Sask. Party's Scott Moe releases platform with $1.2B in promises, projects deficits for 3 years

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe has released his party's full platform, which includes promises he says would cost $1.2 billion over four years, in the lead-up to the Oct. 28 provincial election.

The platform, which Moe announced to supporters on a foggy Saturday morning in Saskatoon and has been posted online, projects deficits in the first three years, followed by a small surplus in 2027.

It contains pre-announced commitments, including broad tax relief to reduce personal income taxes, an expansion to the graduation retention program and additional rebates for families with children in sports and arts.

Moe says he's running on the record of the Saskatchewan Party, which has been in government since 2007, of growing the province's economy and population, with plans to make life more affordable.

• Platform Tracker 2024: How do Saskatchewan's parties compare on these election issues?

Moe's platform promises to maintain investments in health care and education, with plans to build new schools and hire more health workers.

His last budget as premier offered a record $7.6 billion for health care and $2.2 billion for school divisions.

"It's a plan for building Saskatchewan, and it's a plan for our growing province, and our plan for investing in those very dividends of growth, into health care, into education and into so many services that are important to you and your family, wherever you live," Moe told supporters in Saskatoon.

Moe also said the former NDP government of two decades ago saw economic decline, forcing young people to move to other provinces. He said he wants to keep them in Saskatchewan. 

"We've been working as hard as anywhere in Canada on the most ambitious health human resource attraction plan," he said.

"We've also been working hard with our regulatory bodies to speed up the credential recognition that we have not only in health care, but in all of the trades."

NDP Leader Carla Beck has said Moe's economic and fiscal performance as premier has been dismal, with the province increasing the debt and posting large deficits.

Her fiscal plan proposes an additional $3.5 billion in spending over four years, mostly on education and health care.

Beck has said she would pay for her promises by growing the economy and cutting what she calls Saskatchewan Party waste.

Her plan shows small deficits in the first three years, followed by a small surplus in the fourth year.

The NDP criticized Moe's platform Saturday for not promising new dollars for health care and education.

At a separate news conference in Saskatoon on Saturday, Matt Love, the NDP incumbent in the Saskatoon Eastview riding, was asked how his party would finance budget increases in health and education.

Love said the party's platform is fully costed, and the NDP has a plan to pay for the commitments it's making. 

"We do not have a revenue problem, we have a management problem in this province," said Love. "We'll make sure that we invest in things that matter and get us back to balance within a four-year term."