Our government has its roots in rural Saskatchewan.  We understand agriculture is the backbone of our communities, which is why are we are taking historic measures in response to the unprecedented flooding producers have experienced this spring and summer.  We recently partnered with the federal government to introduce a $360-million Excess Moisture Program (EMP) to help Saskatchewan farmers manage flooded crop land.  The EMP, the largest one-time provincial agricultural disaster response in Saskatchewan’s history, provides $30 per eligible acre for both unseeded crop land as of June 20th and seeded crop land flooded out on or before July 31st.  In addition to this support, Crop Insurance customers are eligible for an unseeded acreage benefit of up to $50 per eligible acre, and also have coverage for seeded land that has been flooded out.  The rainy weather hasn’t deterred Saskatchewan families from going camping.  When you get to the park, you will notice some significant improvements.  Our government has added more than a thousand electrified campsites.  We are also upgrading or replacing some service centres, boat launches, potable water systems, picnic tables and barbeques. When you’re outside this summer, remember to protect yourself from mosquitoes.  We are now officially in West Nile season.  Take simple precautions such as wearing bug spray, covering up, avoiding the outdoors between dusk and dawn, and emptying areas and containers that collect water. Your family’s health is a priority for our government.  This summer, we are continuing our ongoing physician retention and recruitment efforts in rural Saskatchewan.   We recently announced the creation of four new medical residency training positions in Swift Current.  This is the latest step in a plan to expand medical education beyond Saskatoon and into rural Saskatchewan.  Training these new doctors in rural areas will hopefully encourage them to work and live in rural Saskatchewan after graduation.  We are also providing approximately $450,000 in short-term funding to help medical residents with their student loans.  The funding brings our government one step closer towards achieving our goal of increasing the number of medical school graduates who establish a practice in Saskatchewan.  Plus, physician recruitment is pivotal as our government works to decrease surgical wait times to no more than three months.  

A recent union advertising campaign suggests our government has an agenda to privatize highway maintenance and provincial parks. This is wrong. Under the NDP, Saskatchewan’s highways were deteriorating.  Under our government, they are in the best condition they have been in decades.  The last three years of NDP government saw approximately 3947 kilometres of roadwork completed.  In our first three years in government, we announced 5281 kilometres of roadwork. We achieved this by working with the same skilled highway workers, contractors and engineers we have in past.  The only thing that’s changed is we have a government committed to providing Saskatchewan people with safe, modern highways. Your Saskatchewan Party government is committed to publically-owned provincial parks.  We funded the creation of approximately 600 additional electrified campsites.  Plus, in our first three budgets, we committed more than $74 million to parks in Saskatchewan, which means campground renewal and development, new service centers and new picnic tables and barbeques. 

Saskatchewan producers to recieve $360 million under largest and fastest AgriRecovery package to date The package announced by federal and provincial agriculture ministers meeting in Saskatoon will see producers receive $30 per acre to protect, rehabilitate and manage cropland affected by historic flooding. While that announcement was being made, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Yorkton, getting a first-hand look at flood damage.   After touring the area with Prime Minister Harper, Premier Brad Wall spoke with the media.  

Finance Minister and Melfort MLA Rod Gantefoer announces that he will not be running again in the 2011 provincial election.   Gantefoer was first elected in 1995 and was a founding member of the Saskatchewan Party in 1997.  He was re-elected as a Saskatchewan Party MLA in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and has served as the province’s Finance Minister since the election of the Saskatchewan Party government.   “It has been a tremendous experience serving the people of the Melfort constituency and all the people of Saskatchewan over my four terms as MLA, but the time is right for me to move on to something else,” Gantefoer said.  “I plan to work for a few more years after I leave politics.  So if I sought one more term, that would take me to 2015, and that might be a little past the point when I would be wanting to start a new career.”  

Premier, Ministers, and local MLAs tour Flooded Farmlands.  In the wake of what many are calling the one of the wettest springs in history, your Saskatchewan Party government has been visiting affected families, farmers and communities in northeast Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister and Melville-Saltcoats MLA Bob Bjornerud began tours recently with Crown Investment Corporation Minister and Kelvington-Wadena MLA, June Draude, by covering the rural municipality of Foam Lake and area.  Premier Brad Wall and Carrot River Valley MLA Fred Bradshaw joined the Ministers on another aerial and ground tour of northeast and east-central Saskatchewan that have received excess amounts of moisture. The areas toured so far include Nipawin, Tisdale, Hudson Bay, Porcupine Plain, Kelvington, Rose Valley, Lintlaw, Arborfield, Bjorkdale, Lanigan, Wynyard, Foam Lake, Watson, Naicam, Kuroki and Wadena areas. 

