Official Opposition Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon and Jobs and Economy Critic Aleana Young have asked the government to provide cost-of-living relief as Premier Scott Moe said the government would do during the spring legislative session..Wotherspoon said the government talked about affordability relief, but did nothing..“The government is flush with resource revenues and they know it,” said Wotherspoon..“They promised affordability relief at the end of the first quarter and didn’t deliver. Either the Sask Party doesn’t care about the record inflationary pressures or they’re waiting to buy votes on the eve of a by-election all while Saskatchewan people suffer today.”.The Saskatchewan government said many times during the Spring Legislative session it would distribute excess revenues back to residents. .It would be a combination of a cheque, paying down debt, or reinvesting the money into something that would benefit all Saskatchewanians, such as improved healthcare..“Premier Scott Moe and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer both indicated as we near the end of the first quarter, we will be looking at approaches that will benefit all Saskatchewan people,” said a government press release..The end of the first quarter was June 30 and, since then, the only thing the government did for the cost-of-living was approve a rate hike for SaskPower..Financial reports from the first three months of 2022 showed the government raked in $500 million in additional resource revenue above projections, which were already at a record high..Saskatchewanians have all been hit with inflation as essential items have increased in cost..Farmer and small business owner Angela Vos talked with the media about how the cost-of-living crisis affects family farming..“The current cost-of-living crisis is crushing family farming. The recent utility increases approved by this government will mean astronomical costs to maintain our family farm,” said Vos. .“We don’t have a choice. This will be extremely difficult in the winter months. I can’t believe how out of touch this government is with the needs of rural Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan families.”.Young pointed out how other provincial governments provided relief, whereas the Saskatchewan government is the only provincial government to do nothing..“Other provincial governments have provided affordability relief to the people they represent. The Sask Party government has done nothing while sitting on record revenues. In fact, they’ve hiked taxes, utilities and fees,” said Young. .“I certainly hope that this government isn’t politicizing cash-strapped families by waiting for a by-election to announce relief measures.”.Young called on the government to reverse the utility rate hike and do quarterly reviews, like Manitoba does..“The government must be focused on making life more affordable for families. The utility rate hikes need to be reversed, and going forward quarterly rate reviews are necessary to ensure fairness for ratepayers,” said Young..Young told the media “people work hard for their money” and “deserve to be rewarded for their hard work.”
