Highlights, along with reaction from the Opposition, Taxpayers Federation and others is available at CKOM.com.
(Too much on my plate today to dissect it, other than to note generalities: business tax reduction being well received, but as yet, nobody seems able to explain how, in a province with a long time trend towards lower population, spending by the NDP manages to go up… up … up… )
That’s amazing!
Saskatchewan has enough money for a budget?
Yes but not without another deficit.
Yes but not without another deficit.
“Finance Minister Andrew Thomson in Saskatchewan’s 13th consecutive balanced budget.”
Emphasis on balanced…as in, not deficit, like the Tory party liked to run.
$6.3 mill to bring 5000 new people to Sask.
Hmmmm I have a family of four. At $1260.00 per person, Sask. will pay me $5040.00 to relocate.
Awesome!!! However I probably won’t be able to get work. Abandon my wife and children by moving, but that’s OK because NANNY SASK will take care of them.
Right on!!!
Hey Oxy (Moron): The debt is expected to RISE by $113,000,000. That’s 113 Million! I realize you have to take your shoes off to count past 10 but if the debt goes up by 113 Million there is a deficit.
Perhaps they work math different in Mother Russia but you are in Canada (sort of) now.
Soviet Saskatchewan – Smothered in Socialism.
Good job on the business tax cuts though.
Those damn socialists are giving money to business again!!! And lowering taxes, again!!!
Freezing tuition! on and on. What is this Christmas in April? These damn socialists have found something for everyone! That makes it 13 times in a row for a balanced budget!
Seriously folks. Those knee jerk reactions that some people have to socialist government have to realize this looks budget looks very impressive. I wish we had a budget like that in Ontario.
You have to get past your prejudice and just look at what they have presented. It looks awesome. But then I am from Ontario so maybe I don’t know what a good budget looks like.
1. A good budget doesn’t have a deficit in it espically when you have to increase spending by 600 million (8.4%) to have a 113 million deficit.
2. A good budget doesn’t include record spending even as the population shrinks. Up 8.4%?? (Why do health (up almost 10%) and education continue to increase then?)
3. Despite the tight job market, and improvements in business taxes we are still expect 2.5% job growth??
4. someone said something about knee jerk reactions?… “2700 new training spaces at community colleges, 400 new seats at SIAST”… what do you call that? With a 6 year waiting list both my roomie and his brotehr were accepted in their 1st and 2nd years on the list. The problem with SIAST lists is no names are ever taken off even when people find other career avenues.
The prolly even forgot the line item to buy Mr. Thompson more crayons since he wore all his out on this budget.
And seriously, a tuition freeze at a university that one week prints a story boasting .5 billion in new construction… then the next day prints a story about how maintenance is years and millions of dollars behind??
Kate, the reason the spending is up is because of increased oil and gas revenues – an extra 1 billion from last year.
Not sure why any right wingers are mad about this debt (other than no 1% tax cut (lol)) – huge business tax cuts and a plan to grow the province economically and population wise. Do you hate the NDP so much, you can’t give them one compliment? Hell, even the CTF gave them an A-plus on their business tax cuts.
And the best part was CKOM trying to downplay the budget by asking if it is sustainable – implying that if oil prices go lower, we might take a hit. Are they nuts? Oil prices will continue to rise (its called Peak Oil – look into it).
Peter, spending is up becasue these guys are trying to buy votes. And because they love spending other people’s money. And yes, I praise them for seeing the light and cutting taxes: but they only did so because their solcialist policies have been such an abject failure that it became ovious that somehting else had to be done.
Why oh why isn’t economics required to graduate high school??
Incresed revenue = increased spending??
Why not pay down the debt (rather than increasing it??) That is not counted as spending.
Nor are tax reductions. (Because the government doesn’t have the money to spend…. 95 million in tax cuts + 600 million in increased spending on top of that, oi.)
And automatically assuming further increases in revenues because hey the oil market will never ever ever fail??? (wtf… don’t you read the papers on renewable energy and koyoto and the move to reduce fossil fuel consumption? What if Ethanol eventually becomes a viable source of energy, what if China or the US enter recession (remember the last time the oil market fell out)…
Counting your chickens before they hatch is a sure way to fail. If I ran my business like that I wouldn’t be running it for long.
