Affordability cheque rollout has Saskatchewan NDP on edge

The Saskatchewan NDP wants kids to have $500 affordability cheques in their pockets, just like the province’s adults.

NDP Affordability Critic Trent Wotherspoon said the rollout of cheques does not help single-income parents trying to raise children.

“It’s a matter of fairness, and Saskatchewan families are facing a crushing cost of living crisis and it costs a ton to raise children,” Wotherspoon said this week at the Legislative Building.

Wotherspoon said it’s feasible with huge windfall revenues coming in through the first quarter. Adding in children would add another fifth to the total cost, adding up to an extra $150,000,000.

About 900,000 Saskatchewan residents will be mailed cheques in total.

“If (government officials) don’t do it, I think they are really out of touch. This is a government that denied Saskatchewan people back at budget time,” said Wotherspoon. “They hid and hoarded windfall revenues from Saskatchewan people all to deny the support for Saskatchewan people that they needed and deserved.”

Wotherspoon said the affordability cheques are just a band-aid solution. Other costs like power and energy hikes are extra costs on the bill.

“This is a one-time support. We are calling on the government to bring down those costs that they are cranking up,” said Wotherspoon.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said the affordability cheques have gone to print.

“I think it’s a little late for (the NDP) to come out and ask for a change when they know that the cheques are coming out very shortly,” said Harpauer.

Harpauer said the provincial government’s option for affordability relief is better because everyone in a single-income family would receive more with $500 rather than the NDP solution of $105 per person for every person in each family.

“It’s the NDP desperate to criticize,” said Harpauer.

Harpauer’s justification for the government’s decision for only sending cheques to adults is they can be sent out faster by going through the tax system.

“We had a lot of discussion as to what we should do overall and we just felt that this is a very quick and clean way to do it,” said Harpauer.

Harpauer says the government does address children’s needs in many of programs. Saskatchewan currently has the highest tax exemption for children in our country, Harpauer said, as well as the Active Child Benefit and Subsidized Children’s Drug Plan.

In order to follow through with the NDP’s suggestions, the provincial government would have to backtrack all the cheques through the government, Harpauer said.