REGINA – The Saskatchewan government will table legislation this spring to sell 40 of the 75 government-owned liquor stores.
Deputy premier Don McMorris says there will 25 to 30 pieces of legislation introduced during the spring sitting of the legislature.
It’s a new session of the legislature following the April 4 election.
Members of the legislature – 51 for the governing Saskatchewan Party and 10 Opposition New Democrats – took the oath of office in the assembly Monday.
Today will see the election of the Speaker and a throne speech, which sets out the government’s agenda for the sitting.
READ MORE: MLAs are sworn in for Saskatchewan’s 28th Legislative Assembly
Interim NDP Leader Trent Wotherspoon won’t say much about the Opposition’s plan for the sitting, but says raising education issues will be key.
“Clearly this government hasn’t gotten the job done the way they should in education. This will be a clear priority for us,” Wotherspoon said Monday at the legislature in Regina.
“There’s little more important than education. It’s the foundation of our future. We have to get it right for kids today. It has consequences if we don’t, so we need to be making these investments,” Wotherspoon added.
But investments in terms of money could be tough.
The much-anticipated provincial budget is expected to be tabled June 1.
Premier Brad Wall has already said the budget will be tight as the government works to balance the books by 2017. Falling oil prices have pushed Saskatchewan into deficit.
McMorris says the economy will be the priority because a strong economy creates jobs.
“I think you’ll see us moving in that direction through the session. We didn’t make a lot of promises during the campaign, but having said that we also know that it’s really driven around the economy,” said McMorris.
“That’s what we’ll be talking about lots.”
Watch the Throne speech live
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