Released on December 8, 1995
Finance Minister Janice MacKinnon said today that she will be addressingthe issue of federal government priorities at the upcoming meeting of
federal/provincial finance ministers in Ottawa, Dec. 12 and 13.
"Between 1994-95 and 1996-97 the federal government is cutting transfer
payments to the provinces for health, post-secondary education and other
social programs by more than 25 per cent while cutting its total
operating spending by less than 9 per cent," MacKinnon said. "This
reflects a misunderstanding of the priorities of Canadians.
"What Saskatchewan people have told me is that health, education and
social programs are their top priorities. It's these programs that give
us our high quality of life and distinguish our society from countries
like the United States.
"While we recognize that the federal government must get its fiscal house
in order, in our recent joint report, western finance ministers
unanimously expressed opposition to Ottawa's plan to impose such a
disproportionate share of its spending reductions on these vital national
programs.
"Together, we are calling on Ottawa to put a freeze on any further
spending cuts to these areas, until it is prepared to cut its own program
spending by a corresponding amount.
"Ottawa's cuts mean Saskatchewan will experience a loss of about $100
million next year for health, education and other social programs, and an
annual loss of up to $200 million in subsequent years," MacKinnon said.
"To put these cuts into perspective, if we were to pass on the health
care proportion of the federal cuts to our health districts that would
mean a cut of more than $50 million, or five per cent of our spending on
health boards.
"Similarly, if we were to pass on the post-secondary portion of these
cuts to our colleges and universities in full that would mean a cut of
about $25 million or about 10 per cent of provincial funding in this
area.
"As difficult as Ottawa's cuts will be, in Saskatchewan we are fortunate
to be facing these challenges from a position of financial and economic
strength. Unlike other provinces, we do not have to grapple with these
severe federal cuts while at the same time dealing with a large budget
deficit of our own. We begin from the financially stable position of
balanced budgets and unlike some parts of Canada, our provincial economy
is strong and growing," MacKinnon concluded.
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For more information, contact:
Craig Dotson
Department of Finance
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-7655