Meili targets economy as priority in fall session
SASKATOON Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili says assigning himself the role of Opposition economy critic signals his plan to concentrate on the provincial economy when the fall legislative session gets underway next month.
That will include calling for a review of the province’s corporate tax structure as well as restarting a natural resource royalty review halted two years ago amid extremely weak prices, Meili told reporters Tuesday morning in Saskatoon.
“I think what you’ll see is a greater attention to making sure those that benefit the most in our economy — the largest companies, and the wealthiest — are paying their fair share,” Meili said at a news conference announcing critic roles for the upcoming session.
“What we’ve seen over the last decade, a decade of record revenue and yet what we’ve seen is a huge expansion in the inequality in this province … The majority of Saskatchewan people have not been able to experience their fair share of this boom,” he added.
After delivering its unpopular 2017-18 austerity budget, the government halved a planned one per cent cut to the corporate tax rate.
During his first legislative session as leader, Meili was criticized for concentrating on niche issues with little appeal outside the province’s major cities and, with a few exceptions such as the Global Transportation Hub scandal, lacking follow-through. It’s a criticism Meili appears to have taken to heart.
“We need to get the economy back on track in a way that increases equality in the province, rather than increasing the inequality we’ve seen under the Sask. Party,” he said, unconsciously putting his own spin on the governing party’s “On Track” tagline.
While the Saskatchewan NDP has won three urban byelections in a row, it has struggled to gain traction in rural areas.
On March 1, the Sask. Party swept three rural byelections with massive margins.
Those results suggest the NDP has work to do outside Saskatoon and Regina, but Meili said appointing new Regina Northeast MLA Yens Petersen as agriculture critic and Regina Rosemont MLA Trent Wotherspoon as municipal relations critic will help.
So will a “greater emphasis on rural issues,” Meili said, noting that the party is hearing growing dissatisfaction with the status quo outside the major cities, and plans to capitalize on that in the run-up to the 2020 general election.
Meili also sent a strong signal about his priorities for the next session — which is scheduled to begin Oct. 24 — on Tuesday by creating a new mental health and addictions critic role, and assigning it to the party’s veteran health critic, Danielle Chartier.
The provincial government has stated that it aims to increase its current $284-million mental health investment “in future years,” while the NDP has argued spending should increase to seven per cent from five per cent of the overall $5.8-billion health-care budget.
“These are stories that don’t have to be happening, but we need to actually take the steps to change it,” Meili said before Chartier chimed in to note, “We want to be leaders, not laggards in this area in Canada.”
While some NPD MLAS kept their roles — Carla Beck remains deputy leader while adding advanced education to her education critic portfolio, and Nicole Sarauer keeps justice — there were some notable changes, including Vicki Mowat taking over as health critic.
When the fall session begins, the NDP will occupy 13 seats, the Sask. Party 48.