Debate raged on in the legislature over a familiar topic: the fallout from the provincial budget.
The impact to school boards, libraries and municipalities was all mentioned at some point. The ramifications of the March 22 budget promise to continue to be hot topics for days to come.
Monday, immediately after his now-familiar leadoff question on the Global Transportation Hub to the government, Opposition leader Trent Wotherspoon turned his attention to the budget cuts. His exchange with Premier Brad Wall in Question Period is recorded in Hansard.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, of course dodging the question again, and day after day they refuse to accept any accountability. They’re arrogant, Mr. Speaker, and they’re out of touch.
But since the budget, day after day, Saskatchewan people have been coming together. They’ve been rising up and they’ve been speaking out. Across the province, people have been rallying against the Sask. Party cuts and sell-offs: libraries, education, STC, parks, rinks, hearing aids, cities and towns. Mr. Speaker, the list goes on and on. Saskatchewan people are calling out the Sask. Party for not being straight to them, Mr. Speaker, for not being straight about the cuts that they knew were coming, for not being straight and still trying to hide some of the cuts by having the cities and towns of Saskatchewan do their dirty work, Mr. Speaker.
The leaders of our cities and towns were blindsided. They say they were ambushed. And, Mr. Speaker, as they reminded us all this morning, they are united. These big, unfair tax hikes and deep cuts, Mr. Speaker, are Sask. Party tax hikes and cuts. Will the Premier finally have the decency to meet with these community leaders, and will he do the right thing and reverse these cuts?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to clarify for members of the House that there was notice certainly given to the municipal sector that everything was on the table. In fact, Mr. Speaker, while the members opposite laugh, the Leader of the Opposition was at the SUMA [Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association] convention. And at the SUMA convention, I indicated at that time that the government would be considering reductions in a number of areas, and the options included municipal revenue sharing. The options included grants-in-lieu. In fact I was specific about that, as were ministers of the Crown, Mr. Speaker, and we repeated that message at SARM [Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities].
The fact of the matter is that when we formed government in 2007, the NDP government had been neglecting the municipal sector for well over a decade. Mr. Speaker, that relationship changed markedly, and since then revenue sharing from the Government of Saskatchewan to the towns and villages and the cities of this province has more than doubled, Mr. Speaker.
This particular budget, we faced a massive reduction in resource revenues, and we’re asking those towns and cities and villages to share in under 3 per cent of that gap. Mr. Speaker, 2.5 per cent of the total gap in revenue we’re asking those municipalities to share in from a position of strength. I would note that many of them have huge reserves. There is no need for them to increase taxes, Mr. Speaker, as we work towards a new relationship with that municipal sector, informed by our record, which is record revenue sharing for the municipal sector in our province.
The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — Mr. Speaker, for that Premier to pretend that he was straight with the leaders of our cities and towns is a disgrace to the common sense leaders all across Saskatchewan. They’re outraged, Mr. Speaker. In fact that’s the quote. I’ll quote from the Twitter feed of SUMA: “Our members are outraged, and so are we.” They’re angry and they’re feeling betrayed, and for good reason, Mr. Speaker.
… So, Mr. Speaker, why is the Premier making them and all Saskatchewan people pay, pay now for the decade of Sask. Party mismanagement, scandal, and waste?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, it’s been a decade of record revenue sharing for the municipal sector, Mr. Speaker. It’s very interesting to hear the NDP, they’ve found some religion on the road to Damascus when it comes to the cities and towns and villages in our province because for 16 years, including when they were sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in a fund, they ignored the municipal sector, Mr. Speaker.
Well that changed in 2007, and now we’ve seen . . . [inaudible interjection] . . . Well they don’t want to hear the answer to this question, Mr. Speaker. They don’t want to hear the answer to the question because the fact of the matter is that there has been record revenue sharing with the municipal sector over the last 10 years. It has more than doubled, Mr. Speaker, since when we formed office. And if you looked at all the different increases, investments from the Government of Saskatchewan, it far exceeds the massive increases in the post-secondary sector, in the education sector, and the health sector.
The debate on the budget raged on during Question Period Tuesday, but the main focus this day was on the impact on school divisions. Opposition leader Wotherspoon zeroed in on a letter sent out by the government to school divisions.
Mr. Wotherspoon: — … You know, yesterday while the Premier was hiding from the journalists, it was the minister of finance that went out to cover for him. He was asked about the letter from the Sask. Party government telling school divisions to immediately get started on negotiations with their employees to cut their pay by 3.5 per cent. It gave them only four days to fill out a “reporting template.” It said savings could not come through “… further reductions in staff levels, capturing attrition or other cost reductions ...” Mr. Speaker, immediate wage cuts were the only option.
