As Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili reflects on last year’s provincial budget, he joked it only benefited the Opposition because it gave the party plenty to complain about and criticize. When it comes to this year’s budget, Meili hopes the governing Saskatchewan Party takes a different approach.
“We have a new premier, we have a new finance minister and a new leader of the Opposition. There’s been a lot of change,” Meili told reporters Thursday. “We hope to see some change.”
When the budget is tabled on Tuesday, the NDP hopes to see investments in education, housing, health care with a focus on mental health, and early childhood development.
“When you put money into early childhood development, when you put money into mental health, when you put money into those core services that make a difference in people’s lives,” Meili said. “Not only do you make a difference in peoples lives, you also grow the economy.”
READ MORE: What we know about the 2018-19 Sask. budget
Meili said those kinds of key investments will result in reduced costs in health, justice and social services.
“What we would see as really positive investments are in some of those areas that have a higher return on investment.” Meili said. “Mental health is one of those where, for each dollar you put into mental health, you see increases in your GDP and productivity; you also see significant drops in downstream costs.”
The NDP is expecting the government will run another deficit in this budget, but Meili says the party will look at whether the spending is toward worthwhile investments to lift the province from the current economic slowdown.
“What we’re really wanting to see is this government get a handle on the spending on ‘mega projects,'” Meili said. “The sorts of things like the Regina bypass.”
READ MORE: Saskatchewan teachers warn more cuts, gov’t says no budget decisions yet
Premier Scott Moe has warned that this year’s budget will be challenging. Moe said the government has learned from previous mistakes and has held more consultation meetings with stakeholders to provide a better understanding of the challenges and impacts the government is facing.
The provincial government has held consultations with Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), but couldn’t name specifics as it could reveal aspects of the budget.
“We’ve got to be looking at the way in which we use our choices now, the way we spend money now, to be planning not for the next budget or the next election, but for the next 20 years.” Meili said.
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