NDP points to Sask. Party austerity as cause of slow GDP growth

Faced with a struggling economy, the Sask. Party government chose to raise taxes on the middle class and cut services instead of investing in the people of Saskatchewan, despite warnings that such moves would only deepen the downturn. New data from Statistics Canada bears out those warnings, with Saskatchewan posting the slowest GDP growth outside of Atlantic Canada in 2017 and half the growth rate of our neighbours to the west.

“Governments are rightly judged by the decisions they make when times are tough,” said NDP Leader Ryan Meili. “And by that measure, this government has failed Saskatchewan people. They cut precisely the things that would restore us to strength — they hurt people in the process, and prolonged the pain of this economic downturn.”

The latest Statistics Canada data show that Alberta’s GDP growth was twice that of Saskatchewan’s. On top of that, BMO capital markets predict that Saskatchewan will have even lower economic growth in each of the next two years. BMO also reports that 2018 will see a decrease in jobs compared to the year before, and that we will again trail every province outside of the Maritimes.

“The Sask. Party’s austerity approach of hiking the PST on restaurant meals, construction labour and used cars was wrong,” Meili said. “That approach only hurts the economy and makes life more expensive for Saskatchewan families.”

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