MLA Report From
OPINIONS
OPINIONS
OPINIONS
Nancy Heppner
Page 14 - june 16, 2016 - martensville messenger
Phone: 306-668-1093 Email: [email protected]
Saskatchewan
people
Our track record when
can expect to see work
68-1093
Email:
[email protected]
it comes to highways is
ne: 306-668-1093 Email: [email protected]
We Will All Feel the Pain
in This Coming Year
of Transformational
Change
Maybe that’s not much
comfort.
But it is better than what
rural
Saskatchewan
residents
might
be
hearing over the next
year: that it’s high time
the Saskatchewan Party
government
stopped
showing favouritism to its
rural Saskatchewan base.
A couple of points of
clarity are likely needed
here. First, the only tax
exemption in recent years
has been on feminine
hygiene products, so it
just isn’t so. Yes, Premier
Brad Wall and company
ran in 2007 on specifically
reducing the education tax
on agricultural land. And it
would be fair to say that this
Sask. Party government
has accommodated rural
needs for new schools,
hospitals and nursing
homes in a way that the
previous NDP government
didn’t. But to be fair to
both the Sask. Party and
the NDP governments,
most rural amenities have
been well established over
the decades.
The real question is
whether
they
remain
viable or even fair in a
world of increasing public
debt, structural deficits and
this new initiative outlined
in the 2016-17 budget
that Wall describes as
transformational change.
For example, Provincial
Auditor Judy Ferguson
noted in volume one of
her 2016 report that the
province’s long-standing
tax rebate for farm fuel
established in 1987 seems
to have little identifiable
purpose
anymore.
"It
has not specifically been
determined what the fuel
exemption program is
designed to achieve (other
than reducing taxes for
eligible individuals or
corporations),” Ferguson’s
report stated.
The law governing the act
describes eligibility as a
“farmer is a person who
owns or rents land, controls
and is responsible for the
operation of a farm” and
meets at least one of the
following criteria: 1) The
person must own or rent at
least 75 acres (30 hectares)
of cultivated land in
Saskatchewan, that is used
for the growing of cereal
crops; or 2) The person
received gross annual
revenue of at least $10,000
from the sale of primary
farm products that he or she
produced in Saskatchewan.
A person may also qualify
as a farmer if he or she is a
member or shareholder in a
farm organization, such as
an agricultural corporation,
farm partnership, a farm
co-operative, or a farm
colony, and contributed
substantially
to
the
agricultural production of
that farm organization.
So one doesn’t even have
to live or pay income taxes
in Saskatchewan to qualify
for this rebate.
One
really
doesn’t
even have to make his
or her living farmer as
$10,000 in income or 30
hectares hardly merits
consideration as a viable
farming operation. Heck,
Provincial
Politics
with
Murray Mandryk
you only have to live on
the farm. You pretty much
qualify if you are a farm
bookkeeper. However, if
you are a small part-time
landscaping company in a
city that makes $25,000 a
year (doing lawn work or
snow clearing) you don’t
qualify for a rebate. Farmers
also enjoy provincial sales
tax exemption on the farm
machinery or pesticides
and fertilizers - expenses
that would largely be seen
as doing business.
Again,
in
fairness,
Ferguson’s report identified
$3.9 billion - much of
which goes to urban people.
Included in the list of tax
exempt items in t he 201617 budget: Construction,
($486.6 million); fertilizer,
pesticide and seed, $163.4
million; basic groceries,
($129.3 million); farm
activity, ($120.1 million);
direct
agents,
($98
million); low-income tax
credits, ($90 million);
basic groceries, restaurant
meals and snack food,
($84.2 million); farm
machinery and parts,
($83.8 million); electricity,
($49.4 million); used
goods, ($36.5 million);
prescription drugs, ($36.2
million); energy efficient
appliances
including
furnaces
and
boilers,
($33.9 million); fuel for
home
heating
($28.7
million); reading materials,
($24.8
million),
and;
children's clothing ($13.4
million). So there are a lot
of things that government
could be looking at in its
transformational process.
