Throne Speech Outlines Government Agenda
Saskatchewan has enjoyed a decade of growth and our government is working to ensure Saskatchewan keeps growing stronger. The new session of the Legislature opened with a Throne Speech outlining a busy legislative agenda. This includes our government’s plans to:
- Fulfil its commitment to provide individualized funding to children
under six with Autism Spectrum Disorder; - Improve the rate of organ donation in the province through a new program led by donor physicians;
- Working with municipalities to allow ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to operate in Saskatchewan;
- Introduce a new Seniors Education Property Tax Deferral Program that will give seniors with household incomes under $70,000 the option to defer the education portion of their property tax on their homes;
- Amend The Privacy Act to allow greater protection against the unauthorized electronic distribution of intimate images;
- Focus Saskatchewan’s business tax reductions on small businesses by returning the corporate tax rate to 12 percent – the same as other western provinces – and raising the small business income threshold to $600,000,
the highest in Canada; - Continue reducing healthcare administration costs through the consolidation of the province’s 12 regional health authorities into a single Saskatchewan Health Authority;
- Introduce legislation that will protect the right to school choice by invoking the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
- Introduce legislation to facilitate the federal government’s legalization of the use of non-medical marijuana, even though the province continues to have concerns about the federal government’s rushed timetable;
- Create a process to improve the disclosure of decisions made by the Office of Residential Tenancies (Rentalsman’s Office) to better protect the rights of both tenants and landlords;
- Repeal the provisions of Bill 40 that allow for the sale of partial equity position in a Crown Corporation;
- Continue to improve internet and cellular coverage throughout rural Saskatchewan;
- Consider a range of retaliatory trade measures that could be implemented in response to Alberta’s beer rebate program that discriminates against Saskatchewan brewers;
- Introduce an Agriculture Value Added New Growth Incentive to attract more investment;
- Introduce further actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while continuing to oppose the imposition of a carbon tax in Saskatchewan, including through a legal challenge if necessary; and
- Create a new provincial park in the Porcupine Hills, southeast of Hudson Bay.
The Throne Speech outlines our plan to strengthen our economy, continue to improve important services, protect our communities, and carefully manage the province’s finances.
Even after a decade of growth, we know there is still a lot of work to do and our government will make the decisions necessary to ensure Saskatchewan keeps growing stronger in the decade ahead.
