Sask. doles out $160M from pandemic contingency fund

The Saskatchewan government has emptied its $200-million health and public safety contingency fund.

After spending $40 million in the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced Monday it had issued another $160 million in what it called “new contingency allocations.”

The government issued February special warrants totaling $322.8 million.

“These special warrants are needed for pandemic-related costs, as well as for health system requirements, AgriInvest Program payments, and highways construction and winter maintenance,” Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said in a media release.

“In part through these special warrants, as well as in-year appropriation approved earlier in the fiscal year, our government has drawn down the Health and Public Safety Contingency.”

The new allocations include:

• $75.6 million for Saskatchewan Health Authority COVID pressures;
• $20 million for the Saskatchewan Small Business Emergency Payment Program;
• $17 million for tourism supports;
• $14.2 million for municipal grants for growth;
• $12.3 million for public safety response;
• $9.9 million for custody services;
• $5.5 million for the chief electoral officer;
• $3.2 million for court service enhancements;
• $1.8 million for SaskPoly Dental Lab renovations; and,
• $500,000 for Conexus Arts Centre support.

The special warrants went to six ministries.

• $179.5 million for Health ($75 million for service pressures in the Saskatchewan Health Authority, $52.9 million for various costs across the health system including the response to COVID-19 and settled collective bargaining, $50.3 million for equipment purchases for the response to COVID-19, and $1.3 million for asset development costs for the new physician claims management system);
• $96.6 million for Highways ($57 million due to a good season with more contractors completing more work than a typical season, $23 million in pressures for winter maintenance, $14.2 million for municipal grants to stimulate economic growth and allow contractors to prepare for the upcoming season, and $2.4 million to provide federal funding to Transwest Air for scheduled air services to five communities in northern Saskatchewan under the federal-provincial contribution agreement with Transport Canada);
• $35.4 million for Corrections, Policing and Public Safety ($15.7 million for Custody Services primarily due to operational pressures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as salary costs related to overtime, $13.8 million for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, primarily due to COVID-19 response measures, and $5.9 million for the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program for increased disaster claim payments);
• $5.1 million for Justice and Attorney General ($3.174 million for Courts Services due to additional operational requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, $1.156 million for Boards, Commissions and Independent Offices for utilization pressures in the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, the Human Rights Commission and the Office of Residential Tenancies, and $770,000 for Innovation and Legal Services due to higher usage of the ISC Corporate Registry and to cover falloff in revenue to the Queen’s Printer Revolving Fund due to the pandemic);
• $4.4 million for Agriculture for the AgriInvest Program based on the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada winter forecast; and,
• $1.8 million for Advanced Education for Saskatchewan Polytechnic to upgrade its dental lab facility to ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocols.