Affordability, home ownership likely in the cards for throne speech

On Wednesday afternoon, the Saskatchewan Party government will lay out its priorities in what will likely be the last Speech from the Throne before next fall’s expected provincial election.

Now that the government’s pronoun policy has been passed into law in an emergency sitting, the government will be able to move on to its other priorities. Premier Scott Moe hinted at some items that could be included in the speech on Monday in an interview with CKOM and CJME’s John Gormley.

“I think you can look for something in the housing space that is really going to help Saskatchewan people own a home,” said Moe.

The premier said his government needs to be sure it’s addressing affordability for people in Saskatchewan. He mentioned the federal government’s GST rebate on rental housing, and said Saskatchewan has been looking at the housing market to see where it could have the biggest impact.

Moe said his government is also looking to build the provincial economy, from a capital perspective but also in services.

“With all of the uncertainty happening in Canada and around the world today, and we very much in this province as an exporting province, we have a global presence. We need to protect what we have built – our economy (and) what we are doing with that economy, in expanding health-care services, education services,” said Moe.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)

Last month, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said her opposition party’s focus this fall will be health care and the cost of living – two of the topics she and her MLAs say they’ve been hearing about from people on doorsteps around the province.

Specifically, Beck has raised issues around access to family medicine, MRI waiting lists, recruiting and retaining doctors, and health-care professionals having a seat at the table when it comes to conversations around health with the government.

The throne speech is expected to be delivered shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

The premier’s full interview with John Gormley can be heard below.

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