Waste, secret budget and hidden cuts top town hall talk

At a town hall on Thursday, Saskatoon voters raised their frustration over Brad Wall’s refusal to release his budget, because all indications are that the Sask. Party will keep their waste – like out-of-province consultants, the Lean program and luxury jets – but slash health care and education.

“With deep cuts and more privatization on the table, the fact Mr. Wall locked his budget in a drawer until after the election is troubling. If his budget was good news for everyday families, he would release it with great fanfare,” said NDP Leader Cam Broten. “But he's not talking about his planned budget one little bit – because he doesn't want Saskatchewan people to know all the nasty cuts it contains.”

Despite a decade-long boom and record resource wealth, the Sask. Party drained the Rainy Day Fund. As a result, just a few weeks into an oil-price slump, they plunged our province into a deficit that has already reached about a half-billion dollars.

“Even during incredibly sunny economic times, the Sask. Party failed to fix and improve the public services we should all be able to count on, because they wasted far too much of our money on their misplaced priorities,” said NDP Leader Cam Broten. “They couldn't get the job done in good times, and we definitely can't trust them now that times are tight, especially when they refuse to show us their planned budget. If Mr. Wall won't trust Saskatchewan people with his budget, then it's clear he can't be trusted anymore with people's votes.

“My pledge to Saskatchewan people is to protect and improve health care and education for everyone in our province, in good times and tough times.” Broten’s Saskatoon town hall meeting follows a similar, open town hall in Regina, three telephone town halls with thousands of people and a Facebook Q & A – the first time a Saskatchewan politician has hosted one.

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