Sadly, that’s cold comfort
for anyone.
on highway projects in
virtually every corner
of the province.
This
year’s plan includes major
projects in addition to
much-needed repairs to
many of our rural highways
that will keep our growing
economy strong.
Beyond
benefiting
economic
activity
and employment, our
government’s Highways
2020 Plan will see a surge
in funding used to make
our roads safer. Over the
next three years, we will
deliver a $70 million surge
to fix and repair more
roads.
$30 million of
that total will be invested
this year to improve 460
kilometres of highway.
For the first time in history,
Saskatchewan’s Highways
and Infrastructure Budget
tops $1 billion. More than
1,300 km of provincial
highways will see repairs
or upgrades this year.
Highlights include:
•
Continuing work
on major projects like
the Regina Bypass and
twinning on Highways 7
and 16 near Saskatoon;
•
S t a r t i n g
construction
on
new
overpasses at Warman and
Martensville;
•
Upgrading more
than 100 km of rural
highways to improve
safety and access; and
•
200
repaving.
km
of
The Regina Bypass is
the largest transportation
project in Saskatchewan
history. Once complete,
it will allow motorists to
safely commute to their
destinations on Highway
1 east of Regina and will
reduce congestion in
and around the city. The
Bypass will also provide
important linkages to
the national highway
system to help producers
and manufacturers get
their goods to market.
Construction remains on
time and on budget in
all areas of the Bypass
project.
clear. Our government
has invested more than
$6.3 billion, including
funding in this budget,
to improve more than
11,000 km of roads and
highways.
Liquor Modernization
Act Introduced
The
Government
of
Saskatchewan
has
introduced The Liquor
Retail Modernization Act,
2016 to help create a level
playing field for all liquor
retailers in the province.
Currently, Saskatchewan’s
retail liquor system is
a complicated mix of
discounts and exemptions
that apply to some
retailers but not to others.
The
focus
of
the
amendments
is
the
creation of a single permit
for all businesses that
retail beverage alcohol
in the province. The new
retail store permit will
apply to existing SLGA
stores, rural franchises,
private liquor stores and
off-sale outlets as well as
new operators entering
the market.
Late last year, government
announced changes that
will see an expanded
private
liquor
retail
system in Saskatchewan.
New retail opportunities
will be awarded through
a competitive Request
for Proposal process
to be announced in the
coming weeks.
New
stores are anticipated in
Dalmeny, Hague, Osler
and Aberdeen.
Once
implemented, this new
liquor retail system will
offer
Saskatchewan
consumers more choice,
convenience
and
competitive pricing.
Patient Choice
Medical Imaging Act
Introduced to Allow
Private CT Scans
From the end of March
31, 2015 to February
29, 2016, the number of
patients waiting for CT
services in Saskatchewan
increased from 2,954
to 3,823.
Between
ABOVE: MLA Nancy Hepner
December
2015
and
February
2016,
the
average wait time for a
non-urgent CT scan was
119 days province-wide.
The
Government
of
Saskatchewan
has
introduced The Patient
Choice Medical Imaging
Act, which will give
residents the option to
privately pay for a CT
scan. This means patients
will soon have more
choice in how they receive
diagnostics, while at the
same time increasing
public
capacity
and
reducing wait times to CT
services.
Following passage of the
Act and the establishment
of regulations, privatepay CT services will be
offered in the same way as
private-pay MRI services.
Licensed facilities that
conduct a privately paid
CT scan will be required
to provide a second scan
of similar complexity to
an individual on the public
wait list, at no cost to that
individual or the health
system.
There are two licensed
facilities in Regina that
have been providing
private-pay MRI services
since it was launched
on February 29, 2016.
During the first two
months, 258 patients
received a private MRI
scan (77 patients paid for
a scan, and organizations,
such as the Saskatchewan
Roughriders or Workers’
Compensation
Board,
have
purchased
181
scans). Under the “two for
one” option, 258 patients
from the public system
will also receive an MRI
scan at no additional cost.
A physician referral will
still be required to obtain
a CT scan.
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