Released on December 5, 2013
Today is the final day of the fall legislative session which focused on meeting the challenges of a growing province, according to Premier Brad Wall.
“Saskatchewan has grown by more than 100,000 people in just six years,” Wall said. “That creates many new opportunities and it also creates many new challenges. Our government is working hard to meet the challenges of a growing province.”
Wall said two of the biggest challenges are building infrastructure and addressing the labour shortage.
“Over the past six years, our government has more than doubled investment in infrastructure projects like hospitals, schools and highways,” Wall said. “Still, there is more to be done and we have to look for ways to ensure taxpayers’ dollars are going further by exploring new and innovative approaches to building these kinds of projects.
“That’s why this fall, our government announced that nine new joint-use schools will be built using an innovative P3 bundling approach.”
Wall said Saskatchewan’s economy remains on track and is more diversified than ever.
“Saskatchewan will set a new record for employment growth in 2013 despite the fact there are actually fewer people working in the resource sector,” Wall said. “There are more people working in construction, agriculture, research and technology, transportation and manufacturing, which shows the strength and diversity of the Saskatchewan economy.
“Still, there is more to be done. We have a skilled labour shortage in some key areas and we need to do a better job of ensuring that we are training people today to meet the labour requirement of tomorrow. That’s why I have asked the Ministers of Economy and Advanced Education to make this a priority and provide recommendations for action early in the new year.”
Wall said while a growing province presents many challenges, he prefers those challenges to the challenges of decline Saskatchewan faced just a few years ago.
“Our province is growing, our budget is balanced and our economy is diversified and strong,” Wall said. “2013 has been a great year for Saskatchewan and we can all look forward to another great year in 2014.”
The legislative session will resume on March 3 with the new provincial budget to be delivered later that month.
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For more information, contact:
Kathy Young
Executive Council
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0425
Email: kathy.young@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8927