The Wall government recently set out their agenda for the coming year in the Throne Speech. Here's a look at the highs and lows of the government's plan, beginning with the good news.
If your education property tax bill is handy, give it a big kiss. No, you can’t kiss the whole bill goodbye, but next year you’ll be able to say “sayonara” to an even larger portion of it.
You see, in the 2007 election campaign, Premier Wall promised to double education property tax rebates to ratepayers. Unfortunately, while they were able to deliver the first phase of the tax relief, the second and final portion was delayed due to the economic slowdown.
Fortunately, now that the economy has recovered, the government has announced it will live up to its commitment and complete the tax cut in the upcoming budget.
Another positive highlight was the announcement to hire a commissioner to protect whistleblowers. The provincial government has thousands of employees and spends over $10 billion each year. It makes sense to have someone there to protect individuals who choose to speak out on inappropriate activities.
A thumbs-up goes to the new commitment to require individuals to show ID when voting during provincial elections. Voting is the most important aspect of any healthy democracy, so it is crucial that individuals aren't able to defraud the process.
Next, for committing to continue with its health reform plan – an approach that is both reducing wait times and costs for taxpayers – the government deserves praise. As unions and other special interest groups are firing up their fear mongering machines on the reform, it’s great to see the government is putting the needs of patients and taxpayers first.
Finally, a bouquet goes out to the government for announcing it will launch an initiative to cut red tape. Reducing unnecessary barriers for businesses will help make Saskatchewan an even more attractive place to invest.
In terms of room for improvement, it was disappointing for the government to completely ignore the “small matter” of its deficit. It’s true the Wall government has led the country this year when it comes to belt tightening, but it still has plenty of work to do when it comes to reducing spending.
According to the provincial government’s March budget, the General Revenue Fund (GRF) will remain in deficit until 2012-13, yet not a word was said in the Throne Speech about it.
Despite the deficit, a couple new quirky spending initiatives were announced.
The first one is a commitment to provide home safety audits for low income seniors. Sounds well-intentioned, but haven’t seniors managed for centuries without them?
The second is to create new provincial parks. If there’s a demand for new parks then put it on the list. But initiatives such as this should move ahead once the deficit has been tackled.
Finally, a new fund for athletes was announced. Nothing against athletes, but why couldn’t they seek voluntary donations from the public instead? Doing so would show the public’s true interest in providing assistance towards their activities.
Overall the Throne Speech sets out a fairly taxpayer-friendly course. Let’s hope the government makes good on the high points and improve on the low ones.
Colin Craig,
Prairie Director
