The spring session of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly is opening on March 19, a delay from the typical start in early-March. MLA for Weyburn-Bengough Mike Weger anticipates his return to the legislature.
“I can say that myself and many of the first time MLAs that I've been in contact with, we're really excited to get back up to Regina, get back to work in the legislature. With the fall session, after an election, it's an abbreviated time frame. So we were there for approximately two and a half weeks, whereas now we're going into this spring session where we get to go up to Regina and we're looking at close to 10 weeks of time spent up at the legislature.”
This will be Weger's first foray into dealings with the provincial budget. He says there has been preliminary budget information shared with the caucus, but it’s up to the cabinet to finalize.
“I know they've been working very hard doing that. We're anxiously awaiting to see what the budget will look like and very optimistic of the future of our province.”
This information is confidential, however Weger shares that he is optimistic that the feedback provided to the ministers will be taken and considered in the budget and benefit the members of the constituency.
“It gave the MLAs a chance to go and maybe talk to some of the ministers, which I did so myself after seeing some of the preliminary information to provide some feedback that I've received from my constituents. I'm always optimistic that the feedback I get to provide to the ministers is taken seriously. That's my job to, of course, represent the constituents in this area.”
He remarks on the early start date, which has prompted concerns due to the looming tariff threats from the United States, saying work is being done on the tariffs, citing premier Scott Moe’s recent trip to Washington.
“There's definitely work being done on the tariffs, and that's through just numerous phone calls and contacts with our American counterparts and leaders down in the United States, that MLAs and ministers have made relationships with over the years. Then there's a lot of work being done as far as the budget's concerned as well in putting that together.”