Budget Debate (23 March 2026)

From Hansard (23 March 2026)

To view this section on video, click here and start play at 8:26:30 PM.

Budget Debate

Megan Patterson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a great privilege to rise in this Chamber and to respond to the budget. I want to begin by saying how deeply honoured I am to serve the people of Moose Jaw Wakamow and the province of Saskatchewan. I also want to congratulate the Minister of Finance and his team on their second budget.

Of course I also want to thank my family for their love and their support which allows me to do this important work. I especially want to thank my husband, Sean, who thankfully is no stranger to this type of work. He is a wonderful husband to our three sons and runs them to activities when I’m gone. He is a strong and steady anchor that keeps our family centred.

I also want to thank my parents for supporting our family and stepping in when needed by helping with meals, making puffed wheat cake, giving the boys rides, sharing a joke or words of encouragement. I am so blessed to be the daughter of George and Colleen Patterson.

My father took over Patterson Paints and Floor Coverings from my grandfather, Dan Patterson. This store was located on Main Street in Moose Jaw, and it was a successful business until it was devastated by a fire. My father then decided to go back to law school and take advantage of the freedom and opportunity that we have in our province to forge our own futures. He graduated from law school and became a successful lawyer in Moose Jaw.

My mother taught for 30 years in Moose Jaw. They’re both incredible people that had a positive impact on the community and many individuals. I am fortunate to have had them as role models and have them play such a pivotal role in the lives of my sons.

I also want to thank my constituency assistants Denise Maki and Carol Acton for their ability to connect with constituents and to keep me organized. They are both incredible people that I love spending time with and chatting to. They probably appreciate the time that I’m in session so that they can catch up rather than have me chat their ears off. I also want to thank Sarah Wright, a communications consultant who I am fortunate to have.

I also would like to thank the staff here at the legislature for all they do behind the scenes.

It’s truly an honour to work every day to improve the lives of the people in Saskatchewan and Moose Jaw Wakamow. So before I respond directly to the budget, I’d like to reflect on the past year. I just want to reflect on the leadership that I’ve seen on this side of the House. It truly has been a pleasure to be a part of this team.

When I graduated from the College of Commerce, Mr. Speaker, the NDP were in power. I graduated with a commerce degree. And very few people in my graduating class or the year before or the year after even considered staying in Saskatchewan. I accepted a job in Toronto and worked there for 12 years.

In those days, Saskatchewan was a great place to be from. But after the Saskatchewan Party won government and we had our first son, we came back to Saskatchewan to raise our family. I’m proud to say that due to our Sask Party policies and management, Saskatchewan is now the best province to be in.

I was honoured to be a part of the first Get A Life campaign run by the city of Moose Jaw. I was an example of someone who had left the province years prior when the opposition was in power, and then came back, came back for a better quality of life and a great place to live, work, and raise my family.

Saskatchewan has the lowest unemployment rate in Canada, and it is the most affordable place for a family of four despite the economic headwinds that we’ve been facing across the country. This year has been a particularly volatile one in terms of tariffs, trade, and global conflict. We are not immune to the effect of these events, and so they have affected our economy and our finances.

In our ’26-27 budget, we do have a deficit, but due to our diverse economy and growing export markets, we are better positioned than most provinces to weather these impacts. Our team understands the importance of a strong economy. We understand how critical it is to build an economic framework to attract investment and to be strategic in our relationships with stakeholders.

Our Premier is the strong and steady anchor of our province, especially during times like this of uncertainty. Our Premier understands that in order to represent the best interests of the people of our province, he needs to focus on shared interests that can be mutually beneficial to important stakeholders and partners. It is this real leadership that enabled our government to seal a deal with India in which Cameco will supply nearly $3 billion in uranium, and also attain support to explore a new pulse protein centre of excellence in India.

It is our Premier that was invited to China to assist the Prime Minister in advancing the Canada-China relationship and to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties. The result was an agreement between the two countries to remove all tariffs from canola meal and peas in addition to a reduction of tariffs on canola seed to 15 per cent. The deal was essential to restoring trade volumes and opening avenues for future trading opportunities critical for a growing world. Because we do have the food, fuel, and fertilizers countries around the world need.

