A recap of Sask. Party promises following its election victory

With the Saskatchewan Party’s victory in the 2024 provincial election, here’s a look back at what the incoming government has promised to voters.

Affordability

The Sask. Party’s election platform consisted of $1.2 billion in spending over four years – 75 per cent of which is made up of tax reductions.

The Sask. Party plan outlines a provincial deficit for the next several years – with the goal of balancing the budget by 2027-28.

The exact measures include a planned income tax reduction that promises to save a standard family of four more than $3,400 over four years, senior couples $3,100 over the same period and allow an additional 54,000 low-income residents to no longer pay provincial income tax.

Both the Saskatchewan low-income tax credit and graduate retention program will be increased by 20 per cent over the four-year term. For the grad retention program, this means the maximum benefit will rise from $20,000 to $24,000.

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Other measures include the increasing and added tax credits related to active families ($150 to $300) home renovations, first time homebuyers ($10,000 to $15,000), care homes for seniors ($2,500 to $3,500) and those with disabilities (increase of $1,000).

Additionally, the government promised to extend coverage of glucose monitoring systems to seniors and young adults.

Finally, the Sask. Party vowed to continue its exemption program of the federal carbon tax and to freeze the small business tax rate, which was set to rise to two per cent from one per cent on July 1, 2025.

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/saskatchewan-ndp-commits-to-freeze-the-small-business-tax-1.7067298

Healthcare

Staffing shortages continue for hospitals and clinics across the province. The Sask. Party has promised to continue its investments into healthcare infrastructure – over $2.6 billion set to be spent over the next four years.

The province has repeatedly pointed to the efforts of its Health and Human Resources plan – which has received $300 million since its creation in 2022. The program is said to have recruited 253 physicians from outside Sask. and the hiring of 1,400 recent nursing grads and 400 internationally educated nurses from the Philippines.

Long-term care facilities are planned in La Ronge, Regina, Estevan, Watson and Grenfell – while construction is underway of the province’s breast health centre.

New facilities or additions are under construction in Weyburn and Prince Albert.

Urgent care centres were recently opened in both Regina and Saskatoon.

In terms of mental health and addictions, the province will continue following its recovery-oriented system of care – vowing to add 500 addictions treatment spaces.

Additionally, breast screening will be expanded to women between the ages of 40 and 50 years in the province.

As a re-election promise, the Sask. Party will provide women with the option to undertake cervix self-screening at home for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer.

The Sask. Party will also offer a 50 per cent refundable tax credit for the costs of a couples first fertility treatment and related prescription costs. The maximum claim for the credit is $20,000.

Childcare

A re-elected Sask. party has promised to increase the number of regulated childcare spaces and expanding $10 a day childcare. In its platform, the party said that 4,158 new spaces are under development, with the target to provide funding for 12,000 additional new spaces by the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The government is also committed to investing around $35 million over the next two years to deliver tuition-free early childhood educator (ECE) training to address the shortage of workers in the sector.

Change Room Policy

Moe announced on Oct. 17 that if re-elected, his party's "first order of business" would be to introduce a policy that would ban “biological males” from changing with “biological females” in school changerooms.

According to Moe, the directive would come from the minister of education. If schools do not have policies in place, the government would make sure there is a provincial policy.

Policing

The Sask. Party’s plan for crime and prevention includes an investment of $720 million - $31 million of which will go toward supporting victims of interpersonal violence through second-stage shelters and funding through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

More than $23 million has been pledged to fund 160 municipal police positions along with $228 million to fund RCMP operations and over $21 million for the RCMP’s First Nation Policing Program.

The Sask. Party’s rural crime strategy includes its Marshals Service becoming operational by 2026.

The service would consist of 70 officers focusing on deterring criminal activity in rural and remote areas and has a $20 million annual price tag.