The Saskatchewan NDP Party says the budget tabled by Scott Moe's provincial government on Wednesday is "out-of-touch" and "misses the moment."
The Official Opposition sent a out release Wednesday afternoon shortly after the budget was presented, which highlighted a number of concerns that the party has.
"If you’re a parent struggling to make ends meet, this budget does not help you. If you’re a young person in this province hoping for investments in your future, this budget does not help you. If you’re a burnt-out healthcare worker, this budget does not help you. If you’re a student in an overcrowded classroom, this budget does not help you,” said Leader Carly Beck. “Budgets are about choices, and the Sask. Party chooses to neglect the issues keeping regular people up at night."
Moe's budget also provides no tax relief and no tax credits or benefits for families, the NDP said.
"Only 15% of folks say they’re better off financially now compared to a year ago. We have the second highest rates of financial insecurity in Canada and despite the government sitting on massive resource revenues there’s not a stitch of serious cost relief for ordinary Saskatchewan families,” said Beck. “Resources belong to Saskatchewan people and it’s simply unfair for Moe to sit on a pile of cash while people are struggling to stay afloat."
The NDP response also addressed the growing healthcare concerns in the province.
"Our healthcare system is on the verge of collapse and we still don’t see funding to support family docs, team-based care or community health advisory networks. They had a chance to bring forward an ambitious plan for our health system and they blew it,” said Beck. “Instead, they’re ploughing forward with the same old plan that the provincial auditor lambasted."
Overall, the release said the Saskatchewan Party's budget fails to deliver:
- Cost-of-living relief for cash-strapped families
- A scrapping of their job-killing PST on construction labour
- An end to pension clawbacks
- Tax cuts and lower power and energy bills
- Ambitious investments in healthcare
- A jobs plan to grow our province
- Education funding that keeps pace with inflation
- Emergency funding to prevent tuition hikes
- Harm reduction measures
The NDP also attacked Moe's record on the economy, saying he "has had one of the worst economic records in Canada with last-in-the-nation job growth, second-last-in-the-nation economic growth and the largest increase in debt in Saskatchewan's history."