Sask. premier Moe forecasts late budget
Newly minted Premier Scott Moe addressed the delegates of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention for the first time on Monday.
While spending much of his 30 minutes worth of remarks on the greatness of his predecessor Brad Wall, and Saskatchewan’s overall beauty, Moe also told the crowd in Regina that his inaugural budget would be delivered later than scheduled.
Instead of giving the people of the province a budget in March, as was originally planned, Moe will have his finance minister deliver the budget on April 10.
He chalked up the need for more transition time as one reason for the delay: He was sworn in as premier less than a week ago.
At Moe’s swearing in, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer told reporters there was flexibility built into the budget to allow a new premier to implement certain promises. However, she also signalled that staying on schedule may not be possible, and expressed hope the budget would be out by the end of March.
In order to get the province’s books balanced within two years, it’s expected the coming budget will be another one of austerity.
But the speech wasn’t all bad news: Moe said he would be fulfilling a promise he made to the education sector “very soon.”
It’s believed that announcement — likely the hiring of 400 educational assistants and other supports for classrooms, or $30 million in funding added to the sector — will be made Tuesday.
Moe told reporters Monday he wants to start bringing supports into classrooms, especially in primary grades, to assist teachers.
NDP interim leader Nicole Sarauer called Moe’s speech “concerning.”
“To hear this budget could be just as difficult (as last year’s), if not more difficult, was worrisome for many folks,” she said.
Speaking to reporters later, Moe touched on the Global Transportation Hub (GTH). Whether or not the facility should be owned and operated by the province was debated throughout the Saskatchewan Party leadership race.
Moe said he “wouldn’t preclude anything with respect to the ownership or the management of the Global Transportation Hub as we move forward.”