Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer spoke in front of Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce members as part of her budget tour while the legislative session is adjourned. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Budget Tour

Finance Minister Harpauer’s budget tour stops in Humboldt

Jul 19, 2019 | 12:00 PM

With the legislative session adjourned, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer is doing her routine budget tour where she presents the state of the province in front of individual community chambers of commerce.

Harpauer’s stop on Thursday, July 18 was in her home constituency of Humboldt, where local businesses leaders asked her what the provincial government is planning to do with its red tape reduction initiative and growing economic development.

For red tape reductions, Harpauer said the provincial government is aiming to take out some liquor trading barriers and aligning transportation regulations to help the trucking industry through border crossings.

Harpauer said the biggest thing the government can do for economic development is to be competitive with other provinces in corporate taxes, as she noted her frustration with Alberta cutting its corporate tax from 12 per cent to 11. She said every point the province drops in its corporate income tax rate is $62 million lost.

Harpauer said the province has incentive programs – also known as pay for performance – in industries such as agriculture, gas, and oil, but caution has to be used before implementing them.

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“When you have incentive programs and you have them for a limited period of time in order to accomplish a goal, you better get used to it,” Harpauer said. “It’s hard to get rid of anything you implement. You can forego future revenues and become interfering rather than stimulating, so a lot have thought has to be put into incentive programs.”

Other than discussing the provincial budget and taking questions in smaller communities, Harpauer is travelling along with Premier Scott Moe and the rest of the cabinet as they talk with residents and business leaders during their provincial cabinet meetings across the province while the legislative session is adjourned.

“As an MLA, I have sent a flyer out to all the constituents of the Humboldt-Watrous constituency for their input,” Harpauer told northeastNOW. “Each of the ministers are meeting with stakeholders that they interact with most in their particular ministry. The message that we have for our stakeholders is we’re not looking for their suggestions for the next budget. I want to know what they envision Saskatchewan to look like in 10 years from now and what do they feel are the most important things to get us there.

“It’s hard sometimes in the conversation for them to not focus on ‘here’s what we need for tomorrow,’ but it’s not necessarily tomorrow. Maybe they’re things we can’t do tomorrow, but you would like to see it done in 10 years.”

Premier Moe said during a provincial cabinet meeting in Melfort that they’re embarking on a renewed plan for growth in the province, as the Growth Plan for Saskatchewan: Vision 2020 and beyond is about to reach its end with 2020 a few months away.

The legislative session will resume on Oct. 23, 2019.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow