ministers are probably the two hardest working Health ministers in the country. They’ve been in my constituency numerous times listening to physicians, listening to pharmacists, listening to civic leaders to figure out what the best method of solving some of these problems are. So to the two Health ministers, on behalf of the people of Martensville-Warman, we say thank you for all the hard work you do.

Another individual that deserves a shout-out here is the Minister of Education. You know, our school divisions are responsible for the K to career, right? And the budget increase that our school divisions are going to be receiving is absolutely huge. You know, to see Prairie Spirit, which Martensville-Warman sits in, receiving operating funding of $113.261 million, which is an increase of 1.1 per cent in addition to increases in their PMR [preventative maintenance and renewal], or their preventative maintenance and repairs. Greater Saskatoon Catholic school division, same thing. An increase of 2 per cent over last year to $190 million, and an increase in their PMR as well.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, I have a daughter that is in Greater Saskatoon Catholic division at Holy Trinity in Warman. My son is in grade 11 at Warman High School which is in Prairie Spirit. So we kind of see it both sides, whether it be Catholic or public.

And I know that they’re getting a good education. I know those teachers that they have work hard. We just got done a parentteacher interview with my daughter’s teacher, and it was wonderful. She’s a great teacher. And I know that all of our schools have great teachers.

So with that, something else that I’m really, really proud of that comes out of that Ministry of Education is the new daycare plan, the $10-a-day daycare. In Warman-Martensville, those two cities are two of the fastest growing cities in the province and two of some of the fastest growing cities in the country, I might add. That growth is spurred by young families and young professional families that need that daycare. So to have the expansion of spots available in Warman in particular, and Martensville soon, is greatly being received.

On to the economy, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Over the weekend I attended the Martensville Business Expo. I spoke to a number of business owners, vendors, and customers that were there. And I asked them very directly on Saturday if they had heard the budget or read anything about the budget or knew much about the budget.

And to my surprise, a lot did. And the really interesting thing, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is not one person, not a single one had concerns about the things that our opposition keep talking about. Imagine that. People are very happy to see the investments our government is making in health care, the investments that we’re making in education, in social services, in advanced education, in agriculture. They’re very happy to see these investments. And our government was praised by nearly all for doing the right thing by taking a billion dollars and writing down our debt by a billion dollars again this year.

The billion dollars last year added to the billion dollars this year is going to amount in interest savings alone that can then be rolled back into future budgets to expand the services and the programs that the people of this province expect on an ongoing, sustainable basis. You know, taxpayers know that this is the responsible thing to do and it’s going to help in the long run.

The member from Melfort mentioned the — I can’t remember how it goes — but something about the soul-sucking carbon tax. That carbon tax affects everything that we touch. It doesn’t matter whether it’s food or something that’s manufactured or something that’s built. The carbon tax applies to everything that we touch.

An example: so in the food chain, carbon tax is paid several times before it even hits the dinner table, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that’s what’s driving inflation in this country, absolutely driving inflation. That lunacy begins when the seed goes into the ground or the feed is transported for the livestock. It’s then paid on the fuel and maintenance for the vehicle used to transport product to the processing facility. Those processing facilities pay it on utilities and the cost of operating that said facility, things like office supplies, maintenance, even into the operations of like sales and marketing.

And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that processed product then has to be transported to market. So the carbon tax is then paid again on the fuel to get it there. So tell me, if the carbon tax is being paid on every stage of production all the way to the grocery store or to the retail store, it has to be driving inflation. People cannot keep absorbing a carbon tax all the way through the chain. Somebody is going to be paying in the end, and that somebody is all of us, every single one of us that buys products. It’s interesting that when that product leaves the warehouse for the retail store, the carbon tax is yet paid again to get it there.

So in fact I met the member from Last Mountain-Touchwood in the parking lot on my way back in from dinner. I had a delivery for him, Mr. Deputy Speaker, from my daughter. She’s a Girl Guide. The member from Last Mountain-Touchwood ordered two boxes of Girl Guide cookies this year . . . [inaudible interjection] . . . She does sell them. I’m glad you asked. However the price last year for two boxes of Girl Guide cookies was $10. In 2023, that price is now $12. Inflation, carbon tax — that’s where it’s coming from.

So I know the members opposite talk about a generational affordability crisis. Well, Mr. Speaker, the last time we had inflation that was running away and we had interest rates that were high was a generation ago. And his name was Pierre Elliott Trudeau, right. So it is a generational thing with the Liberals in Ottawa. We had one Trudeau that did it in the ’70s. We’ve got another one doing it now. History does repeat itself, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

So when it comes to things like immigration . . . The biggest resource any jurisdiction has, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is its people. And we’ve got . . . And I hear the member from Elphinstone, you know, talking back like they always do, but I would encourage her to maybe just sit and listen tonight because there’s going to be a lot of good information on this side.

So last night, Mr. Deputy Speaker, was India Night in Warman at the Brian King Centre, and I was really, really happy to be there, really happy to be invited. It was a celebration of Indian culture and food and time for great conversation. It was put on by the India-Canada Cultural Association or the ICCA. They’re celebrating 55 years in Saskatoon and they do a lot of great work in our province on behalf of their people. So Laxmi Patel is the president, and his executive and all the volunteers and members of ICCA, they do really give so much back to our province.

So with India Night last night, it’s really interesting — and I mentioned this to them, to the crowd — that over the last five years India has been the largest source of newcomers in Saskatchewan, making up 28 per cent of all new arrivals. And in 2023 when we talk about immigration, we requested and we received the largest allocation in the SINP history, Saskatchewan immigrant nominee program, 7,250 nominations. That’s going to result in an extra 18,000 newcomers to our province, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I’m very, very proud of that.

These new immigrants are coming. And I do the citizenship ceremonies on behalf of the province. I attend those and bring remarks on behalf of our government. And you see individuals coming from countries like Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Romania, and many others.

And there’s one thing when I’m at the citizenship ceremonies or even like tonight, this afternoon, when we were at the Regina International Airport for the newest Ukrainians to land, the one thing that newcomers see when they come to Saskatchewan are all the positive things. They see the positive things that are happening here: the opportunities, the safety and security, the promise of a future for not only themselves but also their children and grandchildren to follow them.

You know, our population is growing exponentially. We’ve seen the largest growth in our province in population in 108, 109 years, and that growth is going to continue.

So what are people really saying about our budget? Our $19 billion, as the member from Melfort said, the $19 billion thing that we’re supposed to be thankful for, what are people really saying about that?

Well the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industry Association had this to say: “Over 300 individuals attended our job explainer last fall and dozens have attended our department-specific introductory workshops.” That came from Ken Alecxe, the executive director. He added, “We have the incentives, stories, locations, people, and infrastructure to be a competitive force.” So I thank the SMPIA [Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association] for their vote of confidence in this budget and their vote of confidence in our government.

Somebody else, you know, somebody else that I spoke to this past weekend is a gentleman by the name of Steve Halabura. And Steve is the co-founder and CEO [chief executive officer] of Buffalo Potash Corp. This is what he had to say about the budget that was tabled last week, and I quote:

The tripling of the mineral exploration tax credit will substantially assist small to intermediate exploration and development companies in overcoming their greatest hurdle: raising investment capital. I already have interest from Saskatchewan residents in investing in Buffalo flow through because of this change. Therefore we are revising our plan so we can accelerate our upcoming issue so we can be drilling right after breakup.

That’s from Steve Halabura, the CEO of Buffalo Potash Corp.

So I know my time is starting to run out here, so I’m just going to finish with this, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I’m going to conclude my remarks with another quote from the SMPIA:

Although small in population size, Saskatchewan is big in opportunity and sits well-positioned to supply content to the global market. Known for its hospitality, friendliness, and hard-working labour force, Saskatchewan is affordable and a less expensive province than the Canadian average. For outsiders seeking more balance and quality of life, relocation is a real consideration.

That’s again from the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industry Association. Mr. Deputy Speaker, this speaks to exactly what our government is achieving — confidence in our economy and confidence in our people to continue making Saskatchewan a leader here in Canada and around the world.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, this budget is about more people, more jobs, and more opportunities. And that’s growth that works for everyone. That’s why I’m going to be supporting the budget as moved by the Deputy Premier and Finance minister and seconded by my good friend, the member from Kindersley. I will not be supporting the amendment as put forward by the opposition. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

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