SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan NDP will continue pressuring the Saskatchewan Party-led government to reconsider cutting the gas tax to provide relief to struggling families in the coming holiday season, when driving in and outside the province to visit their families and friends is expected to increase.
NDP Shadow Minister for Finance Trent Wotherspoon, during a media briefing on Wednesday, Nov. 27, in front of a gas station in the city, accused the government of remaining out of touch on the hardship Saskatchewan families are experiencing due to the taxes imposed by the Sask Party majority Legislature.
“We are taking our fight to cut the gas tax to the streets. We were incredibly disappointed yesterday [Tuesday, Nov. 26] when we brought forward an emergency motion in the legislative session at the earliest opportunity to provide savings for Saskatchewan families, a motion that would have cut the gas tax by 15 cents a litre, both on gas and on diesel that would have saved families real money going into the holiday season,” said Wotherspoon
“We're incredibly disappointed that the Sask Party government blocked it [and] failed to support it. We called on the legislature to be united on this front to extend savings. The Sask Party themselves have said that they got a message out of the election and that they were going to change and that they were going to listen to Saskatchewan people, yet on the very first day to demonstrate that they got that message, that they realized that Saskatchewan people's budgets are incredibly tight.”
The Regina Mount Royal MLA tried to introduce and bring the emergency motion to suspend the 15-cent a-litre gas tax on the Assembly floor on the first day of the legislative session. Still, it needed a unanimous vote, and the majority opposed it.
“I think most Saskatchewan people want to see these savings. The majority of Saskatchewan people are facing severe financial pressure. Most Saskatchewan people would like to see measures like a cut to the gas tax and scrapping the PST on kids’ clothes and groceries. Families can't wait months and months and another tax season to get some savings,” said Wotherspoon.
“People need savings now, so we're going to continue to work with and support Saskatchewan people standing with the majority who understand the reality, and we're going to take that message to the Sask Party who are out of touch on this front and are siding, well are siding not with Saskatchewan people who deserve some savings and some relief.”
Wotherspoon said the Sask Party again failed to support Saskatchewan’s hardworking families, who needed relief.
“Now, when Saskatchewan families show up at the pumps here this [Wednesday] morning, they're stuck once again with a price far higher than in neighbouring provinces. For example, it's well below $1.20 in Manitoba today. We've always said that families need relief. In the face of a once-in-a-generation cost-of-living challenge, we've had a Sask Party government that's been out of touch on this front and, worse than doing nothing, has piled on and added more costs and taxes. We've been calling for urgent relief,” said Wotherspoon.
“A cut to the gas tax would save families hundreds of dollars as they go into the holiday season. I can assure the Saskatchewan people that we will keep fighting for the Saskatchewan people with my leader, my friend Carla Beck and our fired-up team in the legislature to deliver actual savings. We're going to fight, keep fighting to cut the gas tax, and we're going to bring forward emergency motions in this short legislative session to save families when it comes to children's clothes and groceries.
He said the NDP would also continue introducing emergency motions to cut the PST on children’s clothes and groceries, providing financial relief to Saskatchewan families, who deserve more from the government.
Asked if the NDP would negotiate with the Sask Party to reach a middle ground, Wotherspoon said he couldn’t speak for the majority government, and it is to their members what would be their next move.
“They're clearly out of touch on this front. They came out of an election where they said they had gotten a message and would change. They've been out of touch with the pressures that families have been facing, and in this once-in-a-generation cost of living challenge, instead of offering relief, they've made things worse by hiking taxes and hiking those costs. We acted at the earliest opportunity yesterday [Tuesday] on the first day of the legislative session, when we could bring forward an emergency motion to find savings for families as they filled up at the pumps this [Wednesday] morning,” said Wotherspoon.
“Instead, Saskatchewan families are paying significantly higher prices than those in other people in other provinces, [like] in Manitoba. We're incredibly disappointed that we didn't gain the support of the Sask Party to pass this in a united way. That being said, Carla Beck and our team are going to keep fighting for Saskatchewan people on this front to cut the gas tax to deliver actual savings for Saskatchewan people, and we're going to continue to bring forward other measures as well, like cutting the PST on kids clothes and groceries.”
