The Saskatchewan Party says the province should already be looking at drought relief packages for farmers.
But premier Roy Romanow said last week it’s too early for those kinds of plans.
He said provincial and federal officials have discussed the issue and are monitoring the dry conditions.
“It would be premature to sound grave alarm bells because I don’t sense that out there,” he told reporters. “I think there’s caution but I still think there’s optimism. We need to see what happens in the next few weeks.”
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Saskatchewan Party agriculture critic Bill Boyd said given how quickly government moves, it’s never too early to start planning.
“We are hearing a great deal of concern already,” he said. “We know it’s early. We are attempting to find out from the government what their contingency plans are, if they have any in terms of continued drought and low commodity prices.”
Boyd said the federal government has made disaster relief available in other cases, like the Manitoba flood. He said Saskatchewan should find out if it will be able to access money in the event of a crop failure.
Romanow said any program would have to be cost-shared by both governments.
“I think it will rain,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a good economic year. We know there’s anxiety out there, a little bit of angst, but let’s just see what happens.”
