While recognizing challenges across Canada, Premier Scott Moe defended his government’s economic performance on Monday after Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck slammed him for “failing to deliver.”
Economy
Beck slams Moe for ‘failing to deliver’ on economy as sitting starts
Premier Scott Moe has said Saskatchewan’s economy is “growing at its fastest pace in over a century.”
Beck is poised to hammer the provincial government on its economic performance this spring, arguing Moe hasn’t created jobs and grown the economy at a rate that is acceptable.
Leading up to the sitting, she has pointed out the province is near or at the bottom in growth in employment, GDP and population when compared to other provinces, despite Saskatchewan seeing gains when compared to pre-pandemic figures.
For instance, Saskatchewan saw 0.8 per cent growth in employment from 2019 to 2022, according to Statistics Canada, but that put it in last place among the provinces.
“Why should the people of Saskatchewan be satisfied with that premier’s worst in-the-country record?” Beck told the assembly. “According to that premier, everything is just fine, but you have to wonder, how can a government be so out of touch with the people of this province that everything is just fine?”
Moe, however, has defended the province’s economic and population record. He also acknowledged people are struggling with affordability challenges.
He has pointed to Saskatchewan’s low unemployment rate, which sits at 4.3 per cent, as an example the economy is doing well. The unemployment rate, however, is generally low across Canada, sitting at 5 per cent on average, because people aged 55 and older are leaving the workforce.
International merchandise exports were $37.2 billion in 2021-22, surpassing 2019’s $29.7 billion figure. Capital investment was $12.3 billion in 2021 and is estimated to be $14.5 billion in 2022, but that’s still below 2019 levels of $14.8 billion.
“With respect to wholesale trade, we are leading the nation,” Moe said. “Building permits are up and we’re going to focus on growth that works for everyone.”
On Monday, Saskatchewan Party MLA for Lumsden-Morse Lyle Stewart resigned his seat from the legislature. He had previously served as agriculture minister, and later Moe’s provincial secretary for autonomy, but came under fire for inviting convicted murderer Colin Thatcher to last fall’s throne speech.
To fire up Saskatchewan’s economy further, Beck has argued the province needs to remove the PST that’s applied to construction projects.
The measure has made the province uncompetitive with Alberta, she said, and has hit municipalities looking to build public infrastructure.
Her party has also asked the government to not move ahead with utility rate hikes and to scrap the tax on gasoline, arguing such measures are hurting families in the face of high inflation.
Moe and his cabinet, however, have said Saskatchewan has among the lowest utility rates and that measures, like removing the gas tax, would take a bite out of provincial revenues.
During question period, Government Relations Minister Don McMorris defended the measure, arguing that municipalities receive funding through various grant programs.
Following years of deficits, Moe has said the government is looking to carefully manage Saskatchewan’s finances and pay down the debt.
In the last fiscal update, the government had earmarked putting down $1 billion on the debt after reporting a $1.1 billion surplus. Saskatchewan’s public debt has grown significantly since 2010.
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer will introduce another budget this spring, and it is expected high commodity prices will put Saskatchewan in a surplus position.
On top of increased demand, the war in Ukraine has led to higher commodity prices as European countries look to source energy from outside Russia, providing government coffers with a boost.
Organizations representing health-care workers and teachers are asking for increased funding over a sustained period to help alleviate pressures in both systems.
Beck has also asked for more money to deal with those pressures, arguing Saskatchewan has the money to make it happen.
Moe has remained tight-lipped on the government’s budget plans, though he has said it’s likely that health-care spending will increase.
The province has a health-care agreement in principle with Ottawa that would provide Saskatchewan with $5.94 billion over the next 10 years, which includes $1.11 billion through a new bilateral agreement and $61 million in emergency one-time funding.
Union leaders and Beck have said the province needs to be held accountable for how it spends the dollars, arguing they need to address staffing and retention challenges.
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VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has introduced a bill that would kick-start the province’s offshore wind industry without federal approval.
Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says amendments within a new omnibus bill introduced today will help ensure Nova Scotia meets its goal of launching a first call for offshore wind bids next year.
The province wants to offer project licences by 2030 to develop a total of five gigawatts of power from offshore wind.
Rushton says normally the province would wait for the federal government to adopt legislation establishing a wind industry off Canada’s East Coast, but that process has been “progressing slowly.”
Federal legislation that would enable the development of offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador has passed through the first and second reading in the Senate, and is currently under consideration in committee.
Rushton says the Nova Scotia bill mirrors the federal legislation and would prevent the province’s offshore wind industry from being held up in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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