MAKING LIFE BETTER FOR SASKATCHEWAN FAMILIES

Acting on its vision of making life better for Saskatchewan families, the Calvert government implemented a number of initiatives during the spring sitting of the legislature to ensure families and young people will feel real benefits from Saskatchewan’s strong economy.

“It is important that we continue to let it be known that Saskatchewan is a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” Premier Lorne Calvert said.  “Let's ensure our economic momentum reaches its full potential, resulting in more opportunities for our families and young people right here at home, and for those from around the world.

“Our population is growing – the fourth quarter of 2006 saw the largest population increase in over 20 years and for the first time in over a decade in-migration from Alberta exceeded provincial out-migration to Alberta.  Our quality of life remains second to none, our economy is booming and there are more jobs now than ever before in our history.  We have fundamentally changed the breadth and depth of the Saskatchewan economy by working together.”

Guided by the four cornerstones outlined in the Speech from the Throne, the government implemented a number of measures to make life better for Saskatchewan people and build even brighter futures for young people.  Highlights include:

Making Saskatchewan the best place for young people to live, work, and build strong futures:

• Implementing the Graduate Tax Exemption which means new post-secondary graduates will be able to earn $100,000 tax-free just by working in the province for their first five years;
• Freezing University tuition for the third year in a row, saving students approximately $1,500 per year;
• Funding an additional 2,118 new training seats for a total of 31,000 education and training opportunities for Saskatchewan learners;
• Cutting business taxes to help create jobs and opportunities for young people, including eliminating the Corporate Capital Tax by July 2008, cutting the Corporate Income Tax to 12 per cent by July 2008, and reducing small business taxes; and
• Providing families more time to spend together to further build a healthy balance of work and family, by introducing a new annual statutory holiday  in February called Saskatchewan’s Family Day.

Strengthening Saskatchewan’s leadership in public health care while reducing wait times and improving access to services:

• Introducing the $15 Seniors’ Drug Plan, effective July 1, benefiting approximately 115,000 people 65 years of age and older, saving them an average of $400 per year;
• Shortening wait times by providing more MRI scans, providing more bone mineral density scans, increasing access to cardiac catheterization lab and renal dialysis and clinic services, and providing more hip and knee replacements;
• Extending health benefits for up to 30,000 low-income workers; and
• Providing a targeted dental sealant program for Grades 1 and 7 students in community schools.

Advancing Saskatchewan as a leader in environmental protection and the Green Economy:

• Launching the province’s Green Strategy, containing over 100 actions that demonstrate the government’s commitment to conserve, protect and restore the health of our environment and build a green economy; 
• Enhancing Saskatchewan’s EnerGuide for Houses Grant Program and extending it for four more years to encourage homeowners to make retrofits that will help them save energy and money and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Ensuring Saskatchewan families benefit from the province’s strong, prosperous economy:

• Saskatchewan residents continue to enjoy the benefits of cutting the PST to 5 per cent, saving the average Saskatchewan family approximately $300 per year;
• Increasing the Education Property Tax Credit from eight per cent to 10 per cent;
• Investing an unprecedented $5 billion investment over the next 10 years in an innovative new strategy, Transportation for Economic Advantage, to fundamentally realign Saskatchewan’s transportation network to meet the current and future needs of the province’s thriving export-based economy;
• Providing a $10 monthly increase for Saskatchewan Assistance Plan and Transitional Employment Allowance, and a $5 increase in the personal living allowance; and
• Providing $100 million to assist inner city housing.

Key pieces of legislation passed in the spring sitting include:

• Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act expanding the definition of harassment to address personal harassment in the workplace, such as abuse of power and bullying;
• Legislation that enables the province to sue the tobacco industry to recover the health care costs of tobacco-related illness and disease;
• Amendments to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, which will end mandatory retirement and give our older citizens the ability to choose whether to retire or to continue to work beyond the age of 65;
• Legislation to guarantee job protection to Saskatchewan men and women who leave their employment to fulfil a volunteer commitment with the Canadian Forces;
• Legislation which establishes a comprehensive framework for the regulation of the payday lending industry, providing protection for borrowers who use payday loans; and
• Legislation to ensure that every dollar of the on-road fuel tax paid by motorists will be spent on Saskatchewan’s highway system.

“Our investments in training and infrastructure, our investments in quality of life and quality workplaces, and our sharpening of Saskatchewan’s investment climate and competitive edge are all bearing results,” Calvert said.  “Our vision and determination to revitalize the Saskatchewan economy has met with a large measure of success, and with this new strength of our economy we are focused on making life better for all families and building a better future for our young people.”

“It has been a busy session, and while much has been accomplished, much more can be done,” Calvert said.  “In particular, work is underway to review the potential indexing of minimum wage, and to examine the impact of the Trade Investment Labour Mobility Agreement on Saskatchewan.  In addition, we will continue to press the Federal Conservative Government to honour its promise to fully exclude non-renewable resource revenues from Equalization – a deal which would benefit the people of Saskatchewan by approximately $800 million per year.”

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For more information, contact:

Jay Branch
Executive Council
Regina
Phone: 306-787-6349
Email: jay.branch@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-539-3994