The minister, though, told journalists, “We’re not asking them to break contracts, just come back to the negotiating table.” And then, “If that means layoffs, that’s where we’re going as far as an option.” Mr. Speaker, when it was pointed out that he was contradicting the letter, he added, “I don’t necessarily agree with that language in the letter.”
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier finally be straight with Saskatchewan people and commit to not ripping up contracts and not firing any more of the people who teach our kids?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is going to be no contracts ripped up with any public sector unions, with any unions representing public service providers in the province of Saskatchewan. We’ve been very clear about that, however, that we need to find another 3.5 per cent reduction in the overall costs of compensation for the public sector, Mr. Speaker. We’ve asked that, from our side of it, from the government management side of it, that all options remain open, Mr. Speaker. We need to respect the collective bargaining process and see what is agreed to by both the unions and management…
Wotherspoon was unimpressed with the premier’s response, saying the government “didn’t come clean to Saskatchewan people.”
Mr. Wotherspoon: — … So if nothing else, if nothing else, as the Premier’s holding his budget book and pointing to page 46 which he wrote, would he look to page 47 and at least come clean with Saskatchewan people and admit that, under the Sask. Party in the past five years alone, they’ve doubled the debt to $18 billion?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for divulging the great opposition research over there that has determined that the government wrote the budget, Mr. Speaker. Of course the government wrote the budget, as a result of, as a result of consultations that occurred prior to the budget, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the budget was tabled because it was written by the government. And in it, it highlights on page 47 that the cost savings we need to find from the public sector has to extend over a number of years. The bottom line is, the bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that we are going to allow collective bargaining to determine how those efficiencies will be achieved.
After that exchange, Regina-Lakeview MLA Carla Beck rose to demand answers from Education Minister Don Morgan on changes to the Education Act, particularly ones that gave his ministry more powers.
Ms. Beck: — Mr. Speaker, that minister is the one who is ramming through changes to The Education Act that silences local voices and gives the power to, guess who? Himself. He’ll have full control to intervene in every single aspect of our kids’ education from the director’s office to the classroom and everywhere in between.
To be fair, he’s not keeping all of the power for himself. He’s also making it easier for the cabinet to close schools. That’s right. All of the protections for rural schools and local voices, that they brought in with so much fanfare and loved to talk about, they’re now scrapping…
Mr. Speaker, does the minister not see how arrogant he looks? Does he not understand why Saskatchewan families are opposed to this out-of-touch power grab to control our kids’ education?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Education.
Hon. Mr. Morgan: — Mr. Speaker, amazingly the members opposite chose to accuse us of closing schools — this side of the House being accused by those people, the people that closed 176 schools. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know, Mr. Speaker, who writes their questions for them, but, Mr. Speaker, to whoever writes their questions, I’ve got Wollaston Lake School, Shellbrook Elementary, Shellbrook Primary/White School, Canwood Elementary, Paddockwood Elementary, Domremy School, Canora Senior Elementary School, Buchanan School, William Derby Elementary in Strasbourg, Gerald Elementary in Gerald, Kayville School in Kayville, Radville Elementary in Radville, Spruce Lake Elementary in Spruce . . .
[Interjections]
The Speaker: — I recognize the minister.
Hon. Mr. Morgan: — Crescent School in Regina, McNab School in Regina, Mable Brown School in Regina, Hawarden School in Hawarden, Elbow Elementary in Elbow, Strongfield Elementary, Togo Elementary, Grosvenor Park School in Saskatoon, Wilson School in Saskatoon, Quill Lake Elementary, St. Front School in Wadena, Weldon School in Weldon, MacDowall Elementary. Mr. Speaker, I can go on and on 176 times.
Saskatoon Centre MLA David Forbes received a similar response from the education minister.
Mr. Forbes: — You know, Mr. Speaker, that minister likes to talk about the list that’s from 20 years ago, but not about the schools that he’s putting on the chopping block today because of his actions…
The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister of Education.
Hon. Mr. Morgan: — … Mr. Speaker, first he accuses us of closing schools. Mr. Speaker, schools that we’ve built and added, a record-breaking 21 new schools: in Martensville, Lake Vista and Holy Mary; in Warman, Traditions and Holy Trinity; Saskatoon, Sylvia Fedoruk, Ernest Lindner, Colette Bourgonje, Chief Whitecap, St. Nicholas, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Lorenzo Ruiz; École Harbour Landing in Regina, Plainsview in Regina, École Wascana Plains in Regina, Scott Collegiate in Regina, St. Kateri in Regina, St. Nicholas, St. Elizabeth, Sacred Heart. And even though the member, the critic, opposed it, a new school for Connaught.
