By Greg Nikkel
Issues ranging from the property tax system and strengthening the education system to supporting infrastructure enhancement need to be discussed during the current provincial election, said Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
He was the keynote speaker at the Weyburn Chamber鈥檚 annual President鈥檚 Dinner and annual meeting held on Wednesday evening at the Legion Hall.
With the provincial election underway, the Saskatchewan Chamber has put out their viewpoints on several issues, entitling it 鈥淥ntrack 2016鈥�.
Other issues addressed in the 鈥淥ntrack鈥� documents include attracting and growing investment in the province, enhancing workforce skills training, and building and utilizing the province鈥檚 water resources better.
On property tax, the Sask. Chamber would like to see the assessment cycle used to calculate property value changed from every four years to every two years. In education, the Chamber would like to see every high school student take at least one entrepreneurship course, and every student should complete a personal finance course on the basics such as debt, credit and cash management.
McLellan spoke on the issue of privatizing Saskatchewan鈥檚 liquor board stores, which the NDP is strongly opposing.
鈥淲e believe the provincial liquor board system could be privatized. There鈥檚 no reason why we should lose money as a province,鈥� said McLellan, pointing out that the province鈥檚 biggest private liquor store is owned by the Co-op in Saskatoon, and offers a range of 4,500 products, compared to 2,500 at the biggest provincially-run liquor store.
The Chamber would also like to see the Saskatchewan Farm Security Act, which governs ownership of farmland, changed to allow Canadian pension funds to buy farmland.
On the issue of labour and workforce skills training, McLellan said if there is proper forethought taken to train skilled workers, they could avoid the need to import large numbers of immigrants to fill vacant labour positions if and when the strong economy rebounds.
On that note, McLellan said Saskatchewan鈥檚 economy is one of the strongest in Canada and is continuing to grow, in spite of what 鈥淐hicken Littles鈥� are saying about the economic downturn. Bringing out a hockey stick to use as a visual reference, he angled it up to resemble the upward of a graph and spoke of where Saskatchewan鈥檚 economy is right now.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 what it was two years ago, and that鈥檚 fine. The 鈥楥hicken Littles鈥� will complain that 鈥榯he sky is falling, the sky is falling鈥�, but they鈥檙e not saying what they will do about it,鈥� said McLellan.
He acknowledged there have been layoffs in the province, particularly in the oil sector, but pointed out, 鈥淲e鈥檙e still leading the country. In fact, we are still selling more than B.C., dollar for dollar, and more than Alberta on a per capita basis to the world, and we have no port. How amazing is that?鈥�
Retail sales have been up and down, he said, and while 鈥渢hey are not where they鈥檇 like to be, they鈥檙e still doing okay, generally speaking.鈥�
Looking at another economic indicator, the debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio, McLellan said it鈥檚 鈥渟cary鈥� in other provinces, but in Saskatchewan, the province has the lowest or second lowest ratio in the country.
鈥淣obody likes to spend more than they make, but we鈥檙e going to be okay,鈥� he said, noting that spending is going into things like the infrastructure.
Noting the province鈥檚 population has continued to grow, he asked, 鈥淗ow can the world be falling apart if we鈥檙e still growing? It really hasn鈥檛 slowed down very much.鈥�
Farm receipts is another positive factor for Saskatchewan, he said, noting they have gone up by seven per cent from last year.
鈥淪askatchewan people have led the way,鈥� said McLellan, and indicating with the hockey stick angled upwards he added, 鈥淲e are way up here compared to where we used to be.鈥�
听