Mr. Speaker, now the opposition’s strategy and negotiating tactic of condemning and criticizing partners versus building trust and focusing on joint-value solutions would not have attained these results. As an export-driven economy, the ability to build, maintain, and improve trading relationships is critical to our economic prosperity. And this is why our province continues to focus on market diversification.

And fortunately our government had the foresight to see the benefit of international engagement years ago, opening trade offices that enabled our exports to reach over 160 countries. The value of our exports has more than doubled since 2007, from 20 billion to nearly 50 billion annually.

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to sit on this side of the Assembly with a government focused on three priorities: keeping our economy strong, our communities safe, and our future secure. And our budget reflects these priorities./p>

As my colleague mentioned, choices matter. In this budget our government had a choice. We could cut services, raise taxes, or protect Saskatchewan. We chose to protect Saskatchewan.

The top two concerns we’ve heard from the people of Saskatchewan are affordability and health care. And this budget addresses both. This budget protects Saskatchewan residents with more than 2.5 billion in annual affordability measures. The budget builds on commitments made in Saskatchewan through the affordability Act by implementing this second year of the government’s four-year plan to lower provincial income tax. The personal, spousal, and equivalent-to-spouse and child tax exemptions, as well as the seniors’ supplement, will increase by 500 each year. Again, the Saskatchewan low-income tax credit will be increased by another 5 per cent on top of indexation, providing significant affordability relief for everyone in Saskatchewan.

Tax cuts combined with indexation are providing approximately 200 million in tax savings this year, meaning a family of four pays no provincial income tax on the first $65,000 of income. This, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is the highest threshold in all of Canada.

Today a family of four earning $100,000 is paying $4,400 less in personal income tax than they would have when our government was first elected in 2007. Mr. Speaker, this is significant. A family of four earning $100,000 is paying less in personal income tax today than they would have in 2007, almost 20 years ago when the NDP were in power. So this represents not one-off savings but thousands of dollars a year for families year after year.

This budget also focuses on protecting our strong economy. It protects our economy through investments in workforce development by ensuring the workers have the skills and training they need through investments in career development programs to support a growing economy. Investments like this mean opportunity — increased opportunity for families and people, opportunity for Saskatchewan people to support themselves and their families and to lead one of the highest qualities of life in world.

Saskatchewan has strong full-time growth along with the lowest unemployment rate in Canada. By keeping the small-business tax rate at 1 per cent, our government will be saving businesses $50 million annually that can be reinvested into the economy.

This is good news for our Moose Jaw downtown business association. Downtown Moose Jaw is one of the most historic and beautiful downtowns in our country. The Moose Jaw tunnels, also located downtown, welcomed over 95,000 visitors last year, making it the most visited tourist attraction in the province. Since opening in 2000, the tunnels has welcomed more than 2.3 million guests to Moose Jaw from around the world.

The Moose Jaw downtown business association has been vital in nurturing our local business community, hosting tourist events such as the Little Chicago Show & Shine, Greek Night, and Christmas In October. This year Christmas In October had sleigh rides up and down Main Street.

Their Helping Hands initiative reflects a deep commitment to community renewal, not only beautifying the downtown but also providing hope and purpose unto those on their path to recovery. Volunteers who are in recovery are empowered by honorariums and expectations. These volunteers work to beautify our downtown core by sweeping, collecting litter, and picking up broken glass and debris. And remarkably, nearly half of the participants in this 12-week program have found employment and are living independently. The Helping Hands program demonstrates the profound impact of community-driven initiatives and the ability of the human body and spirit to overcome challenges and the deep need for purpose.

Our government will continue to support local businesses by keeping tax rates at 1 per cent. Local businesses give back every day and contribute to countless community causes. They create jobs and contribute to countless events, generate the tax revenue that funds vital programs and services across the province.

Our province’s stable business climate positions the province to attract new investments. There are over 60 large-scale projects with 60 billion in private capital investment, all creating a broader tax base and a more diverse economy.

