REGINA – The province is boasting its commitment to infrastructure in the budget but critics argue a lot of the money is borrowed and that the numbers just don’t add up.
According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan’s population hit an all-time high of more than 1.1 million people and the government said investments into infrastructure are fundamental to keep up with that growth.
The budget allocates $1.3 billion to infrastructure, the largest allocation in Saskatchewan’s history and up around 50 per cent from last year.
The funding begins a $5.8 billion, four year Saskatchewan Builds Capital Plan, which will support construction and maintenance on schools, health care facilities, municipal infrastructure, and highways.
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Regina’s mayor described the budget as positive for municipalities and said the plans for infrastructure funding are a positive signal as to what’s to come.
“In the broad stroke of the budget it meets our priorities and there’s nothing that’s been taken off the table for infrastructure so we think that’s very good,” he said.
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Meantime, Deputy Mayor of the City of Moose Jaw, Don Mitchell, said the four year plan is crucial for projects council has committed to.
“We’ve already designated projects so those will be going ahead. So not a bad news day overall given the possible circumstances people were worried about.”
Some infrastructure funding highlights from the 2015-2016 budget:
- $581M in 2015-1016 for transportation infrastructure to fund projects like the second phase of the Regina bypass, and twinning of Highway 6 & 39 from Regina to Estevan.
- $74.5M for K-12 schools with over $900M invested to build and renovate schools over the next four years
- $74.5M for municipal infrastructure with plans to invest more than $400M over the next four years
- $256.4M for health capital with plans to invest more than $700 million in health facilities including the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford – Integrated Correctional Facility
The provincial opposition said investing in infrastructure is crucial, but is critical of the province’s numbers.
NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon was quick to point out the province is borrowing $700 million in order to fund some of these projects. He said the bulk of investments toward education are from P3s, or private public partnerships.
“We know in education for example we have a $1.5 billion deficit. We have schools that have been found structurally unsound and are propped up with two-by-fours,” he told reporters. “The numbers just aren’t there.”
The province also announced it will now fund 100 per cent of the capital costs for all new and already announced school projects.
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