Cost of living, affordable homes in Sask. dominate first Question Period of new fall sitting

A debate surrounding the current cost of living in Saskatchewan was a major topic in the first Question Period of the new fall sitting on Thursday.

The opposition NDP said that Wednesday’s throne speech lacked plans to address rising costs and affordability issues many residents in the province are currently facing.

“The vast majority of people in this province will see no cost of living relief as a result of yesterday’s throne speech, how much longer are the people of this province going to wait before they deliver some relief on the current cost of living,” NDP Leader Carla Beck asked to open Question Period.

Premier Scott Moe then pointed to Saskatchewan currently being one of the most affordable locations in Canada to live in.

Moe said the throne speech addressed affordability concerns when it comes to home buying.

“Yesterday with the speech from the throne being delivered, affordability measures were added. In particular, in the case of families that want to buy a home, or anybody who wants to buy a home,” Moe said, referencing to the reintroduction of a PST Rebate for New Home Construction.

Moe also sad the government sets aside $2 billion dollars per year in their budget directly intended to address current affordability issues.

“I would agree with recent articles that say Saskatoon and Regina, one of them number one, [one] of them number 10 when it comes to the most affordable cities to live in in Canada,” Moe said.

Regina Rosemont MLA and NDP Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon said the province is not listening to Saskatchewan people who continuously say they are facing severe budgetary strains.

“Yesterday’s throne speech was but again another opportunity to deliver long-awaited cost of living relief, but again that government isn’t listening and failed to deliver,” Wotherspoon said.

Donna Harpauer, Saskatchewan’s finance minister said there was no one easy way to answer the question of affordability measures.

“What I can say though is that this government has had affordability as a priority not just this year, not just one time,” she said.

Harpauer pointed to personal income tax reductions as one of the steps taken by the province to make life more affordable.

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“Which helps seniors, families, it helps students it helps all individuals by reducing that personal income tax to a level that is the lowest in the nation,” Harpauer said.

According to Harpauer, current personal income tax levels are “cushioned for inflationary pressures.”

“We have programs to assist families, we have programs to assist seniors, we have programs to assist students and we have increased the programs that we have for the most vulnerable.”

Harpauer also said the $2 billion, which is annually set aside for affordability, is aside from the $450 million that was spent on the Saskatchewan affordability cheques sent out in 2022 that saw many residents receive a one-time payment of $500.

Wotherspoon said those answers were dismissive from a government currently siting on “very high revenues.”

“As a result, there’s no relief in sight for Saskatchewan families who are struggling more than anyone else in Canada,” Wotherspoon said.

According to the NDP, Saskatchewan currently leads the country in mortgage arrears, which means being behind on monthly mortgage payments.

“According to the most recent numbers from Angus Reid, more people in Saskatchewan said that paying for groceries was very difficult than anywhere else in Canada,” Wotherspoon added.

Harpauer called Wotherspoon a “no plan NDP member that supports the carbon tax,” something she said continues to drive up the cost of absolutely everything in Saskatchewan.

Harpauer asked if Wotherspoon listened to the throne speech, referencing his comments about the number of late mortgage payments in the province before brining up the PST Rebate for New Home Construction once again.

“There is a housing program, and you’ll [get]more details next week, that will address housing affordability, but it will also have a secondary sweep program that will go directly to families that will have an option in order to help them with their mortgage payments should they be impacted by recent mortgage rate increases.”

Wotherspoon said the Saskatchewan NDP oppose the federal carbon tax and said the measures being taken are narrow and shut out the majority of residents in the province who are struggling.

“There’s so much more this government could be doing,” he said.

Some of the suggestions from Wotherspoon included decreasing PST, utility price reductions and gas prices.

Fall sitting will continue from Thursday until Dec. 6 before breaking until spring sitting begins on March 4, 2024.