Affordability cheques not enough to address cost of living: Sask. opposition

The dome of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building is seen in this file image. (Brendan Ellis/CTV News)

With $500 cheques said to be on the way to Saskatchewan residents this fall, the opposition is continuing to put pressure on the government to address affordability issues further.

During Question Period on Thursday, NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon said inflation and affordability continue to be a great concern and the cheques coming to Saskatchewan residents is not enough to provide relief, especially for families.

“Those dollars don’t come close to making up for the increased cost of living that families are facing, and those rebates, they don’t fairly support those that are raising children, [they’re] excluding children on this front,” he said.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer responded by saying the affordability cheques do more than what the NDP had in store.

“I dare to say the $500 that we are making available to anyone in the province 18-years or older far surpasses the $105 that the NDP said that they would have for individuals,” she said.

Harpauer noted the provincial budget puts forth funding to address affordability issues every single year.

“We have over $2 billion in this budget, in next year’s budget, in budgets in the past, in budgets in the future, to address affordability measures in our province,” she said.

Wotherspoon said a one-time payment of $500 does little to address the rising cost of living due to inflation and said instead of focusing on affordability measures, the government voted for more taxes.

“This is a government that voted against providing relief at the pumps, that hid and hoarded windfall revenues, while people faced record cost of living, and they voted to put new taxes on Grey Cup tickets, Rider tickets, a night at the movies, so much more,” he said.

“Fee after fee was hiked, like hunting licences, and they cranked up the cost of power and energy bills heading into winter in a massive way for Saskatchewan families.”

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Premier Scott Moe said affordability is a concern that reaches all Canadians, and the provincial government continues to address that.

“That’s why we move forward annually, with $2 billion of affordability measures, that’s why we added $450 million in this year’s budget,” he said. “We most certainly are going to continue to focus on growth that works for everyone in Saskatchewan, and when the NDP were in government, there was no growth, and they didn’t work for anybody.”

Wotherspoon said it is simply not enough and the government should be doing better.

“One time relief, sometime down the road, for some, doesn’t change the fact that this government’s choices will make life more expensive this year, and every year thereafter, into perpetuity, it’s indefensible,” he said.