SASKATOON – When Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall heard how his main opponent in the current provincial election was characterizing a multi-million dollar decrease in education spending, he harkened back to an interaction the two had a week earlier.
“Well he’s not telling the truth again,” said Wall, of Saskatchewan NDP Leader Cam Broten’s charge that the government cut $50 million from the education budget.
“If this were the debate, I’d say there he goes again.”
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It’s another case of he-said, he-said on the 2016 provincial campaign trail. On Tuesday Broten promised to reverse the funding cut, while Wall described the decrease as “savings,” found in administration, not front-line staff.
“Mr. Broten’s been campaigning for three weeks and saying, we need to cut some inefficiencies in government, cut management and put it towards the front line,” said Wall on Tuesday to reporters in Regina.
“That’s exactly what this is all about.”
“For the Sask Party to try to pretend that a $51.3 million cut isn’t going to be felt in the classroom is ridiculous,” contended Broten, at a campaign stop in Martensville on the same day.
Broten said the effects of the cuts can be seen in the Prairie Spirit School Division, which recently announced it may lay off dozens of employees to make up for a budget shortfall.
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“That will have a huge impact on the classroom,” said Broten of the potential layoffs.
A Saskatchewan Party official pointed out in an email that the division has seen an increase in funding each year since 2007, totalling roughly $24.2 million.
Whoever is victorious in next week’s election should put education front and centre in their plan for the province, according to Shannette Classen, a parent with two children in the Prairie Spirit system. She said the potential cuts would hurt.
“We should just sit down and figure out how do we fix this, instead of pointing fingers, and he did this and she did and they spent this much money,” said Classen.
“My biggest worry is that we’re going to have to move out of the school division.”
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