Wall sees extended honeymoon

It’s not easy to understand the public love-in with Premier Brad Wall, now entering its second-term.

But it still exists. Or, at least, that much was evident at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention, where even the premier’s message of no interim funding for infrastructure funding for cities and towns was accepted happily by mayors and councillors.

But isn’t the need to address the “infrastructure deficit” left by years of tightwad NDP governance the foremost problem facing Saskatchewan, Mr. Wall? What happened to the boom? Haven’t we been repeatedly told that population growth is our biggest challenge, especially in the cities?

Well, evidently, the boom is still out there. In fact, Wall said infrastructure remains “one of the most important issues we face,” and municipalities are “on the front line” He went on to talk about the struggle to “keep up with growth,” about cities and towns “bumping up against the debt ceilings,” and what will clearly be the absence of federal economic stimulus in Ottawa’s next budget.

However, Wall was firm on the bad news that, when it came to expectations of a provincial infrastructure package, there would not be one forthcoming in his budget.

Speaking of the budget, it could be a very different looking document that’s to be delivered on March 21, 16 days after the opening of the spring sitting. Wall told SUMA delegates to expect a new format — if not this time, then certainly in the future — that will see the government more clearly distinguish between capital and operating spending.

While another set of books would only make provincial budgeting even harder to understand than it is now, government officials later explained Wall actually was talking about a capital spending outline for the following year, which will be made public this fall. That would allow municipalities, school boards, health districts, etc., to tender early and get a jump on the 2013-14 construction season, which actually makes infinite sense.

However, at least for this year, there won’t be any extra capital cash from the province for municipal projects. One might think that would be a major source of contention for the mayors and councillors, who were told by the premier to become “innovative” in dealing with their capital needs.

Following up on his speech to SUMA on Monday, when he told municipal leaders about “fiscal chal- lenges” and a drop off in both corporate taxes and potash revenue, Wall made it clear additional capital spending is a no-go because Saskatchewan just doesn’t have the fiscal capacity this year. Already, Saskatoon says it will have to put off its $30 million Traffic Bridge, at least for now.

So, besides the earlier questions, a real puzzler is why municipal politicians, many of whom might not share Wall’s politics and have their own vested interests even if they do, weren’t more upset by the premier’s bad news.

And make no mistake. Those mayors and councillors at SUMA were fawningly gracious to Wall and his ministers. The annual bear pit session Wednesday morning with cabinet more appropriately could be described as a teddy bear pit. Even municipal leaders with known ties to other parties were exceedingly positive about the government. Why? Some of it might be chalked up to Saskatchewan’s changing political makeup. After all, if two-thirds of the province is now voting for Wall’s party, that political dynamic would be reflected in the new makeup of SUMA, which used to be relatively evenly balanced among New Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives. Or perhaps those municipal politicians who don’t share Wall’s politics are being smart not to annoy a popular gov- ernment that controls the pursestrings.

But, more critically, the Wall government still has three goods working in its favour: good luck, goodwill and perhaps even a bit more good management than we sometimes give it credit for.

So while there may be no specific capital spending programs for municipalities in the provincial budget, Wall did announce Wednesday that the municipal revenue sharing pool for operations — now based on one percentage point of the provincial sales tax — will increase by 9.5 per cent. This not only suggests that we’re still booming a bit (good luck) but that municipalities will likely get bigger operational spending increases than government ministries. This would free up cash for municipalities to pursue some projects on their own (good management). And municipal leaders have clearly not forgotten that $100-million capital bump two years ago (goodwill).

Prince Albert Mayor Jim Sparrow also made an interesting point with reporters in a scrum: While municipal leaders are concerned about capital dollars from the province drying up, improvements in communication and planning with the Municipal Affairs Ministry is allowing them to address issues in a more effective way. (Again more good will.)

So while there may not be as much wedding money, the honeymoon with the municipalities is still on.