REGINA - A “new beginning” is the theme for the 2024 Speech from the Throne to open the first session of the 30th Legislature.
Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty delivered the speech on Monday afternoon in the Legislative Assembly outlining the priorities of Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government.
In an embargoed news conference prior to the address, Premier Moe spoke of what he hoped to achieve in the Throne Speech, with the title of it being “A New Beginning.”
"Today marks a new beginning for our Legislative Assembly and I would say for our Saskatchewan government. It is the first day of the 30th legislature in this province and it is a very different looking Legislature relative to the last session.”
Moe pointed to 31 new MLAs, a new Speaker (Todd Goudy, elected that morning) as well as new ministers in each portfolio.
He said the Speech from the Throne “is our government’s response to what we heard on the most recent election campaign."
“As I said on election night, voters delivered two messages this election. A majority of Saskatchewan voters voted for our plan for a strong economy and bright future, but many others voted for change. And it is now our job to deliver both."
As expected, the Throne Speech outlines the government’s plans to fulfil the commitments made during the provincial election campaign including on affordability. But it will also address the expectations from the electorate to improve on addressing issues in health care and education.
Among the highlights in health care, the Speech from the Throne is pledging a number of targets including the following:
- Ensure that 450,000 surgeries will be performed over the next four years;
- Open additional urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Moose Jaw and Regina, to tease pressure off emergency rooms;
- Continue efforts to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other primary health care professionals through the Health Human Resources Action Plan;
- Set a goal that every Saskatchewan person have access to a primary health provider by the end of 2028, and ensure timely surgeries;
- Follow through on their commitment to create a patient-focused nursing task force;
- Deliver on a campaign commitment to provide women with the option to do at-home cervix self-screening for the human papillomavirus or HPV, which is the leading cause of cervical cancer;
- Expand coverage for glucose monitoring to seniors 65 and older, and young adults 25 and under;
- Continue efforts to create 500 new addictions recovery spaces around the province;
In education and child care, the Speech from the Throne is pledging the following:
- To work with school divisions to expand the specialized support classroom pilot to 200 more schools throughout the province;
- Focus on improving reading levels in Kindergarten to Grade 3;
- Increase funding to school divisions “to help them meet the pressures of a growing student enrolment and the challenges of classroom complexity,” with the addition of more teachers and staff;
- More schools for a growing province ;
- Expand regulated childcare spaces, with a target of 12,000 additional new childcare space developments by the end of the next fiscal year.
As for affordability, the Throne Speech is pledging, as Moe put it, “a number of permanent and ongoing tax reductions, responsive tax reductions, not a tax holiday that ends in a couple of months.” Moe was referencing the federal government’s plan to remove GST on a number of items over a two month period.
Highlights include the following:
- The “largest personal income tax reduction in Saskatchewan since 2008 by raising the personal exemption, the spousal exemption, child exemption and the seniors supplement by $500 a year in each of the next four years, in addition to fully indexing income tax brackets,”
- The Saskatchewan Low-Income Tax Credit will be increased 20 per cent over the next four years;
- The carbon tax on home heating exemption will continue for another year;
- Doubling of the Active Families Benefit;
- Creating a Home Renovation Tax Credit;
- Increase to the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit;
- The annual amount that an individual, couple or family can earn from employment without having their SAID benefit reduced will be increased by $1,000.
- An increase in tax credits for persons with disabilities and caregivers, with the Disability Tax Credit increased by 25 per cent, the Disability Tax Credit supplement for children under 18 also increased by 25 per cent, and the Caregiver Tax Credit, which “provides financial support to families who care for adult children or parents with a physical or mental impairment”, also to be raised by 25 per cent.
- An increase to the Graduate Retention Program benefit by 20 per cent. The maximum benefit for a student with a four-year undergraduate degree will increase from $20,000 to $24,000. The benefit for graduates of one, two and three-year post-secondary programs will also increase by 20 per cent.
The Throne Speech pledges the first bill of the new legislative session will be The Saskatchewan Affordability Act - legislation to enact the government's campaign commitments on affordability.
The Throne Speech also is pledging to strengthen The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act and other legislation. The Throne Speech is pledging to continue efforts to add 500 new police officers across the province, including increasing the number of RCMP and municipal officers and also the Marshals’ service.
The Throne Speech also is pledging to live up to other campaign commitments including keeping the small business tax at one per cent, a young entrepreneur bursary, a new investment tax incentive a new $5,000 Class 1 Truck Driver Training rebate, the doubling of the Community Rink Affordability Grant to $5,000 per ice surface; and a new School Playground Equipment Fund to fund 50 per cent of the cost of new playground projects.
Finally there is a commitment in the Throne Speech to improve the tone and decorum of the Legislature.
“This Assembly should always be a place of vigorous debate and even strong disagreement,” the Throne Speech states.
“But that debate and disagreement should always be driven by what is best for those we serve - the people of Saskatchewan. It should never be driven by malice toward those on the other side or any individual who may serve here or anywhere in the province. Look at the way this Assembly is configured. When Members look forward, they do not see the faces of the Members on their own side. They see only the faces of those on the other side. I urge all Members to look at those faces and know that they love this province and want what is best for the people of our province, just as you do. My government will strive to improve the decorum and tone of this Assembly, to disagree without being disagreeable, and to remember that every Member shares the same desire to make Saskatchewan a better place.”
The focus on decorum comes on the heels of the toxic atmosphere seen in the Assembly prior to the election, with MLAs hurling accusations at one another and the then-Speaker Randy Weekes also calling out the behaviour of MLAs from the government side.
Moe said what you could expect to see in the House was “raucous debate, but the ability to disagree on policy without being disagreeable as individuals.”
“It should be policy focused work. Critiques of policy I think are fair and expected,” Moe said. “What we should expect is respect for one another.”
As for how to improve the decorum, Moe would not comment on past conduct but he urged all elected members across the country to elevate the decorum. “It’s incumbent on me to ensure that I’m having the conversations with the team that I serve alongside on controlling what we can control as individuals and controlling what we can as a team in how we present in that House,” said Moe.
As for the complaints from former Speaker Weekes in the last House about text messages to the Speaker, Premier Moe confirmed he told his caucus not to text the Speaker.
“Yes,” Moe said in response to a reporter’s question about it. He did indicate that devices such as iPhones and iPads would still be allowed to be used, but “we need to conduct ourselves responsibly in what we do and what we say.”
Moe also defended the province’s plans to hire more doctors and health care workers, and open five more urgent care centres even though the Regina urgent care centre was not yet open 24-7.
He said the expectation was that the Saskatchewan Health Authority will build towards a 24 hour model with the facility in Regina.
But even at the current hours of operation of 16 to 18 hours a day, Moe said “it’s rivalling in numbers what is being seen by each of our emergency rooms at the Pasqua Hospital and Regina General Hospital.”
They were seeing ”great success” in Regina and surrounding area of people not having to go to an emergency room, he said. “Their care requirements may be urgent but not emergent… so we’re going to build on that successful model.”
It was expected that Opposition Leader Carla Beck would provide her reaction to the Speech from the Throne to reporters following its presentation in the Assembly. The early indication from the New Democrats is they plan to bring an emergency motion Tuesday to suspend the provincial gas tax for six months — one of their affordability pledges during the provincial election campaign.
In a news release the NDP characterized the Throne Speech as more of the same from the Sask Party.
“Regardless of who you voted for, people want action from their elected officials. They want results now,” said Beck in a statement.
“Claiming to have heard voters' concerns while refusing to change course makes it clear that this is the same old Sask. Party government. People are tired of the same old song and dance from these guys. They want better than this.”
