Time for Sask Party to Face Reality

COMMENTARY - After two years of record government revenues, the Saskatchewan Party recently had to cut $102 million in spending to offset their massive miscalculation of potash revenues. In August they revealed that potash revenues would be $1.3 billion less than they had forecast, and recently have speculated that the shortfall could be as high as $1.5 billion.

These developments echo what the Saskatchewan Liberals have been warning against for over a year: our provincial economy is far too reliant on resource revenues and government spending is out of control.

The Saskatchewan Party has recklessly spent the resource wealth just as quickly as it came in by increasing spending by a whopping 22% between 2007 and 2009. This is the same party that claimed in 2007 that they would ensure the size of government would not grow faster than the population.

We are clearly headed for a deficit this year as the Saskatchewan Party now admits they may have to use the Growth and Financial Security Fund in order to ‘balance’ the budget. This is the same party that criticized the previous administration for ‘balancing’ budget deficits this way. It seems that Saskatchewan Party government is not different at all from statist NDP government.

The reality is that in their weak attempts to cut spending they have made no tough choices. Since taking office the Saskatchewan Party has been incapable of making hard decisions, and until now they haven’t had to because Saskatchewan’s economic circumstances have been incredibly good.

The continued culture of indecision and wild spending does not bode well for our future.