Sask. calls Ottawa one of its 'biggest threats' in 2023 throne speech

Protecting Saskatchewan from outside "threats" – including the federal government – was a major theme in the provincial government’s 2023 Speech from the Throne on Wednesday.

Ahead of the fall legislative session, the speech highlighted how Saskatchewan continues to have a strong economy but global instability, rising interest rates, inflation and Ottawa are all threats that need to be addressed.

“Incredibly, one of the biggest threats to Saskatchewan’s economy is our own federal government,” the speech said.

The speech argued Ottawa’s federal carbon tax continues to increase the “cost of everything” while the federal Clean Electricity Standard and net-zero emissions targets are unrealistic.

“My government will continue to build affordable, reliable, sustainable power generation and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050,” the speech read.

Ottawa’s target for net-zero continues to be 2030.

“We will not risk plunging our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our special care homes, our businesses into the cold and darkness because of the ideological whims of others,” the speech said.

The Saskatchewan Party's government's throne speech claimed new federal regulations will kill thousands of jobs and devastate the province’s resource sector which the government says is already following some of the most environmentally-friendly practices in the world.

“It makes no sense, especially at a time that our national government should be promoting Canadian oil and gas as a reliable and environmentally sustainable option to countries facing energy shortages,” the speech highlighted.

The government vowed to utilize The Saskatchewan First Act to refer the federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations Clean Fuel Standard regulations and the oil and gas emissions cap to the Saskatchewan’s Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal — an entity created under the act.

With affordability also a major topic, the speech highlighted plans to re-introduce the provincial sales tax rebate for new home construction retroactively to April 1 – to help build new homes.

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“This rebate returns 42 per cent of PST paid - about 2.5 per cent of the total house price, excluding the land value – for a new house,” the speech said.

In the same vein – the province plans to introduce a secondary suite program – in an effort to help homeowners with the costs of building a rental suite within their primary residence.

“In addition to helping homeowners with their mortgage costs, the program will increase the availability of rentals in Saskatchewan,” the speech read.

The speech also outlined a plan from the province to introduce legislation that will raise the legal age for smoking and vaping to 19 which is consistent with Saskatchwan's age for alcohol and cannabis consumption.

“My government continues to work with Lung Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Heart and Stroke and the Canadian Cancer Society to reduce the incidence of smoking and vaping, particularly among young people,” the speech said.

Also on the health front, the province intends to amend The Workers’ Compensation Act to expand the list of cancers in presumptive coverage for Saskatchewan firefighters.

“This legislation will add presumptive coverage for six more types of cancer: primary site pancreatic, thyroid, penile, soft tissue sarcoma, mesothelioma and laryngeal cancer, giving Saskatchewan the broadest presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters of any province in Canada,” the speech said.

The speech outlined two policies surrounding growth – a new "investment attraction" plan and a jobs plan.

The jobs plan will seek to address labour shortages in key sectors of the economy as well as public services such as health care “using all resources available to the province,” the speech said.

Among these resources, the government ensured that internationally educated professionals can have their credentials recognized in Saskatchewan.

Throughout the speech – the government highlighted its past announcements in the realms of addictions, homelessness, education and childcare – stylizing each as “protecting” a different facet of Saskatchewan’s wellbeing.

“My government, together with the people of our great province, will keep building Saskatchewan,” the speech said.

“And we will protect all we have built.”

The throne speech comes less than a week after the majority Saskatchewan Party government pushed through a controversial law requiring schools to inform parents and caregivers if a youth under 16 wishes to be referred to by a different pronoun or name.

Moe recalled the legislature early to enshrine the policy into law after a King's Bench judge said the new rules would be put on hold pending the outcome of a legal challenge.

The law invokes the federal notwithstanding clause, protecting it from Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenges for the next five years.

Throne speech lacks plans to solve major issues: NDP

The Saskatchewan NDP say the throne speech lacked new solutions to solve ongoing health care and cost of living crises.

According to a news release, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reports that Saskatchewan had the longest wait times for key surgeries last year, with the median wait time for knee replacements 466 days in 2022.

“The national average was 198 days, and the next-worst province, Manitoba, was 336,” the release said.

They also pointed to rural emergency room closures and wait times in Regina and Saskatoon hospitals along with the consistent closures of senior care homes.

• Here's the complete 2023 throne speech from the Sask. government

“There’s an emergency in our emergency rooms and Moe still hasn’t come forward with any game-changing solutions for healthcare,” NDP leader Carla Beck said.

Meanwhile the NDP said that wait times for a bed at a long-term care centre in Regina average about 53 days, which is two-and-a-half times the provincial average.

“We’ve seen this government act with lightning speed to fix much less important issues before. Good affordable housing and the health and wellbeing of our parents and grandparents should be a top priority,” the NDP’s Critic for Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Matt Love said.

Beck meanwhile, said when it comes to addressing affordability issues the Sask. Party cannot be trusted.

“Scott Moe ran on lower power bills, then increased them three times. I think governments should be measured on the results they deliver, not the promises they make,” Beck said.

Beck accused Premier Scott Moe of being more focused on scoring cheap headlines than fixing ongoing issues in the province.

More to come...

-- With files from Wayne Mantyka and Josh Lynn.

More sites from the 2023 throne speech can be seen by clicking on the image below.