Saskatchewan budget cuts expected

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Published: March 28, 2002

The Saskatchewan government was expected to announce March 27 that it

would spend more money on agriculture this year, even as premier Lorne

Calvert reduced departments and cabinet to save money.

Budget details were not available before The Western Producer

deadlines, but agriculture minister Clay Serby has said there will be

more money for agricultural programs.

He has already said the province will spend an extra $14 million on

crop insurance this year.

Last year’s overall agriculture budget was increased 35 percent, to

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$337 million.

Serby was expected to finally announce details of the Farm Family

Opportunities Initiative.

The transition and adjustment program was announced during last year’s

budget, and assigned $6 million, but details were never made public.

Serby would not comment on whether the money was spent on other

programs.

The program will help farmers retrain for other occupations or adapt to

new farming methods, and provide avenues for capital investment in

rural Saskatchewan.

Following the success of the Saskatchewan Conservation Cover Program

last year, Serby had said he would like to expand the program.

But its fate is unknown as is that of the Farm Land Property Tax

Rebate, a two-year program that returned 25 percent of the education

portion of property tax on farmland. The Saskatchewan Association of

Rural Municipalities has asked that the rebate program be extended and

enhanced.

The government has been warning the budget would be tough.

Calvert told the SARM convention earlier this month that the government

doesn’t have a lot of new resources.

“It is no mystery … that we’ve had some significant revenue

shortfalls,” he said. “The people of Saskatchewan expect us not to

exceed our means.”

Highways minister Mark Wartman said his department is going to meet its

commitment. The province pledged to spend $2.5 billion over 10 years,

beginning in 1997-98. Last year, the province announced a $950 million

three-year plan to improve highways.

“I’m not getting as much as I had hoped,” Wartman said. “We’re on track

to meet our commitments.”

About the author

Karen Briere

Karen Briere

Karen Briere grew up in Canora, Sask. where her family had a grain and cattle operation. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has spent more than 30 years covering agriculture from the Western Producer’s Regina bureau.

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