麻豆视频

It was the first throne speech with Scott Moe, setting the tone for the year as the province prepares to enter 2019. The themes of the day were consistent with Moe鈥檚 campaign for leadership, with a staunch opposition to carbon tax and a focus on a balanced budget, but it also had some commitments beyond what was expected.

As minister for rural and remote health, Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit said that some of the focus on health care, whether it was the Jim Pattison Children鈥檚 Hospital in Saskatoon or the new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford, will be good for the region. While not necessarily nearby, Ottenbreit notes they鈥檙e state of the art, whether for children鈥檚 health or mental health, meaning many people from the area will use the facilities.

鈥淯ntil you need the services, you don鈥檛 know what really feeds into [those hospitals].鈥�

Now that the two facilities are done, the province is looking at what鈥檚 next, including replacing some long term care facilities as well as replacement of hospitals like the ones in Prince Albert, Weyburn and Yorkton.

Moe has been outspoken in his opposition to the federal carbon tax, and that opposition is going to the courts next year, as the province challenges the constitutional validity of the tax. Ottenbreit believes that the Prairie Resilience Climate Plan that the province is proposing is a better alternative than a tax anyway, and is frustrated that it has come to a court challenge. He believes the tax will impact the competitiveness of the province鈥檚 industry and economy, and does not believe it will be effective in combating greenhouse gasses.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 believe that carbon tax is an effective way to聽deal with carbon change and changes to the environment. We believe that our climate change strategy is the way to go. Oddly enough, the federal government does acknowledge that our climate change strategy would help, they do acknowledge it is probably one of the only real plans throughout the country, but for some reason they are still targeting Saskatchewan with a carbon tax,鈥� said Ottenbreit.

The push for a balanced budget was part of Moe鈥檚 campaign, and while Ottenbreit admits that many difficult decisions were made on the road, and still are likely to made during the next budget cycle, they are committed to next budget being balanced.

鈥淭hose decisions are very far outweighed by the benefits of having a balanced budget, one of those things being a AAA credit rating which allows us preferential rates when it comes to interest on whatever debt our provinces has to pay. And it does show a strong economy, it does give confidence in different businesses around the world when they are looking to invest somewhere.鈥�

Saskatchewan鈥檚 crime rate has been in the news lately, and it was also addressed by the throne speech. A big focus will be on improving response times for rural police, an issue Ottenbreit said that the police are aware of as well, as they know how far they are from assistance when on patrol. Another measure included is Claire鈥檚 Law, which allows the disclosure of information about the violent past of romantic partners. The other changes include allowing rural municipalities with populations under 500 to join regional police forces, which Ottenbreit believes will allow rural communities to build their police force and deal with challenges for rural crime. Trespassing laws will also change, which Ottenbreit says will balance the rights of landowners with people who use land for leisure purposes.

鈥淩ural crime is still a big concern. Just relying on the current forms of protection, namely the RCMP, they鈥檙e stretched a bit thin, and we want to decrease their responses for those personnel to get to areas where there might be something happening or to get their visibility a lot higher to deter from crime.鈥�

Other public safety issues were prompted by the collision between a semi and the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos last year. That meant changes to improve commercial driver training, as well as increased funding to improve intersection safety across the province.

Rural connectivity was another investment, with a commitment to improve cell phone coverage in 50 rural communities. Beyond being useful for rural communities, Ottenbreit said that a second reason for improving phone coverage is connected to their focus on rural crime, to ensure people can inform the police whenever something happens.

鈥淲e do have a public communications company, SaskTel. It is, nominally a private enterprise, but also a public utility. What better way to use that public entity for everyone in the province, by making decisions that aren鈥檛 so much the best business choice, but the best choice to make sure the people of the province have safe coverage?鈥�

Labor standards will also see an update, with expanded parental leave, increasing it to 63 weeks for additional maternity leave time.

The final change will be free hunting and fishing licenses for all military veterans in Saskatchewan.聽