Finance Minister and Melfort MLA Rod Gantefoer announces that he will not be running again in the 2011 provincial election.   Gantefoer was first elected in 1995 and was a founding member of the Saskatchewan Party in 1997.  He was re-elected as a Saskatchewan Party MLA in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and has served as the province’s Finance Minister since the election of the Saskatchewan Party government.   “It has been a tremendous experience serving the people of the Melfort constituency and all the people of Saskatchewan over my four terms as MLA, but the time is right for me to move on to something else,” Gantefoer said.  “I plan to work for a few more years after I leave politics.  So if I sought one more term, that would take me to 2015, and that might be a little past the point when I would be wanting to start a new career.”

Surgical Specialist Directory Available to the Public Your Saskatchewan Party government is taking steps to ensure that you and your family receive the best health care and attention possible.  Thanks to a new online “Specialist Directory,” finding information on practicing surgeons in Saskatchewan just got easier.  People anywhere in the province can just click to learn more about local surgeons, the procedures they perform and their wait times.  About 80 per cent of Saskatchewan surgeons also provided specific information about their practices, such as average wait times for a consultation and procedures they perform. This new directory also empowers patients to actively participate with their family doctor in choosing the most appropriate surgeon, and make more informed decisions about their care.  Having a first time ever centralized database of surgeons is another step in our government’s plan to transform the surgical patient experience and ensure that by 2014, no one has to wait more than three months for surgery. 

Premier, Ministers, and local MLAs tour Flooded Farmlands.  In the wake of what many are calling the one of the wettest springs in history, your Saskatchewan Party government has been visiting affected families, farmers and communities in northeast Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister and Melville-Saltcoats MLA Bob Bjornerud began tours recently with Crown Investment Corporation Minister and Kelvington-Wadena MLA, June Draude, by covering the rural municipality of Foam Lake and area.  Premier Brad Wall and Carrot River Valley MLA Fred Bradshaw joined the Ministers on another aerial and ground tour of northeast and east-central Saskatchewan that have received excess amounts of moisture. The areas toured so far include Nipawin, Tisdale, Hudson Bay, Porcupine Plain, Kelvington, Rose Valley, Lintlaw, Arborfield, Bjorkdale, Lanigan, Wynyard, Foam Lake, Watson, Naicam, Kuroki and Wadena areas.  "This spring has been frustrating for many farmers who are trying to get their crops seeded," Bjornerud said. "Seeing the wet conditions first hand gives me a better grasp of the challenges producers in these areas are facing." Our government understands that farmers are frustrated – some producers have less than 20 per cent of their crops seeded at a time when 96 per cent of the provincial crop is usually in the ground.  That's why government representatives met with producers and rural municipality representatives and witnessed the wet conditions first hand to get a better grasp of the challenges facing our producers. 

Premier plots course for the next 18 months Your Saskatchewan Party government will continue to make building a strong and growing economy our top priority.  By growing the economy, we can continue to invest in services that are important to Saskatchewan families, such as education, health and social programming.   "There's a new confidence in our province," Premier Wall said. "I hear it from people in every part of our province who think Saskatchewan is the best place in Canada to work and to live. Our government's job is to keep our great province heading in the right direction." Priorities outlined in the letters given recently to Cabinet Ministers include:

Premier plots course for the next 18 months Your Saskatchewan Party government will continue to make building a strong and growing economy our top priority.  By growing the economy, we can continue to invest in services that are important to Saskatchewan families, such as education, health and social programming.   "There's a new confidence in our province," Premier Wall said. "I hear it from people in every part of our province who think Saskatchewan is the best place in Canada to work and to live. Our government's job is to keep our great province heading in the right direction." Priorities outlined in the letters given recently to Cabinet Ministers include: Reducing wait times for surgery to no more than three months by 2014; Improving educational outcomes for First Nations and Metis learners and expand First Nations and Metis participation in the workforce; Working with industry and other governments to enhance international opportunities for Saskatchewan's crop and livestock sectors; Reducing violent crime; Improving housing availability and affordability by increasing the supply of rental housing and creating new affordable home ownership opportunities; Establishing a provincial addictions agency; Developing and implementing a province-wide multi-material recycling program; Ensuring that schoolchildren engage in 30 minutes of physical activity a day; and Attracting eight to 12 new corporate investments and at least two major head office expansions while increasing Saskatchewan’s presence in key international markets like China and India. 

