The Sask. Party like to talk about the glory days and pretend that they had anything to do with the record resource revenue that fell in their lap, but the fact is, things aren’t so rosy these days. The Sask. Party blew through those good days, spent the surpluses and rainy-day fund and have brought in heartless cuts and unfair tax hikes.
The Conference Board of Canada has just confirmed what more and more Saskatchewan people have already been feeling – life is getting less and less affordable. The Board’s most recent report shows that “job creation and the domestic economy have been lacklustre” and that Saskatchewan is expected to see the slowest rate of GDP growth in all of Canada.
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/2018/02/28/provincial-economic-growth-still-strong-in-the-west?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=cboc
And that’s not all. Here are some other ways the Sask. Party’s bad management of the economy is hurting Saskatchewan people:
- Consumer prices, which include PST, went up 2.5 per cent – the highest among provinces
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/cpis01i-eng.htm
- Cities and municipalities are having to raise taxes because of cuts to funding from the province
http://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/the-best-budget-we-could-do-council-passes-4-34-per-cent-tax-hike
https://discovermoosejaw.com/local/council-backs-down-on-massive-increases-for-now
- More and more people are leaving to find opportunities in other provinces
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180213/dq180213a-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan
- Saskatchewan has the highest rate of youth not working
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/sask-unemployed-teens-school-1.4553573
- Saskatchewan was one of only two provinces to see housing construction drop over the last year (7.2% decrease)
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180221/t002b-eng.htm
- Saskatchewan was the only province in Canada that saw sales decrease compared to this time last year – a decrease of $2.4 million in food and beverage sales
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180221/t001d-eng.htm
On top of all that, the Sask. Party is stubbornly saying no to $62 million in federal funding and is opening the door to forcing Ottawa’s carbon tax on Saskatchewan families, producers, employers, and the entire resource and energy sector.