As gas prices jump again, the Saskatchewan minimum wage rose to $13 per hour amongst the highest inflation seen in 40 years..Canadians for Affordable Energy President Dan McTeague expects the price of gas to hit $1.95 per litre by the winter..“It could get worse. We’ll have to watch what happens in Europe as they run out of natural gas and are burning coal, oil, and diesel to make up the difference,” said McTeague..On October 1, the Saskatchewan PST went up on most entertainment and health services, including Saskatchewan Roughriders games.. Roughriders and Tiger-Cats catch .NDP leader Carla Beck accused the Sask Party of increasing the cost of living by adding PST to industries recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic just as they are trying to get “back on their feet.”.“Worse, this weekend his government moved ahead with another round of PST hikes that will make life more expensive for Saskatchewan people. As of October 1, Scott Moe is adding tax to everything from fitness to rock shows and rodeos,” said Beck. .“The decision to plow ahead with these tax hikes on industries that are just getting back on their feet will hurt Saskatchewan people and our economy. Whether it’s tax increases or hiking energy and power bills, Scott Moe could not be more out of touch with the realities Saskatchewan people are facing.”.McTeague blamed the weak Canadian dollar for why the prices keep going up..“The biggest problem in my view is, yes, the taxes suck and I oppose carbon taxes, but that aside, the Canadian dollar. It’s amazing that it has dropped so significantly … $1.37 to buy a U.S. dollar. All of our goods and commodities in Canada are based on U.S. reference prices, not the Canadian dollar,” said McTeague.. Premier Scott Moe May 31 2022 .Beck said Saskatchewan spent most of 2022 in a cost-of-living crisis and Scott Moe’s Sask Party did little to address the issue..“Saskatchewan has been in a cost-of-living crisis for most of 2022. Almost nowhere else in Canada are people so troubled by the rising costs of groceries, gas, and other basic necessities,” said Beck..“Despite receiving record resource revenues, Scott Moe still has not delivered a stitch of affordability relief to Saskatchewan families.”.McTeague said the current government policies are “not going to end very well.”.“It’s not going to end very well if the Bank of Canada continues to say, ‘We have to fight inflation.’ Maybe you should stop your green policy, stop the policy of blocking our No. 1 export, which is gas and oil, and maybe providing countries like Germany the natural gas they need,” said McTeague.
