Leader of the Official Opposition Ryan Meili said in a press conference Monday, June 15 that Saskatchewan鈥檚 provincial budget had missed the mark.
Meili said the budget is a 鈥淧laceholder pre-election budget鈥� that presents no recovery plan for the people of Saskatchewan. 鈥淭his is not a plan,鈥� Meili restated.
鈥淭his budget shows that Premier Scott Moe has no idea how to bring about a recovery that works for the people. There is nothing here for seniors, nothing for childcare, no money for safely reopening and resourcing schools for a pandemic.鈥�
Meili said the province鈥檚 budget also shows no commitment to hiring Saskatchewan workers and Saskatchewan companies to build infrastructure. He believed Moe and company were planning a snap election knowing the province was already in the midst of a recession.
鈥淲hen COVID-19 came along, the last thing the Sask. Party wanted to do was face the public,鈥� said Meili. 鈥淭hey wanted to coast through the summer, post no budget at all and go to the polls this fall without any legislative scrutiny of their spending choices.鈥�
鈥淲e are seeing the worst economic downturn any of us have lived through. This situation demands a budget and it demands a government that invests in people. Instead, what we are seeing is a budget that shows Premier Moe has no idea about how to bring a recovery that works for people.鈥�
Meili went on to say the government鈥檚 stimulus infrastructure spending is simply a plan to 鈥淥nce again send Saskatchewan dollars to out of province companies and bring in out of province workers.鈥�
鈥淭his is their pre-election budget. This is the budget where they are trying to convince people they have a plan and they wanted to hide this budget,鈥� said Meili. 鈥淗ow much more will they want to hide what is yet to come?鈥�
Meili referenced the government鈥檚 2017 decision to increase the PST amid a smaller economic hardship.
鈥淭hey cut health care services for seniors, they cut education for early childhood all the way through to post secondary. K-12 education still hasn鈥檛 caught up to per-student funding from before that time,鈥� said Meili.
鈥淭his is very recent history. As a former premier used to love to say, the best predictor of future behaviour, is past behaviour,鈥� the leader of the opposition maintained.
