Saskatchewan Minute: Issue 127

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

📅 This Week In Saskatchewan: 📅

• The Government of Saskatchewan is now forecasting an $825-million deficit for 2026-27, up from the $819 million projected in March's budget, according to the first-quarter financial report released Thursday. Revenue is forecast to come in $331 million higher than budgeted, almost entirely because oil prices driven up by the war in the Middle East pushed non-renewable resource revenue $320 million above expectations. However, that windfall was wiped out by spending, with expenses now forecast to be $337 million over budget, including $200 million more for the health system and higher costs for flood response and crop insurance claims. Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Jim Reiter said he wants to get back to balance and claimed there will not be any drastic cuts, but the province's gross debt is forecast to be $65 million higher than budgeted, at $43.6 billion. Opposition critic Trent Wotherspoon said a government that received a boost of hundreds of millions of dollars from an international conflict but still grew the deficit has "no fiscal credibility", and repeated the Opposition's calls to suspend the provincial gas tax and remove the PST from basic groceries and children's clothing. [Editor's Note: Though, wouldn't this just grow the deficit even more?]
  
  
• Premier Scott Moe has announced a 50% levy on American alcohol coming into Saskatchewan, in response to the 50% tariff the United States placed on Canadian alcohol on August 22nd. The levy takes effect September 8th, when the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority will apply a 50% markup to US-produced alcohol ordered by retailers. Moe said the province will not pull American products from store shelves, leaving the choice of whether to buy them up to consumers. The announcement came after Ottawa imposed counter-tariffs on $27.6 billion of US goods, which Moe said cover about $1.5 billion, or 11.3%, of Saskatchewan's annual imports from the US. The Premier also ruled out any export tariffs on natural resources, calling an export tax on potash "devastating" for Saskatchewan's economy and warning an oil export tariff would cost Canadian jobs immediately. The Opposition argues the response amounts to half measures, and has repeated its call for US liquor to be taken off store shelves entirely.
  
  
• The Government of Saskatchewan has released a framework for future data centre development, requiring that new projects be Canadian-owned and generate their own power. Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison announced the policy at the site of Bell Canada's $1.7-billion AI data centre under construction near Regina, saying the real question is where the infrastructure that powers AI will be built and whose laws will govern it. The framework sets out six principles covering Canadian ownership, data sovereignty, Saskatchewan jobs and partnerships, industry experience, self-supplied power generation, and a centralized provincial intake process. The requirement for new proponents to bring their own power is meant to ensure projects do not add pressure to the province's electricity system, although Bell's 300-megawatt facility will still draw its power from SaskPower. More than 30 data centre applications are currently under consideration by the province.
  
  
• Freedom-of-information documents obtained by the Western Standard show the Government of Saskatchewan backed Enbridge's Seven Stars wind project and identified it as a priority for federal funding well before its environmental assessment was complete. The proposed $500-million project would see 46 turbines built across the Rural Municipalities of Weyburn and Griffin in southeast Saskatchewan. In December 2024, Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison wrote to the federal government in support of the project, and weeks later Ottawa identified it as a critical regional priority for Saskatchewan, inviting Enbridge to apply for up to $50 million in federal renewable energy funding. Internal emails show officials warned that because SaskPower's power purchase agreement with Enbridge had already been awarded, any federal funding would go directly to Enbridge with no mechanism to pass savings on to ratepayers. The province did not approve the project's 953-page environmental impact statement until July 14th of this year, with the RM of Griffin voting 4-2 a week later to approve its development permit. Local residents argue the assessment contains serious gaps, including on noise, health effects, and financial guarantees for cleanup at the end of the project.
  
  
• The provincial government is proposing a change to nursing contracts that could see nurses deployed to any facility in Saskatchewan, as part of its negotiations with the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses on a collective agreement that expired in March 2024. Union president Bryce Boynton says the proposal would remove language that currently limits when nurses can be asked to work in another unit, meaning a Saskatoon nurse could be sent to North Battleford or a Regina nurse to Yorkton. He warned the change has major implications for both retention and patient safety, and says union counter-offers to limit travel distances were all denied. The health sector's bargaining agent claims the proposals are not intended to move employees involuntarily and would in some cases reduce the distance nurses are required to travel. Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill argued employee mobility is an important issue, particularly in rural areas where it could be more efficient to have workers providing services in multiple communities. Negotiations are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.

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