Estevan MLA and Minister of Government Relations Lori Carr had some positive news for Estevan from Wednesday’s budget, or what was supposed to be a budget.
She noted it is a “spending plan,” since it only has an expense side, “because revenues right now are simply too hard to predict.”
“But we felt we still needed to release a spending plan and move forward with planned projects and announcements for communities so that work can go on and not be delayed,” Carr said.
The province, as is the rest of the nation, is dealing with the COVID-19 crisis that has rocked the economy over the past two weeks. The spending side of the budget was released March 18, but not the revenue side. The numbers used to calculate the originally planned budget had been locked in in late-February, well before the crisis took hold.
“Specifically, for Estevan, we’re really fortunate to be getting the Estevan addictions unit back,” Carr said.
“That’s pretty exciting,” said Carr. “It’s going to be a $1.4 million investment. It will support 20 new beds. Fifteen of those beds will be for people recovering from crystal meth, and the other five beds will be for other treatments. There will also be space that will be invested in there for post- and pre-treatment.
“So it’s not going to be your traditional facility where it’s just 28 days. Some people may have that, but there will be option to customize specifically for the person’s needs.”
It will employ upwards of 20 people.
“That’s pretty exciting, also,” she said, adding there are already people trained in this treatment, located in Estevan. She hopes to see it operating by July.
“We’re hoping for that quick,” she said.
Last year’s passing lane projects got delayed, but both tenders have gone out this year.
“You’re going to see some pretty significant construction happening between Estevan and all the way up, just past the Corrine corner. So there will be a lot of construction, a lot of delays this summer. But once it’s all done, we’ll have several passing lanes from here to Regina that will alleviate everybody’s drive,” Carr said.
The original plan has changed over time. She noted, “The RM of Estevan wanted more enhancements done just outside of Estevan, where it already meets up with the bypass. They wanted longer lanes for trucks to accelerate, because they felt the lanes were too short.”
Turning lanes were improved for terminals in the area. There will be passing lanes between Hitchcock and Macoun, Macoun and Midale, and Midale and Weyburn.
From the western edge of Weyburn, instead of passing lanes, they will extend the existing twinning towards the grain terminals on that side of the community. There will be likely another three passing lanes between Weyburn and the Corrine corner.
The intersection of Highways 39 and 6, south of Corrine, will see some twinning to alleviate congestion.
“For sure six sets, maybe seven sets of passing lanes, some intersection improvements and a little bit of twinning,” she said.
While she wasn’t sure what the final tenders came in at, the total project budget, split 50/50 with the federal government, is pegged at $104 million.
Highway 47 south of Estevan will also be shown some attention. “From the Fourth Street corner, all the way down the hill to the U.S. border, all of that is going to be resurfaced and fixed up,” she said.
Asked if there would be funding for a new regional nursing home in Estevan, she replied it is on hold.
In a broader context, she said health is getting a lift to their budget, and education is getting a 3.5 per cent increase as well. “That helps everybody in our area,” she said.
While Estevan is still discussing its plans for schools, she said seven new schools and three major renovations are planned throughout the province.
“One … thing that is exciting is we are doing a PST rebate for new home construction. Now, I know we have a lot of houses on the market, and we’ve got a lot of housing in Estevan. But if anyone did decide they wanted to build a house, it would be structured very similar to the GST rebate that homeowners are already eligible for. So that might be a little more incentive to build a house,” Carr said.
A recently announced federal program to address orphan wells is welcome and timely, she said, with the liquidity crisis producers are going through, and the price of oil.
“This is the type of work that needs to get done. To expect them to do it all on their own is a really hard sell. Having this incentive in place is really great news for the province and our producers,” she said.
