Dear Premier Moe:
CC: My MLA
I was hoping this year’s budget would mean a new direction for Saskatchewan. But instead, your government’s hold-the-line 2018-19 budget does not begin to undo the harm that your 2017 budget inflicted on Saskatchewan families and communities.
Cuts are still hurting children with disabilities. STC is still gone. The Meewasin Valley Authority is still seriously underfunded. Seniors are still paying more for long-term care. Working families are still paying tax on kids’ clothes, home repairs, and restaurant meals. Post-secondary students face skyrocketing tuition fees and cuts to their programs. The number of workers who provide vital public services is being cut back. And now, people who need support to keep a roof over their heads are being told that their housing supplement is disappearing.
For the past decade, many programs have been chronically underfunded, and yet your government still chose to give millions to the highest income earners in this province. Corporate income tax will only make up 4 percent of government revenues this year, down from almost 10.5 percent in 2010-11.
Saskatchewan people did not choose to overspend on high-priced consultants, costly mega-projects, and shady land deals. It was the Wall government that made bad decisions, like handing tens of millions of dollars to ineffective Lean consultants, giving away liquor revenue to out-of-province businesses, and handing nearly $2 billion to a French multinational to build a bypass around Regina.
As the new premier, I ask that you take a different approach from your predecessor – one that puts Saskatchewan people first. We can afford to do better for working families; we can’t afford not to.
Under your leadership, government could ditch its costly megaprojects, roll back pay hikes for political staff, eliminate the three new MLAs that have been added, keep revenue-generating public assets like public liquor stores, and stop spending tens of millions on private consultants.
I am standing up for Saskatchewan when I say that I want you to stop making the people of this province pay the price for the Sask Party government’s mistakes. I want you to govern differently from Wall. Stop and reverse all of the cuts that are hurting seniors, working families and school kids. Rebuild and strengthen our public services. Keep our Crowns serving Saskatchewan people. Build on the programs and services that have always made Saskatchewan a place where people are taken care of.
There is a better way.
Sincerely,
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