Moe government being dishonest about the true state of Saskatchewan finances
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon called on the government to stop being dishonest about the state of Saskatchewan’s finances highlighted in today’s year-end report and immediately deploy the windfall resource revenues to provide Saskatchewan people the cost-of-living relief needed today.
“The year-end numbers show that the government is flush with windfall resource revenues and has the fiscal capacity to provide much needed relief,” said Wotherspoon. “The only question now is whether they care enough to give the people of Saskatchewan a break.”
Last month, Premier Moe said he would look at some kind of affordability measure “possibly by first quarter and certainly by second quarter, should our natural resource prices remain strong throughout the next number of months.”
The Public Accounts released affirm that the government misled Saskatchewan people on the true state of the province's finances. The Public Accounts 2021-22 Volume 1 reportshows soaring resource revenues were nearly $500 million higher than the misleading 3rd quarter report that was quietly released at budget time.
“The Sask. Party has chosen to do nothing to help families that are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and have instead chosen to raise power rates and introduce 32 new taxes and fees all while being dishonest about their own government’s sky-high revenues. They need to listen to the people of Saskatchewan and change course today.”
The Official Opposition calls on the province to commit to addressing 40-year high inflation by:
- Scrapping the new PST measures introduced in the 2022-23 budget
- Delivering a windfall revenue cost-of-living and fuel relief rebate now
- Suspending the provincial fuel tax for summer months
- Investing $50M in emergency funding for school boards to stop the lunchroom fees and jobs cuts to teachers and essential support workers
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