The first week of Saskatchewan’s election campaign came and went without a word about agriculture from the two main contenders.
Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall and NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter spent the week outlining how they would make health, education and shelter more affordable.
Wall announced Oct. 17 what will be the most expensive campaign promise from his party – an expanded Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability program.
The program was introduced in 2009 to be distinct from social assistance. It assists 3,000 people with disabilities in residential care. The Saskatchewan Party promised to expand that to cover another 7,000 people with disabilities who live independently.
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The party said the expanded program will cost $18.4 million in the first year, rising to $33.3 million by the fourth year, for a total of $100 million.
“This promise will cost the most money, and it is worth every single penny,” Wall said.
Other promises last week included a program to reduce tuition fees, matching contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans, an expanded active families benefit, extending the provincial sales tax exemption to children younger than 18 and a tax credit for first-time home buyers.
The Saskatchewan Party government said it would also increase benefits for low-income seniors living in personal care homes.
Lingenfelter began the week promising a Bright Futures Fund, which would invest a minimum of $100 million per year from potash royalties. The fund would grow to about $10 billion by 2052, could not be accessed for 20 years and could not be used for operating shortfalls.
On the health care front, the NDP pledged to establish 100 new primary health care clinics over 10 years, reinstate chiropractic coverage and establish basic children’s dental coverage for those aged five to 12.
Community access hospitals would be facilities that remain open with a nurse practitioner. Doctors in nearby communities, or a team hired provincially to fill in, would assist.
“We’re not proposing it as a replacement for physicians,” Lingenfelter said in a speech. “The community access hospital is a supplementary approach.”
Other NDP promises included eliminating the small business tax, introducing a northern economic strategy, sharing resources with aboriginal people and offering PST rebates for newly constructed homes costing less than $280,000.
