The Sask. Party has sunk millions of taxpayers’ dollars into the West Regina Bypass to meet projections that over 6,400 trucks would be passing through the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) daily. However, due to the Sask. Party’s mismanagement of the inland port, truck traffic has reached barely 10 per cent of that projection, government documents show.
“We all know about the Sask. Party’s land scandals at the GTH, and here’s yet another example of how badly they have miscalculated, costing Saskatchewan taxpayers millions in the process,” said NDP GTH Critic Cathy Sproule. “The GTH is a money pit and the West Regina Bypass is making that hole bigger.”
In 2014, West Bypass design documents from SaskBuilds stated that “the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) will, in the future, achieve full "build out" with forecast external trips of 6,426 daily.” However, the 2017-18 GTH Annual Report indicates that only 4,600 trucks flow through per week.
The Sask. Party added millions of dollars to the cost of the Bypass based on those SaskBuilds projections, but they have refused to say how much. We do know that the cost of the Bypass ballooned from $400 million to $2 billion.
“The Sask. Party’s failure is especially concerning considering there have been no land sales at the GTH for two years, it’s buried in debt, and the government has signaled their intention to walk away from the port entirely,” Sproule said. “If the Sask. Party is leaving Saskatchewan taxpayers on the hook to pay the $2 billion price tag, they should at least provide some accountability and transparency.”
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.