April 18, 2024 | Advertise with us

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Premier and Cabinet face municipal leaders in ‘bear pit’ session

Delegates at the SUMA convention wrapped up their annual gathering with everybody’s favourite thing: a bear pit session with the Premier and provincial cabinet ministers. This is the last time these municipal leaders will be able to interact in this forum before the next provincial election.

Councillors and representatives from Lumsden, Regina, Humboldt, Grand Coulee, Prince Albert, Coronach, and other urban municipalities took to their feet to raise concerns from their local communities and ask members of the cabinet directly. Questions raised ranged from increased addiction support in rural areas to libraries, to what the government’s plan is for coal mines until 2030.

One delegate asked if Premier Scott Moe would apologize to the unvaccinated in the province. Moe replied, saying he tried to find a balance during the pandemic, as ICU beds were full. The decisions were made because of the strains on the health system, and not many had a lot of answers then. He says we hope to not face that situation again.

The bear pit session can be viewed in its entirety here. The SUMA convention is now concluded until next year.

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Government defends supporting client needs as NDP alleges wrongdoing in hotel procurement

Opposition NDP MLA Meara Conway has focused her time in question period recently asking Gene Makowsky, the Minister of Social Services, about hotel procurement. She alleges that Sask. Party MLA for Regina Northeast Gary Grewal is benefiting from government contracts with hotels to service social services clients.

In a media statement released Tuesday, Conway attached figures received from the committee and said, “It’s there in black and white. This looks to be a clear example of corruption. The Sask. Party has tried to hide and cover up this scandal for months. This is worse than anything we could have ever imagined. It’s time for Minister Makowsky to come clean on what he knew and when.”

The government is defending their decision. Jeff Redekopp is the executive director of income assistance service delivery at the Ministry of Social Services and he categorically denied the allegations. “Frontline staff are looking for what options are available for clients who are in need. The ministry has generally no knowledge of who owns the hotel and has never been instructed by government to use a certain hotel. It’s about the needs of the client.”

A pilot project is underway to examine how the ministry procures hotels. MLA Gary Grewal is not running for re-election.

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Moe comments on federal budget

Premier Scott Moe was unsurprisingly not shy about commenting and criticizing Tuesday’s federal budget.

Moe said the near $40 billion deficit is “more than we are willing to bear.” On the topic of the carbon tax, Moe pointed out the increase and said it was a “swing and a miss.” The Premier suggested that the funds dedicated to housing be instead reallocated in municipal infrastructure funding, saying “A house being built without water or sewer services is not that valuable to a municipality.”

Since the budget’s release on Tuesday there have also been a number of stories and discussion on the changes made to capital gains taxation. Canada’s tech industry has been critical of the changes, and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce also expressed concern on the new policy.

(Global News)

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More news and info

• Trump hush money trial: Prosecutors want to question Trump about civil cases (ABC News)

• Bill Morneau slams Freeland’s budget nas a threat to investment, economic growth (CBC)

• Moe cautions Saskatchewan Party members over texts to legislative speaker (CKOM News)

• Six protestors arrested in attempted blockade on Regina rail tracks (Regina Leader-Post)

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