$20 million allocated | Value-added processing targeted, Opposition calls announcement a rehash of growth plan
The NDP opposition called it a rehash, and it’s true that the Oct. 25 throne speech to begin the Saskatchewan fall legislative session was mostly a rerun of the growth plan announced a week earlier by premier Brad Wall.
Wall told reporters that the lieutenant-governor shouldn’t get to announce all the good things a government plans to do.
The speech, read by lt.-gov. Vaughn Solomon Scofield, repeated the growth plan goal to increase agricultural exports by 50 percent over the next eight years and noted that the government this past year budgeted a record $20 million for research.
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“Research will continue to be a priority for my government as we work to meet the demands of a growing population at home and throughout the world,” said the speech.
The speech included a quote from American business writer and broadcaster Andrew Ross Sorkin: “If you care at all about the future of the world’s food supply, you care — whether you know it or not — about Saskatchewan.”
The government will focus on value-added processing and irrigation and will establish the global food security institute it promised last year, the speech said.
The government will establish SaskBuilds, a $150 million fund to develop and help finance infrastructure projects in partnership with other governments and private companies.
It plans to turn the Global Transportation Hub west of Regina into a self-sustaining authority. International trade missions to support exporters will continue with a view to reaching a goal of doubling the value of all Saskatchewan exports by 2020.
Fines for speeding in construction zones will be increased to triple the normal amount, and photo radar will be introduced to catch speeders in construction zones.
The measures come after the death of 18-year-old construction worker Ashley Dawn Richards last summer just hours after she began her job as a flag person.
Legislation is also expected this fall to establish a new provincial park.
The legislative sitting wraps up Dec. 5.