A third consecutive balanced budget and improving economy were the highlights of the spring legislative session under your Saskatchewan Party government.  The stronger economy and reduced government spending resulted in a balanced budget that focused on important government services like health, education and infrastructure.  After a bit of a slowdown in 2009, there are now clear signs that Saskatchewan’s economy is headed in the right direction. Our population hit an all-time high during the spring session, employment is up by nearly 9,000 and housing starts are up over 200 per cent. Our government also moved forward with a number of new initiatives during the spring session, including:

A third consecutive balanced budget and improving economy were the highlights of the spring legislative session under your Saskatchewan Party government.  The stronger economy and reduced government spending resulted in a balanced budget that focused on important government services like health, education and infrastructure.  After a bit of a slowdown in 2009, there are now clear signs that Saskatchewan’s economy is headed in the right direction. Our population hit an all-time high during the spring session, employment is up by nearly 9,000 and housing starts are up over 200 per cent. Our government also moved forward with a number of new initiatives during the spring session, including: A plan to shorten surgical wait times; A pilot project that will see 100 new long-term care spaces created in Saskatoon; The New West Partnership between Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia which creates an economic powerhouse of nine million people with a combined economy of over $550 million; Six new school projects, 235 additional childcare spaces and 18 pre-kindergarten programs in several communities throughout the province; SaskTel announced high speed internet service in 79 more communities; and The Ministry of Highways announced over 2,000 kilometres of highway upgrades and maintenance work.

Positive, forward-looking ads air across the province.  

You can now display your Rider Pride on your bumper.  In honour of the Green and White’s 100th Anniversary, our government and SGI have partnered to create an official Saskatchewan Roughrider licence plate featuring the team’s logo and the phrase, “Pride Lives Here.”  Fans and vehicle owners can trade in their old licence plates for the new Rider plate and show off their Rider Pride wherever they travel.  The Rider plates are not available to order until May 19.  Since, the announcement last week, SGI has been receiving about a dozen calls per day regarding the new plates.  Many of those calls are coming from fans who live outside of the province.  Since it is an official Saskatchewan licence plate, only people or companies who are eligible to register a plate in the province, can order the Rider plates.  The initial production of the licence plate numbers for the Rider plates will have an R followed by four numbers.  Personalized licence plates will also be available with a five character maximum.

Foundation Chair Says False Claims by NDP Hurting Families and Children An NDP brochure falsely claiming that funding for the Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon has been “cancelled” is hurting fundraising efforts, according to the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Children’s Hospital Foundation CEO and President Brynn Boback-Lane appeared on a Saskatoon radio station this morning to refute the false claims by the NDP. “I really want to make it clear that the Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan project has not been cancelled.  It has never been cancelled,” Boback-Lane said.  “So when misinformation is circulated it really doesn’t help our cause for the much-needed fundraising that it will take to make this a truly dedicated children’s and family hospital.”

Dream big and you can achieve big.  This is the example our Saskatchewan athletes have set for people across the country and right here in their home province. Our Saskatchewan Party government couldn’t be more proud of our local athletes, coaches and officials who represented their country and their hometowns so admirably. We recently held a ceremony at the Legislative Building to honour and congratulate all of these individuals on a very successful 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic showing. Premier Brad Wall congratulated our local athletes on their outstanding achievements and participation as part of Team Canada in Vancouver.  A huge crowd joined the Premier to show their support and celebrate the legacy of our athletes. 

Our government has announced a third consecutive balanced budget , which was achieved through a combination of reduced spending, caution on revenue projections and a commitment to living within our means. Spending has been reduced by 1.2 per cent, or $123 million. Revenue is forecast at $9.95 billion, with cautious resource revenue projections of $1.1 billion for oil and $221 million from potash. The budget also includes $194 million from the Growth and Financial Security Fund, leaving a balance of $510 million in the provincial savings account. Spending is down in 14 different ministries. We will pay less for debt servicing; due to the fact our government has reduced the provincial debt by $2.6 billion, or approximately 40 per cent, since 2007. For complete budget details, click here.

Your Saskatchewan Party government continues to take action to ensure the safety and security of Saskatchewan people. On April 26, Justice Minister Don Morgan released a letter in support of proposed federal legislation which would end the long-gun registry.  Saskatchewan people have consistently opposed the registry since its inception, seeing it as a massive waste of taxpayers' money.   Our government is investing in programs to combat gang activities, assist victims of crime and put more officers on the street. The Seizure of Criminal Property legislation passed by our government last year has passed its first real test.   The Ministry of Justice successfully completed the first application for forfeiture of propery used in the commission of a crime.   While the amount seized  in connection with a "dial-a-dope" operation was relatively small, it is affirmation the legislation works, and could lead to the seizure of larger ticket items, like houses and expensive cars.