Today鈥檚 provincial budget didn鈥檛 offer many, if any surprises, from the perspective of Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 say there were ... There wasn鈥檛 a whole lot that surprised me,鈥� he told Yorkton This Week shortly after Saskatchewan Minister of Finance Donna Harpauer presented the budget in the Legislature.
The biggest number out of the document was that the public debt will rise by $3 billion in 2020-21 including the $1.9 billion the government is attributing to COVID-19.
鈥淚 was looking for a deficit. I was thinking something like that,鈥� said Maloney, adding the small surprise was an expected revenue shortfall of $1.8 billion.
Maloney said seeing the province continuing to invest in infrastructure through health, education and highways was a good thing.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e never going to go wrong with hospitals, schools and highways,鈥� he said.
Overall, Maloney said spending appeared well targeted.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see anything knee jerk in there,鈥� he said, adding it鈥檚 difficult to argue with things such as 鈥渞ecord spending in health care鈥� and how they 鈥減ushed money through to municipalities which we鈥檙e all grateful for.鈥�
Money for mental health and addictions also drew praise from Maloney.
鈥淭hat seems to be the elephant in the room,鈥� he said, adding such problems ripple through to issues with crime.
Of course the question is how accurate numbers may ultimately be in light of the impact of the pandemic.
鈥淭here are so many unknowns,鈥� he said.
Maloney said he is certainly worried about how retail sales rebound 鈥渆specially locally, can it bounce back.鈥� He said how that rolls out will impact provincial revenues.
Maloney did note that Harpauer looked in control of a generally bad situation.
鈥淚 thought the minister was very calm,鈥� he said, adding it is important the government send a message that things are turning around with a return to normal.
