75-Minute Debate (8 May 2025)

From Hansard (8 May 2025)

To view this section on video, click here and start play at 11:36:35 AM.

Management of Provincial Economy

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by Sean Wilson (Sask Party - Canora-Pelly):

That this Assembly supports the government’s work in diversifying the economy which has led to the second-highest rate of job growth, the lowest unemployment rate, the second-highest GDP growth, and the highest rate of private capital investments in Canada.

Megan Patterson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, as a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative and business instructor, am proud to support this motion. Let’s break down the motion a little bit and talk about how the strong economic indicators are related to each other.

So let’s start with capital investment. We have attracted the highest level of private capital investment in this nation. Private capital investment drives GDP [gross domestic product] growth; we have the second-highest GDP growth in this country. GDP growth and capital investment drive job creation; we have the second-highest job creation in this province. Job creation obviously is going to lower our unemployment rate; we have the lowest unemployment rate in this country. So I am actually proud to sit on this side of the House and represent a government who is literally giving a case study on growing an economy.

Now this didn’t just happen by accident. It didn’t just happen because we changed our mind one day that, you know, we were going to instead value something different. It’s because of thoughtful policy decisions that have been made over many years. And these decisions are based on the guiding principles of this party, the principles that this party was founded on, principles that include: the private sector is the engine of job creation and our economy.

And this is important because without a strong economy, we can’t do the important things. We can’t offer the people of this province the services that they need and deserve. And at the same time, in this last budget we were able to offer affordability measures for families. So building and continuing to grow our economy through diversification strategies in our export market, through incentives that encourage and stimulate investment in our economy, and policies that support the private sector are what we will continue to do.

In the last 17 years this driving principle, this founding principle that growth in the private sector is literally the foundation of our strength, is not only a founding principle, but it’s a north star. The Saskatchewan growth plan has been our road map to strengthening this economy. It is a plan to diversify and expand our province’s resource base. Our growth plan emphasizes diversifying our export market, attracting investment, and fostering innovation to build a robust and diversified economy.

The government has lowered and capped the business tax rate at 1 per cent. We have a stable regulatory environment that businesses can rely on. We have a red tape reduction committee that has actually saved businesses over $600 million since 2015. This government has removed the carbon tax for businesses. These are all policy decisions that were thoughtfully made by this government that support the success of the private sector.

In 2024 total private capital investment was 19.9 billion, up 16.9 per cent from 2022. And it’s expected to increase another 10.8 per cent in 2025 to $22 billion. So these policies that support the private sector are clearly working.

Mr. Speaker, the Fraser Institute put out a survey to mining companies in 2023, and the results came back that this province was seen to be the best jurisdiction in Canada to invest in for mining companies, and the third-best jurisdiction in all of the world to invest in for mining companies. So that explains why BHP is investing in Saskatchewan. The world’s largest potash mine will be right here in Saskatchewan.

This represents the most significant capital investment in this province’s history, at $14 billion. This again will be one of the largest potash mines in the world, and it will help to feed the growing population in the world. Once ramped up, it’s expected to generate approximately 8.5 million tonnes every year, with plans for growth in the longer term.

The mine development will offer up to $1 billion in contract opportunities for Indigenous populations. The expansion will create thousands, thousands of jobs during the construction phase and will result in hundreds of permanent full-time positions once it’s up and running.

This government continues to offer targeted incentives to stimulate investment in our economy, and this is thoughtful, strategic decision making. The manufacturing and processing profits tax reduction for example, the manufacturing and processing investment tax credit, the Saskatchewan value-added agricultural incentive are a few examples. These incentives are working. They’re working to stimulate investment in our country, in our province, and even in the city of Moose Jaw.

One example is Donald’s Fine Foods, who made a multi-million-dollar investment to open a new sow harvest and processing facility in our community, the first new pork processing facility in Canada in nearly a decade. Once fully operational, they expect to employ nearly 500 people in Moose Jaw.

Another example in our flourishing city of Moose Jaw is Simpson Seeds. Simpson Seeds is a family-owned agricultural company. They are currently in the process of creating a new flour mill that will produce lentil flour. This investment will enhance value-added processing within the province, reducing reliance on overseas facilities, supporting local farmers, and again providing more plant protein to feed our growing population across the globe.

These significant investments in value-added agriculture, processing, mining are examples of private capital investment that will continue to drive our GDP, create more jobs, and reduce our unemployment rate.

So, Mr. Speaker, we know that Saskatchewan has the food, fuel, and fertilizer that the rest of the world needs. So we’ve diversified our export markets to reduce reliance on one country, especially important in today’s tariff-fuelled environment. People and our jobs are growing. Construction is driving most of the job growth in the province. Construction jobs are up 25 per cent. And why are they up? Because private capital investment is driving construction in this province as well as our growing population. With 1.25 million people in this province, we need schools, hospitals, and houses.

So it’s through these measures that we’ll continue to see growth in our economy, not just for the sake of growth but so that we can provide a better quality of life for people in the province.

---

Following 65 minutes of debate, there is a ten-minute question and answer period. The following section begins at 12:16:05 in the video link provided above.

Nathaniel Teed: — Mr. Speaker, will the member from Moose Jaw Wakamow please tell the Assembly how many protections were put in place for jobs and workers against Donald Trump’s tariffs?

Megan Patterson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has one of the strongest job-creation records in this nation, and we will continue to support the policies that encourage private sector growth, that encourage and incent investment in our economy. And we’ll just continue along that path. Thank you.

---

The next section begins at 12:19:20 in the video link provided above.

Hugh Gordon: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, it’s pretty simple. If you want to nip this in the bud and provide that kind of assurance to our businesses, our industries, and the people that work here, you vote for our motion and make sure that this province stays in Canada.

So to the member from Moose Jaw Wakamow: does that member think separating from Canada would benefit job growth in Saskatchewan?

Megan Patterson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to thank the member opposite for the question. So, Mr. Speaker, our government believes in choice. We believe that choice is a good thing — choice in export markets, choice in different types of power generation, an all-of-the-above approach in power generation as an example of the choice that we want to offer the residents of this province. Thank you.

---

The next section begins at 12:22:30 in the video link provided above.

Sally Housser: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. To the member from Moose Jaw Wakamow, who represents in their riding frankly a number of some of the anxieties and issues we see that are indicators of not the province that is doing the best — some of those indicators of anxiety about feeding your children, about high mortgage arrears, about homelessness, about health care outcomes. Mr. Speaker, with all those things where we’re the lowest in the country in terms of education, health care, crime rates, mortgage arrears, how can she say to the members of her constituency that this is an economy that’s working for them?

Megan Patterson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. This government is supporting policies, enacting policies that incent growth and investment, and we’re seeing that investment in the city of Moose Jaw.

We’ve seen Simpson Seeds actually moving up the value chain. They’re in the process of building a lentil flour plant right now, as we speak. That’s amazing. We also have Donald’s Fine Foods opening the first sow plant and processing plant in the country in a decade, in Moose Jaw, in Saskatchewan. So this means jobs and growth in our city.

These jobs and growth allow us to have the money and revenue to invest in the things that the residents of our community need.