聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Promises. The government, regardless of who is in power, make empty promises; therefore, I鈥檓 a little leery looking at the Saskatchewan government鈥檚 promises regarding their budget. Apparently we have a $685 million deficit 鈥� which includes a 鈥渃ontingency allowance鈥� of $300 million 鈥� while they say they hope to decrease the deficit by $304 million next year and return to a surplus in 2019-20. After all a budget is just a piece of paper, it鈥檚 what is intended to happen, but it may not work out that way in the end.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To 鈥渇ix鈥� their deficit they鈥檝e now introduced a 6 percent provincial sales tax 鈥� up from five percent 鈥� but it will now be charged on children鈥檚 clothing, restaurant meals, snack foods, construction services, and more. A consumption tax is great for the government because they鈥檙e actually opening up a new taxation bracket within provincial sales tax, kids. Children鈥檚 clothing is a necessity, they grow quickly, and now the government is capitalizing on this; something they previously didn鈥檛 do.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And yet the government balks at a carbon tax, which goes to them to decide what to do with. Would that not aid in such a deficit? People hate paying taxes. It鈥檚 the truth of it. But, taxes are what makes our world go round and are necessary to operate the province.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Personally I accept that we have to pay taxes, the government needs to be able to operate; but, I do wish that they focused on different aspects of society when considering where to put that money. I personally believe in education and healthcare. Although they didn鈥檛 cut education as much as I thought they might and they actually increased spending on healthcare, however, a more educated population is typically a healthier population as they have knowledge of health.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I also understand that the Saskatchewan Transit Company wasn鈥檛 making enough to validate it being open鈥� however, who were the people using it? I would like to know if it was mostly seniors actually, because we would have just taken away their main form of transportation. Was there a way to reform it 鈥� cut a few routes 鈥� or was cutting it out completely the best decision? Either way it must be difficult for those working in the STC to be told that in a couple short months you no longer have a job.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I know the government is trying to do what鈥檚 best, it鈥檚 looking at their budget and saying this is what has to happen, but I wonder if there is a way to look at something in a different way.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They鈥檙e increasing the cost of a single cigarette by two cents and adding on four to six percent tax on alcohol鈥� fine by me, neither are necessities. People buying those products will purchase them regardless of the increase. Now all they have to do is legalize marijuana and tax that too.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Although cutting spending is one way to stop the bleeding, adding new revenue streams is another. Which they鈥檝e somewhat done by simply expanding what PST is added onto, however, I would argue that they need a completely new form of revenue as well 鈥� so I do think they should look at carbon tax, instead of saying it鈥檚 a terrible thing without really researching it, three quarters of Canada already has a form of Carbon Tax. Find out if it could benefit the province, because I think it might be an option. Or, push to have marijuana legalized and reap the benefits like Colorado does in the States.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, I guess it鈥檚 just a matter of waiting to see if they can bounce back from such a deficit.
