Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce outlines provincial election wishlist

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce is highlighting what it is looking for from the political parties in the upcoming provincial election.

‘Fueling Momentum 2024’, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s policy outlook, is based on data from consultation and research with members of the province’s business community, the Chamber says.

“This is a pivotal time for the province. We are positioned to become a critically important partner in addressing global food insecurity and energy transition. Over the coming four years, the Saskatchewan government needs to continue to capitalize on the province’s vast potential to fuel growth and new investment,” said Prabha Ramaswamy, CEO, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.

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Ramaswamy said the Chamber’s document aims to help Saskatchewan take advantage of opportunities facing the province by focusing on implementing and maintaining policies.

“There are tremendous opportunities ahead for Saskatchewan, but it is imperative that we build a competitive business climate that supports growth of small, medium, and large businesses in the province. We need to encourage faster adoption of solutions and policies necessary to continue the fueling of our next decade of growth.”

This policy comes with five pillars: competitive taxes and affordable living; food, fuel, fertilizer and critical minerals; attract and grow investment; energy transformation; and invest in what matters.

Each of these pillars comes with several recommendations, including reducing the provincial sales tax to 5 per cent from 6 per cent, reducing the corporate income tax rate to 10 per cent, diversifying the province’s export markets, analyzing the local vendor supply chain to address gaps, increasing support for small modular reactors in Saskatchewan, and lowering the age that youth can work down to 13 years of age.

Ramaswamy added that one of the most critical factors is to build business owner confidence. “Implementing policies to increase business confidence will be critical to increasing business investment, which is essential to fully realizing the opportunities available in Saskatchewan.”