NDP disappointed with lack of vision in provincial budget

NDP Finance Critic Cathy Sproule said that tax fatigue is coming into play as Saskatchewan’s new provincial budget takes aim at reducing the provincial deficit on the backs of taxpayers.

With the province shifting to consumption based revenues and taxes, while moving away from resource revenues, the cumulative impact of their budget initiatives are wearing on taxpayers.

“I think the people of Saskatchewan are definitely feeling a fatigue of these increased costs - through taxes, through fees, through their power bills. You can see it in the number mortgage arrears for example,” Sproule said in response to the provincial budget which was released on April 10.

She added that her initial look at the budget showed “The same mismanagement of the economy, the same shortsightedness, the same underfunding of education, and the same lack of long term thinking.”

“I don’t think there’s any hope in Saskatchewan families in this budget. What we see is a lot of the fees increasing. There’s increases to apple juice boxes, used cars, so there’s more taxes,” Sproule said. “The secondary form of taxation of course is rate hikes, so there’s no relief in sight for Saskatchewan families in this budget.”

In the area of education funding, she noted the NDP has been calling for the province to fully restore the $54 million they cut from education in last year’s budget. However they only came forward with $30 million despite increasing student numbers and higher student needs.

“I think this is a big disappointment. I think teachers in this province see the needs in education, and they’ve been calling for at least the restoration of where funds were in 2016. We can’t go backwards on this. So this is a disappointment.”

“This is definitely a negative track that the government’s on for education funding. Our classrooms are getting fuller. There’s more and more need for new schools. There’s a need for lower pupil-teacher ratios. The cuts just simply don’t make sense.”

She said that the NDP boasts a successful track record of balanced budgets during their years in power, so they would be more capable of delivering a fair budget.

“I think you’ve seen NDP governments have been able to deliver on balanced budgets in the past way more successfully and the track record is there from the 80s when budgets ballooned, back into the 1990s and early 2000s when budgets were more balanced and controlled, spending was controlled. And now we have out of control spending.”

Sproule also noted the budget did not contain any substantive climate change initiatives, with nothing in the budget to reduce emissions, but rather an 18 per cent cut in funding for fighting climate change.

“In fact, they’re taking away tax incentives for people who are trying to cut their emissions,” she said of the removal of the PST exemption for ENERGY STAR appliances.

“This budget doesn’t help families now, or down the road.”

She also noted that the budget’s bottom line looks less problematic because of a pension accrual change which has suddenly appeared on the books.

“That adjustment isn’t real dollars, but it has to be reflected,” she explained. “When interest rates go up, obviously pension liabilities go down because the pension funds are making more money.”

She noted last year’s provincial budget did not include a pension accrual adjustment, and it only showed up in this year’s third-quarter report.

“It was definitely to their advantage because $90 some million disappeared from the deficit because of just the way it was reported.”