Gage Haubrich is the Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.Saskatchewan Finance Minister Jim Reiter needs to look at what Newfoundland and Labrador is doing with its resource-revenue windfall and copy that strategy immediately.Newfoundland and Labrador is expecting to rake in more than $500 million in extra revenue this year because of higher oil prices.And instead of taking that extra money and using it to increase spending, Premier Tony Wakeham committed to a much more sensible strategy.“Those same elevated oil prices are hitting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at the pump and around their home heating bills,” Wakeham said. “We cannot, and should not, and will not be counting on artificially high oil prices in perpetuity.”Wakeham is right. Governments should not count on unpredictable situations in the Middle East to pad their coffers every year. But it gets better. Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Craig Pardy said 80 cents of every dollar from the windfall revenue is being earmarked to pay back the province’s debt. The other 20 cents will be used to make life more affordable for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.That’s not what happens in Saskatchewan.The Saskatchewan government released its 2026-27 First Quarter Financial Report in August. The government is taking in about $331 million more revenue than it expected to this year so far, also because of increased oil prices.Not a dollar is going to pay back debt. Not a dollar is going to tax relief. Instead, the Saskatchewan government increased spending by $337 million. That’s more than the entire windfall. That makes it twice as bad for Saskatchewan. The government isn’t paying back debt or cutting taxes. And spending this windfall leaves Saskatchewan’s finances worse off in the future. .That’s because, as Wakeham said, governments can’t count on this revenue every year. That means taxpayers will be stuck paying for the ratcheted-up spending with tax hikes or more debt.And this isn’t new behaviour. The Saskatchewan government received a big windfall in 2021. In that year, the government took in 25% more revenue than the year before. The average revenue increase was about 1% in the previous five years.The government increased spending by 25% that year. If it had held spending at the previous year’s level, the government could have paid down $2.2 billion in debt instead of increasing it by $1.4 billion.This consistent pattern of blowing windfall revenue on increased spending is making Saskatchewan’s debt problem worse.Premier Scott Moe more than doubled the provincial debt. It’s now on track to reach $26.8 billion this year, with debt interest payments costing taxpayers more than $1 billion. And instead of trying to find savings or stop spending from growing, the government increased spending in all but one of its departments in its last budget.It could have also used the windfall revenue for tax relief. The government expects to take in about $512 million this year in the fuel tax. As Wakeham points out, those high oil prices are boosting the government’s bottom line while making life less affordable for drivers at the pump.The Saskatchewan government could have suspended its 15-cent-per-litre fuel tax for about eight months without borrowing an extra dollar. A driver filling up their pickup truck once a week would save about $480 during that time.That’s what Newfoundland and Labrador did. Wakeham is cutting the provincial gas tax to zero for four months starting on December 1.But the Saskatchewan government didn’t do that either. Instead, it ratcheted up spending, leaving taxpayers to cover the cost in the future. Saskatchewanians can’t afford for the government to let another resource boom go to waste. Reiter has the blueprint from Newfoundland and Labrador. Use the windfall to pay back debt, cut taxes at the pump, or both. But don’t increase spending.Gage Haubrich is the Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