This budget will make a significant investment in infrastructure to support a growing province. Over the next four years, over 17.5 billion will be invested in capital projects to support a growing province. These investments support improvements to health facilities, schools, highways, roads, and much more.

In this budget we’ll also protect health care. We are making significant investments in the new patients-first health care plan to ensure everyone has the access to the right care at the right time in the right place.

This plan outlines 50 commitments to improve accessibility, diagnostics, and surgical wait times. Key commitments include increasing the number and expanding the scope of all health care professionals; expanding access to primary care; increasing the number and access to urgent care centres throughout the province; and continuing to recruit, train, and increase the number of doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners in our province.

Planning is under way for a new urgent health care centre in Prince Albert, North Battleford, and Moose Jaw, further demonstrating the province’s commitment to bringing care closer to home. The province will also expand diagnostic services like MRI [magnetic resonance imaging], CT [computerized tomography], and PET/CT [positron emission tomography/computerized tomography] scans. This budget provides record funding at 8.5 billion, or an increase of 5 per cent, in health care versus last year.

The budget also invests in mental health and addictions. Two hundred more addiction treatment spaces will be opened, fulfilling the government’s commitment to create 500 new addiction spaces.

In this budget this government is also protecting vulnerable people with predictable multi-year funding to municipalities for the provincial approach to homelessness to create new shelter spaces, new supportive housing spaces, and more trustee services to support individuals transitioning to supportive housing. Saskatchewan assured income disability clients will also receive a 10 per cent increase each year for the next three years for residential support benefits.

The government will be providing more support for individuals experiencing interpersonal violence, investing in programs and services close to home that enhance victim services, raise awareness of human trafficking, and improve access to legal and court-based resources. Community-based organizations that partner with the government to provide services will also receive an increase in funding of 2 per cent.

So in the ’26-27 budget, we’re also increasing municipal revenue sharing, which is increased 221.7 per cent from 2007, 2008 when our government started this program. I should repeat that. It’s increased 221 per cent since we started the program. And this is the only program like this in all of Canada. The city of Moose Jaw will receive over $4.8 million in municipal revenue sharing this year. These dollars can be used to support infrastructure investment or create jobs locally.

In this budget we’re also protecting education with an increase of $62 million. 2.5 billion will be invested into operating funding this year, which is the increase of $62 million. There will be increased funding for 50 additional support classrooms across the province, bringing the total up to 108. These classrooms provide specialized support to help students build their self-regulation skills, improve their focus, which will improve educator capacity, which will help make classrooms more effective.

New capital investments in ’26-27 include a new joint multi-use school in Martensville-Warman, a new school in Shellbrook, and a major renovation of Esterhazy High School. Moose Jaw just benefited from an over $68 million investment in the new beautiful joint-use Coteau Hills and Our Lady of Hope elementary schools.

Post-secondary institutions will benefit from a new multi-year funding agreement that offers stability and predictability. This agreement includes 3 per cent annual increases in operating funding for four years. It also safeguards students by capping annual tuition increases between 0 and 3 per cent.

Although we do have a deficit this year due to economic headwinds, we are in one of the strongest financial positions in the country. Saskatchewan has the second-lowest debt-to-GDP [gross domestic product] ratio in Canada and by far the lowest debt per capita and relative to the size of the economy of any province.

This budget protects Saskatchewan with lower taxes and critical investments in key services. Our government will manage our finances carefully and continue to reduce costs where we can with a plan to balance the budget. Our government will manage the size of our workforce and reduce expenses without eliminating current positions or compromising services.

Mr. Speaker, the ’26-27 budget protects Saskatchewan by maintaining a strong economy, continuing to lower taxes, controlling spending, and investing in critical services in a sustainable manner.

Mr. Speaker, the people who built this province didn’t see only challenges, they saw opportunity. This government will honour their legacy by doing the same — facing challenges head-on and providing even more opportunities for the people of this province. This government will continue to ensure that Saskatchewan’s economy remains strong, our communities safe, and our future secure.

I will be supporting the motion put forward by the Minister of Finance and seconded by the member from Carrot River Valley. I will not be supporting the amendment. God bless you and God bless Saskatchewan.

---

Back to 2025/2026 Session