Moe hints budget will show Saskatchewan is ‘back on track’

Oil and potash demand has increased in recent months and that could help the Saskatchewan government as it presents the 2022-23 budget Wednesday afternoon.

At mid-year, the deficit was forecast to be $2.71 billion, largely impacted by last summer’s drought.

But a very different picture is being painted as the fiscal year comes to a close, with Nutrien announcing last week it will boost potash production by nearly one million tonnes as a result of the war in Ukraine and disruptions in the supply chain.

That economic boost has been slowly increasing with mid-year figures showing resource revenues were up $669 million and taxation revenue higher by $617 million.

That may provide the government with some wiggle room to address growing concerns like the surgical backlog, with some orthopedic waitlists now running years-long, largely impacted by the impact the pandemic had on health care.

In recent years, more than half of the budget has been spent on health, education and social services.

The Saskatchewan Party government is clearly theming the budget around getting the economy back on track from COVID.

In a Twitter video released Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said from his office at the Saskatchewan legislature: “Now our economy is moving full steam ahead, businesses, communities and families are looking to the future and they are recognizing the endless opportunities that lay ahead for our province.”

The video features people claiming the budget will invest in creating jobs and opportunities, one that represents everyone, especially with $10 billion recently invested in the province.

It ends with Moe saying: “Saskatchewan is back on track.”

Tomorrow, we will release the 2022-23 Budget which will invest in creating jobs, opportunities and improving the quality of life for everyone in our province.

After a couple of very challenging years, Saskatchewan is back on track! pic.twitter.com/EJclNeU7iM

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) March 22, 2022

When speaking with reporters at the annual Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention last week, Moe alluded to the fact any investment announced in the budget would be strategic and based on what he feels is important to the people of Saskatchewan.

“Health care, surgical wait time initiatives, rural health care services — we need to invest in health-care people, trained to be available to offer the services in both rural Saskatchewan as well as our urban centres, most notably our ICUs,” Moe said.

“That’s an area where we’re prioritizing as a government, but we are also prioritizing our ability, after two very challenging years financially, where there have been unsustainable deficits that have been ran. Saskatchewan has fared better than many other provinces when it comes to our finances, we are among the best when it comes to our debt-to-GDP ratio, but we still have a deficit and we need to remove that and we need to get this province back to balance. So we are balancing these priorities.”

Moe also hinted the budget would reveal a provincial protection service that will bring together all provincial law enforcement arms like conservation officers, highway traffic control, sheriffs and the like under one provincial command.

The premier added he will remain realistic with the revenue projections, even with the price of a barrel of oil rising recently.

“We do have to be conservative with respect to how long we think oil prices are going to be sustained at that level because our budget is 365 days of oil prices as opposed to what they are on one day or one week,” he said. “And so we do have to be conservative with those projections and I think you will see that we are being conservative.

“That being said, if there are additional dollars that do arrive as the year goes on, we have our quarterly reports (and) we will update what the government’s intentions are. But as I said, the priority is on investments in health care, but there is also a priority to get this province’s books back in order, getting them balanced and ultimately, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to start talking about paying off operating debt as well.”

The 2022-23 budget will be released roughly around 2:15 p.m., when Finance Minister Donna Harpauer rises in the legislature.