Saskatchewan’s Premier Brad Wall and his cabinet fielded questions on a wide range of topics from Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) delegates during the group’s bear pit session at their annual conference.
The roughly hour-long question and answer period on Wednesday gave delegates a chance to ask provincial ministers about their policies and initiatives. Wall also used the session to again warn SUMA’s members that his government will consider all of its options as it deals with a $1.2 billion budget deficit.
“Everything has to be on the table,” Wall said in response to a question from Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark about the province’s revenue sharing agreement with municipalities.
“It’d be unfair if I were to say to you that there would be no change at all to the financial partnership in the short term … because we haven’t made the decision yet.”
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Government officials also fielded questions surrounding its exercise in transformational change. The process has led to a review of the province’s educational system and a decision to consolidate the province’s health regions.
“This isn’t about front line staff, this is about management and this is about governance,” Saskatchewan Health Minister Jim Reiter said in response to a concern about job and services losses due to the health care decision.
“We’re committed to ensuring that we provide a system across the province that’s reliable and northern Saskatchewan is certainly a significant part of that.”
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A number of municipal leaders from northern Saskatchewan also posed questions to the cabinet regarding infrastructure and mental health support for the region. Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit responded to an inquiry by saying the government has focused “predominantly on northern recruitment and retention” to fill mental health positions.
The bear pit session comes at the end of SUMA’s four-day annual convention, where the provincial budget deficit was front and centre. Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said his takeaway from the conference was “that the province has a big problem they’re trying to fix.”
“As a mayor of a city in this province, I understand that, it is not easy,” Fougere said
“I also understand and must say that they have an obligation to proceed in a way that is compassionate and understanding. I am not saying they wouldn’t be doing that, but they have to understand the reality of what’s happening in our province.”
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