Saskatchewan Minute: Issue 123

Saskatchewan Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Saskatchewan politics.

📅 This Week In Saskatchewan: 📅

• Speed cameras will return to Saskatchewan roads in August after sitting inactive for much of the summer. SGI announced last Tuesday that it has reached a deal with Global Traffic Group to become the new vendor for the Province's photo speed enforcement program, after previous vendor Verra Mobility Systems ended its agreement with SGI earlier than expected at the end of May and left several cameras out of service. According to SGI, the program will continue to work the same way under the new vendor, with equipment located near all the same general areas as before. The existing camera boxes will be retired and replaced with pole-mounted cameras, and while there are no new locations, there may be slight adjustments to where the poles are placed within each pre-approved zone. SGI says the transition has not affected photo speed enforcement in work zones, where cameras have been operating without interruption.
  
  
• Premier Scott Moe is asking Ottawa to help fund three event centre projects in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford. Moe has written to federal Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Gregor Robertson seeking funding through the federal government's Build Communities Strong Fund for Saskatoon's Downtown Event and Entertainment District, the Prince Albert Convention and Cultural Event Centre and the Battlefords Arena and Event Centre. The provincial government says it is prepared to cost-match federal contributions up to a maximum of one-third of eligible project costs if the projects receive funding approval. The price tags are substantial: the City of Saskatoon estimated in 2024 that its downtown district would cost about $1.2 billion, while the Prince Albert facility is estimated at about $135 million and the North Battleford facility at about $94 million. Prince Albert has already secured $15 million in federal funding for its project. The Province claims the developments would boost economic growth, expand housing and tourism opportunities, and provide space for emergency response during natural disasters.
  
  
• The Premier is also facing questions over his trip to Washington, DC for the funeral of late US Senator Lindsey Graham, with the Opposition calling on him to disclose the cost to taxpayers. NDP Trade and Export Development critic Kim Breckner has written to Moe asking him to confirm whether public money funded the trip and, if so, to immediately disclose the total cost and a breakdown of expenses. Breckner argued that if Moe and Graham had a personal relationship, the Premier should have attended at his own expense, while NDP Leader Carla Beck questioned why the trip was a priority, noting Graham was one of US President Donald Trump's closest allies. The provincial government defended the trip, saying Moe travelled in his capacity as Premier, attended the funeral alongside Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, and met with Canada's ambassador to the US, the country's chief trade negotiator, and three members of the US cabinet. A government spokesperson said the travel costs will be reported "in due course" through Saskatchewan's online disclosure of out-of-province ministerial travel and expenses.
  
  
• Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill claims the Province's plan to attract health-care workers is delivering results, with more than 7,500 professionals joining the workforce since the Health Human Resources Action Plan launched in 2022. The Province says it has recruited 742 physicians, including 369 family physicians and 373 specialists, as well as 3,000 nurses, from countries including the US, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Philippines. The Opposition is questioning whether the recruitment spending is producing results, with NDP labour critic Nathaniel Teed arguing that taxpayers' dollars keep being spent without new physicians being added to the rolls. The president of a union representing more than 14,000 health-care workers in the province, Bashir Jalloh of CUPE Local 5430, says the ministry should focus on retaining its current workforce before recruiting overseas. Cockrill says the Province will now shift its international recruitment focus toward the United Kingdom and Ireland and away from the US, with a recruitment mission to the two countries planned for this fall.
  
  
• A new report from the C.D. Howe Institute estimates Saskatchewan could save billions of dollars by replacing its aging coal-fired power plants with natural gas generation rather than refurbishing them. The analysis, prepared by University of Regina associate professor of economics Brett Dolter, finds that refurbishing and operating SaskPower's three coal-fired stations for the next 20 years would cost $30.2 billion, or $46.4 billion with carbon pricing factored in. Four new combined cycle gas plants of equivalent output, backed by wind and solar, would instead cost $17.5 billion to build and operate until 2050, or $21.6 billion with carbon pricing included. Dolter says the savings approach a billion dollars or more per year, working out to roughly $800 per person in Saskatchewan annually. SaskPower plans to refurbish the coal plants as a bridge to future nuclear power. The provincial government had no immediate response to the analysis, but has previously argued that natural gas comes primarily from Alberta while burning coal creates jobs in Saskatchewan's mining sector.

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