The Saskatchewan government is raising the power rates by 8% after already introducing 32 new taxes and fees..Saskatchewan’s inflation rate sits at 4.7% as of February 2022, which is below the national rate of 5.7%..NDP SaskPower critic Aleana Young accused the government of continually making life more expensive..“Despite a massive windfall in provincial revenues, the Saskatchewan Party continues to nickel and dime Saskatchewan families, farms and small businesses,” said Young. .“It’s clear the government has the money to give people a break. What’s less clear is whether they will do anything about the crushing financial hardship more and more are facing, and scrap this rate hike.”.“Inflation, the cost of gas and sky-high food prices are stretching families and businesses beyond breaking point. Instead of helping them get back on their feet, the Saskatchewan Party decided to make life even more expensive.”.Don Morgan, minister of Crown Investments Corporation, describes the process of how the rate increases work with Crown corporations..“There’s a process that it goes through. It goes through the utilities review process. It comes back to cabinet. We’re not prepared to prejudge that process. We’re quite prepared to allow the process to proceed and respect the independence of that process,” said Morgan..Young explained this rate increase is the fourth since 2016 and residents will pay 18% more for power in 2024 than in 2016..“First, they introduced 32 new taxes and fee hikes. Now they want to increase power bills for the fourth time since 2016. We need a government that will make life more affordable, not one determined to squeeze Saskatchewan people for every last penny,” said Young..In the Legislature, Morgan talked about what the increase goes to including paying capital costs, operating costs, and collective bargaining agreements..“The expectation from all of our Crowns is that they charge enough money that it recovers the costs of capital, the costs of operating. Within those expenses are collective bargaining agreements that have been negotiated over the years, people that the members opposite should be supportive of,” said Morgan..“I don’t expect that they want to go back to those people that are working in those Crowns and say, you don’t get the raise that you’re entitled to.” .Young objects to Morgan blaming the workers for the increase and not the government mismanagement of SaskPower. .“I see it’s the fault of the workers. It has nothing to do with the GTH (Global Transportation Hub), carbon capture boondoggle, this government’s misspending,” said Young..Morgan continued to give reasons for the increase, such as the nuclear power development, and pointed out that Saskatchewan has the second-lowest utility rates in Canada..“Support for the small modular reactors that are under active consideration. It’s a time-consuming process and their support would be appreciated, especially when dealing with the federal government,” said Morgan..“I’d welcome their assistance with the nuclear file as we go forward. They’re fully aware of what those costs are. And, Mr. Speaker, I would close by pointing out we have the second-lowest utility bundle in Canada.”.Chris Oldcorn is a Western Standard Reporter based in Regina.,coldcorn@westernstandard.news,Twitter: @chrisoldcorn,.Parler: @chrisoldcorn
