A month after the Saskatchewan Party was re-elected, the government is outlining its priorities in the 2024 throne speech.
“We should never take for granted the tremendous privilege that we have in our province and our country to freely choose our representatives and our government,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in the speech.
Moe says his government plans to start working on affordability issues, including a promise to reduce personal income tax rates.
The provincial government also plans to address problems in health care, education and community safety.
Affordability
The largest section of the throne speech, Moe said he will introduce the largest personal income tax reduction in Saskatchewan since 2008 by raising the personal exemption, spousal exemption, child exemption and seniors supplement by $500 a year in each of the next four years, in addition to fully indexing income tax brackets.
Moe said a family of four can expect to save more than $3,400 over the next four years and a senior couple will save more than $3,100.
“When fully implemented, an additional 54,000 people will no longer pay any Saskatchewan income tax,” Moe explained. “The Saskatchewan Low-Income Tax Credit will be increased by 20 per cent over the next four years.
When it comes to homeowners, the Home Renovation Tax Credit will allow homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in home renovation expenses every year, to a maximum benefit of $420 annually.
Seniors will be able to claim an additional $1,000 every year, for a maximum benefit of $525 annually.
Moe promises the Saskatchewan First-Time Homebuyers Credit will be increased by 50 per cent, from $10,000 to $15,000.
The government is also promising to increase the disability tax credit by 25 per cent.
The government will also introduce legislation to extend the carbon price exemption on natural gas through 2025.
Health care
Moe said his government will continue to accelerate the hiring of health-care professionals and expand urgent care centres.
An urgent care centre opened in Regina this July and has served the needs of more than 14,000 patients. Moe said his government will open additional urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Moose Jaw and Regina.
Moe is also promising 450,000 surgeries will be performed over the next four years.
“Increasing capacity will reduce surgical wait times to no more than three months,” the speech says. “To meet the need for more health-care infrastructure, five new hospitals are under development in Prince Albert, Weyburn, Esterhazy, Rosthern and Yorkton.
“Over four years, my government will invest more than $2.6 billion into health-care infrastructure.”
The speech also said the province will further implement a nurse task force, provide women with the option to do cervix self-screening at home for the human papillomavirus and more.
Education
When it comes to education, Moe said he will work to expand the specialized support classroom model.
“My government will work with school divisions to expand the specialized support classroom pilot to 200 more schools throughout the province,” Moe said.
He also said he would increase funding for school divisions, but not by how much or when.
Safer communities
When it comes to community safety, Moe said his government will add 500 more police officers and 500 more addiction recovery spaces.
“More police officers, more access to recovery spaces, more mental health supports and stronger laws – that’s my government’s plan for safer communities and neighbourhoods,” the speech reads.
The Saskatchewan Party heads into the 61-seat legislature with 34 members, facing a larger 27-member Opposition under NDP Leader Carla Beck.
Beck, whose party gained ground in Saskatoon and Regina after the election, says she will press Moe to suspend the provincial gas tax and fix health care.
She says her party plans to introduce an emergency motion that would give Moe a Wednesday deadline to pause the gas tax.
— More info to come.