ESTEVAN - Estevan-Big Muddy MLA Lori Carr is pleased with the contents of this year's Saskatchewan budget, claiming its priorities are aligned with those expressed by Saskatchewan people in the last provincial election.
The document was tabled on March 19 in the provincial legislature. Carr said the fiscal plan has lots for affordability, health care, education, safer communities and fiscal responsibility.
Under affordability, she said the government will take action to ensure the province can be the most affordable place in Canada to live, work, raise a family and start a business, with support for people from a variety of demographics.
For health care, it delivers better access and safer, more responsive care for residents.
"We're investing so that people have better access to acute care programs and services, with the goal of improved outcomes for patients, investing dollars to increase surgeries," she said.
Wait times are coming down, she said, but more work needs to be done, and the government is investing in the Health and Human Resources Fund.
In education, she said the budget has "increased opportunities" for kindergarten to Grade 12 education. The government is funding the new collective bargaining agreement with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, and there will be support for 50 additional specialized classrooms to support students who need them. And there is targeted support for kindergarten to Grade 3 students on literacy.
The budget has a small surplus of $12 million, and doesn't have a contingency in place for the impact of potential tariffs in Canada's ongoing fight with the U.S.
"When we did our budgeting, we were conservative on the income projections that we put forward, and we're realistic with the expenses that we could afford to spend," she said.