And hate the people responsible for holding our province back for decades… yeah. But you are right. I should give them a kudos for implementing the vicq report. Which tehy spent millions on and then spent the last several months debating on wether to give businesses a 100 million tax cut (to almost make us competitive) in the face of 1 billion in unexpected resource royalties last year….. Yeah…. ummm thanks….
NDP economics suck and have always sucked. It’s really now a question of whether the voters can be suckered with their own money and vote for these losers yet again.
Until this budget was announced those “damned socialists” had created the highest business taxes in the free world, and an economy with more government ownership than any jurisdiction in North America, excluding Cuba.
That’s why people continue to leave.
Well now they have cut those taxes. You should be happy.
And government ownership allows people to have the lowest utility rates in the world. Any idea how much it costs to insure your car in B.C.?
Still it seems you manage to eek out a living here though Kate. If things are so bad for you here, why doesn’t your friend Ezra give you a job in Alberta?
Peter
When did car insurance become a utility? I have never understood this NDP canard.
No question that the Vicq report implementation is good policy but I also remember that it was also, essentially, the SaskParty econ platform in the 2003 election campaign – a platform that the NDP scorned. So before we laud the “vision” of the NDP and pile too many “compliments” on them let’s remember that this new business tax regime is moving us from LAST place to a competitive position in the Western Canadian energy economy.
Thanks Lorne for watching for 3 years while the rest of the world pulled away.
It is my opinion that these clowns implemented Vicq only because they had to. There is no committment to a business friendly environment, just a death bed conversion to economic logic forced by a completely undeniable FACT that the economic drivers (ie: young people 18 – 35) were voting with their feet.
I give the NDP credit for reacting to shovel hitting them in the head. Foresight? I think I will save that for another government
Pilot
Um..in BC they have public insurance too. And for mature drivers, the rates in alberta are competitive and you get better coverage…not so much for the under-25s.
Right you are David Mclean. If you think you’d like cheaper car insurance Peter , move to the Yukon. NO GOVERNMENT insurance in spite of 12 years on and off of Liberano/Dipper governments! We now have a ‘remake’ of the Conservative government that once ruled – uncontested – like in Alta. We lost our culture of “Stong and Free’ when the NDP and later the Liberals got a mandate. The territory has been ‘resettled’ with Dipper/Libeal socialists from southern Canada. It was a ‘fluke’ that the Conservatives won the last election. Everyone from Alta , go back to Sask to vote and maybe you can rid yourselves of the socialist cancer in Regina that is eating your future like ring worm. Don’t think that Culvert is doing anything but attempting to buy votes through tax cuts.
Is that the best you can do, Todd? Encourage people to leave a province that is already bleeding the young and highly skilled?
Ah, yes.
Increases to education. Saskatchewan taxpayers will pay even more to provide training for eventual Alberta workers.
*gaak*
Kate, in your case I’ll make an exception. From reading your blog over the years, I think you’d be most happy in Texas. But failing that, there’s always Alberta for you.
Plus young and highly skilled… which one of those are you claiming?
?!? interesting logic todd….
First you suggest that Kate should move to Alberta because she believes it is being managed better.
Then you base insults on the assumption you made that she is moving.
You sound like a liberal spin doctor. (yeah I lookd at your blog… marajuana, pam anderson,… time to renew your liberal party membership.)
Barcs, I’m an NDP member. Get it right at least. And I mocked Pam Anderson as well. Think that was done on this website too, no?
“I’m a NDP member”
When someone insults you, you shouldn’t wave your hand and boast that the insult wasn’t deep enough.
“”I’m a NDP member”
When someone insults you, you shouldn’t wave your hand and boast that the insult wasn’t deep enough.”
i like the ndp. seriously, 13 years doesn’t seem too bad to me for bringing a province from the brink of collapse to the second most competitive business tax in the country. Not to mention that before this budget we had the 9th best mineral policy in the world according to the fraser institute. I’m assuming this budget will move us up even further.
ICBC charges 10 times more for my motorcycle insurance than I paid in Alberta. My Alberta insurance provided for 10 times more coverage. You figure it out.
The government should NEVER be in any kind of business.
Kate….Spending by the NDP manages to go up…up…up… because the moribund, dead weight of agriculture insatiably demands more…more…more.
The NDP doesn’t have the guts to confront the reality that feeding that black hole will forever drag Saskatchewan down…down…down.
Of course the corrupt Conservatives will never upset that applecart because buying votes in rural Canada means power…power…power.