SASKATOON — Scott Moe announced on Wednesday, Oct. 2, that they would increase the Graduate Retention Program benefit by 20 per cent if the Saskatchewan Party is again allowed to form a government after the election on Oct. 28.
Moe was at the Saskatoon Westview campaign office, where he was joined by Jake and Luke Glubis, brothers who are both training to be industrial mechanics, two of the province’s students who would significantly benefit from the program.
“Saskatchewan's future is our young people, our youth, [and] our children. The future of Saskatchewan most certainly lies in the opportunities we have to provide them a future right here at home,” said Moe, the Saskatchewan Party Leader.
“For far too many years, what happened in this province is we watched far too many of our young people get their education in Saskatchewan, and these are our children, these are our province's future, and then they went on to go somewhere else in Canada to work.”
He added that the trend of young people moving to other provinces after they graduate, which he saw with his friends while growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, needs to end by creating more opportunities for them to stay to work in Saskatchewan.
“We need young people to believe that those opportunities exist right here at home for them, to help us build a strong economy and find a bright future in Saskatchewan,” said Moe, who added that the program was one of the first Sask. Party initiatives when they won in 2007.
The program provided $20,000 in tuition rebates to young people who chose to stay in the province to start a career and raise a family in Saskatchewan, where over 85,000 students benefitted since it was introduced.
The increase will result in graduates of four-year degrees in Saskatchewan having their benefits increase from $20,000 to $24,000. The rebate will also be applied to those who finish a one- to three-year degree while introducing it to individuals training to be Class 1 truck drivers, who will receive a $5,000 rebate to cover the cost of education if they choose to work in the province.
“[There are] 85,000 young people building a strong economy and a bright future for everyone in our province. It also means $800 million has been returned into the pockets of post-secondary graduates [who] are living in a Saskatchewan community, making life more affordable for young people as they start their careers. Saskatchewan today, and I said yesterday, is already the most affordable place in Canada to live, with the lowest inflation rate in the nation,” Moe said.
He then accused the Saskatchewan NDP that it would cancel the Graduate Retention Program if they got the chance to form a government, adding that the opposition sees it as ineffective.
“Well, tell that to over 85,000 students who today have benefited from or are benefiting from that program. Ask Luke and Jake Glubis, who are with us here today, whether the Graduate Retention Program is valuable and effective for them to decide to stay in the province where they were raised,” said Moe.
“They are studying today to be millwrights and industrial mechanics, and they both want to stay in Saskatchewan to build a bright future for themselves and, I would say, in turn, a bright future for all who live here in the province. They will both be future recipients of the Graduate Retention Program upon their convocation or graduation, and I expect this will help them decide to stay here in Saskatchewan.”
Moe said the announcement is not only for the Glubis brothers but for thousands of Saskatchewan students who want to build a career and life in the province.
“The NDP would choose to burden post-secondary grads with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional taxes. This is essentially a tax increase, and they would be offsetting their reckless spending commitments to the backs of our province's future [and] the backs of our children. Higher taxes, decline, loss and closures. Not only is that the NDP's record, [but] that is the NDP's plan that we can see here today. Let's never go back to that,” he said.
NDP responds
The Saskatchewan NDP, however, debunked Moe’s claims that the opposition would scrap the program if they got the chance to form a government. Saskatchewan Eastview candidate Matt Love said the Saskatchewan Party Leader is taking credit for a program the NDP introduced.
“The Graduate Retention Program is an NDP idea. So, the premier knows that is not true because that is an NDP idea [before] the Sask. Party forming government. So, they took our idea and have run with it,” said Love, who answered Moe’s comments outside the Sask. Party’s Saskatoon Westview campaign office.
“It is not true; Carla Beck and the NDP will keep this program in place. We will look at the details. I was not at the announcement and am unsure of the details. It is something that we need to look at and understand the program before we commit to it. We have a premier who wants all the credit and takes zero responsibility.”
Love said Moe has failed in the six years he has governed Saskatchewan, which saw Saskatchewan fall to last place in education and healthcare. This was coupled [with] people leaving the province every quarter under the Saskatchewan Party.
“I understand today the Sask. Party Leader talked about retaining people in Saskatchewan, he needs to face the fact that for the last six years, every quarter of every year, more people have left this province than moved here. One reason is his failure as premier [of] the province. His leadership brought Saskatchewan to last place in healthcare and education and piled on people during a cost-of-living crisis, making life more expensive. Those are [why] people are leaving this province,” said Love.
“We need leaders who will step up to the plate and take responsibility, and Scott Moe has failed miserably. [He] wants to talk about Grant Devine's legacy that he has continued with this province; we can have that debate. We can have that conversation if he wants to talk about things that happened 30 or 40 years ago. What he does not want to do is run on his record as premier of the province; more people have left every quarter of every year while he is the premier. That is the record that he needs to own and the trend the Saskatchewan NDP will reverse,”
Love said the opposition, under Beck, would get the province out of last place in healthcare and education and work to address the cost of living crisis to ensure young people stay in the province to work and live.
“I have one story to share; I talked to a teacher last night while I was canvassing. A teacher [whom] I have known for [many] years, she’s a constituent raising a family here. But she’s leaving Saskatchewan and told me that the state of the educational system is a big part of her decision to leave the province and move her family elsewhere,” said Love.
He added that these are terrible track records that Moe does not want to mention when the Saskatchewan Party Leader talks about retaining people in Saskatchewan. The graduate retention program does not guarantee that people will stay in the province if they don’t have healthcare and education.
“Young people are fleeing the province ... as Scott Moe and the Sask. Party conveniently forget that they need a family doctor and they need to afford their groceries. I hear from families [daily] who tell me they cannot make ends meet. They were looking for relief, but the government refused to listen. It’s time for a government that will get us out of last place in healthcare and education and make life more affordable for families. It’s time for change,” Love said in a statement released earlier to the media.
