Economy and recovery likely government priorities in coming legislative session

On Wednesday afternoon, the new legislative session in Saskatchewan will begin with the throne speech, outlining the government’s priorities for the coming eight weeks.

On Monday, in his State of the Province address to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, Premier Scott Moe outlined some of what will be in that speech – much of it revolving around the economy.

Moe talked about the positive growth in 2020 and said there will be a number of initiatives introduced in the coming session that will build on that momentum.

“(There are) a number of initiatives that are, quite frankly, going to improve the quality of life for all of us in Saskatchewan and create opportunities for our young people, that next generation to ensure that they can enjoy the Saskatchewan that we feel we can build for them,” said Moe.

Among the familiar themes in the speech, Moe said there will be a renewed commitment to infrastructure investment, which he said is crucial to attracting projects to the province and the people who would work on them.

In particular, Moe mentioned targeted incentives to the tech sector that are being extended, the exploration of base and precious metals, and enhancing the value-added agriculture incentive.
The premier also pointed to helium as a sector that could see some big growth.

“In Saskatchewan, we happen to have very large deposits of helium and investment is already flowing into this sector … and our goal is to work with the industry to ensure that our province of Saskatchewan produces 10 per cent of the world’s helium by 2030,” said Moe.

Moe also brought up his government’s growth targets for the oil and gas sector, the province’s work on renewable energy production, and the development of small modular nuclear reactors.

“We simply cannot meet the challenge of reducing our emissions profile here in the province, providing that affordable baseload power without looking at nuclear power … Nuclear is our largest opportunity and most importantly it’s a source of clear, carbon-free baseload power,” explained Moe.

Health care and education were mentioned as needing investments, but Moe said the economy needs to continue growing for those investments to be made.

Outside of the economy, Moe said there will be talk about a number of policing measures in the throne speech.

“(There will be) enhanced law enforcement measures to address crime, particularly in the areas of drug, repeat offender, and property crime,” said Moe.

Moe said while crime rates may be down, things like violent crime and property crime are up.

He also acknowledged that addictions play a part in higher crime numbers, so he talked about some of the announcements made in the budget this spring, like expanding treatment and detox spaces and putting more “community wellness” buses on the roads.

“This is some of what your government plans to do to support Saskatchewan’s recovery (and) why we are so ambitious in supporting that recovery so that we can build, ultimately, a better Saskatchewan for everyone,” Moe said.

The NDP won’t let up

On the other hand, the NDP appears to be planning to keep the focus on COVID-19 and what it calls the failures of the Saskatchewan Party government and Moe.

“We will be spending every day of this session prosecuting the failures of this government and their broken promises, because we are a year out from this election and Saskatchewan people are angry because they were sold a bill of goods by a premier who consistently takes the people of Saskatchewan for granted, who treats the people of Saskatchewan as if they didn’t know what they were doing,” NDP Leader Ryan Meili said.

Meili acknowledges the topics Moe brought up in his speech on Monday are important, but said Moe is trying to “change the channel” away from his handling of the pandemic and will continue to try that during the coming sitting.

“He’s doing everything he can to spin his way out of responsibility but this is a premier who looked at the information, had the advice from the health experts, and chose to go his own way and as a result hundreds of people have died (and) we’re flying people out across the country to get ICU care,” Meili said.

“The premier has taken no responsibility and now is just trying to distract from that record.”

Meili said his party won’t be letting up on Moe in the coming weeks.

“He has failed Saskatchewan people and there is no room for us to give him a free ride after he has made these choices, deliberate decisions that have cost people their lives. We’re not holding back at all,” said Meili.

Fall session measures

After the throne speech, there will be a vote by MLAs regarding the rules they will have to follow during the fall session.

Government House Leader Jeremy Harrison will be making a motion on the house rules and said he has worked on them for several weeks with the Official Opposition, Legislative Assembly Service and the Office of the Speaker.

“I would characterize the discussions as positive,” Harrison said. “We haven’t come to complete agreement on every individual item, but I think that there is a pretty good consensus on the path forward on most items and the House will have the opportunity to make that decision shortly after the speech from the throne.”

Harrison couldn’t reveal the exact details of the proposal, saying he’s bound by confidentiality until MLAs see it first. However, he said the proposals will be much like the COVID rules people already follow.

“I think it would be fair to say that you will see a broad reflection of what the public health orders are right now as far as the house rules,” he said.

Enforcement will be up to the Speaker, who will have the power to gain compliance — up to removing somebody from the chamber. That has been a rare occurrence in Harrison’s time in the legislature.

“In my 15 years here, I’ve seen it happen once where a member had been kicked out of the chamber by the Speaker for continued non-compliance with the rules,” he said.

Because it’s not part of the house rules, Harrison could say there was agreement to remove the Plexiglas barriers between MLAs. He added the desks have been kept in the same distanced position from a year ago, as moving them back would have required rewiring them to the sound system.

The fall session will follow a normal calendar, with 25 sitting days into early December. Then the Assembly will recess and reconvene for the spring sitting.