NDP wants Saskatchewan Party to bring back balanced budget legislation

REGINA The NDP wants the Saskatchewan Party government to bring back balanced budget legislation.

Opposition critic Cathy Sproule says the government promised to do that last year and has failed to deliver.

Finance Minister Kevin Doherty says it’s hard to bring in such legislation because the government has changed how it presents its books.

But he says he’s looking at what other provinces do and is developing new fiscal accountability legislation.

The government repealed its balanced budget legislation last June that applied to the general revenue fund, which was just the government’s operating expenses and revenues.

It now budgets on what is called a summary basis, which includes all parts of government and Crown corporations, and was recommended by the auditor.

“We’re looking at a fiscal accountability framework to ensure that the provincial auditor agrees with it, that academics agree with it, that the accounting community agrees with it, Mr. Speaker, and when it’s ready to go we’ll bring it to the floor of the legislature,” Doherty said Tuesday.

The Saskatchewan government releases its budget on Wednesday and the deficit is expected to be $1.3 billion dollars.

The Growth and Financial Security Act was the first piece of legislation introduced by the Saskatchewan Party after it won the 2007 provincial election.

The legislation required required the province to balance the books every year, unless there’s an extraordinary event such as a disaster, and said the government couldn’t introduce two consecutive deficit budgets.

“He (Doherty) told us that the balanced budget laws are, quote, “paper tigers.” Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s only a paper tiger if the finance minister refuses to give it teeth,” Sproule said Tuesday.