Throne Speech Debate (30 October 2023)

From Hansard (30 October 2023)

 

Throne Speech Debate

Mr. Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees. It’s wonderful to be on my feet this evening. You know, such good presentations, so good remarks from my friend from Yorkton explaining everything, and also from my colleague from Melfort.

I just want to start tonight by giving a quick shout-out to my family who I know aren’t watching tonight because there is things like hockey and cheerleading on. So I know that they’re not tuning in. But I do want to say thank you to my family like we all do. We can’t be here without their support and their love. And so to my wife, Angela; my son, Asher, who is going to be graduating in June by the way; and my daughter, Kolbie, you know, thank you for being there for me and thanks for the ear when I need it.

Somebody else I just want to recognize really quick before I kind of dive into my remarks is my constituency assistant, Whitney Friesen. Whitney is going to be celebrating 30 years as a constituency assistant in the province of Saskatchewan next month. And I think that is an incredible achievement, and it speaks volumes to the commitment that that gentleman has for the people of Saskatchewan. So to Whitney, thank you so much for all that you do.

And of course, I can’t not say thank you to my constituents, the people that put their trust in me and all of my other colleagues that are here tonight to be here to represent them. So we’ve had great conversations. We have phone calls, emails. We stop in the grocery store, the hockey rink, anywhere in the community. And I really do appreciate the support from the constituents.

So earlier this summer I spent quite a bit of time door knocking. Three months or so I knocked on hundreds of doors — 3, 4, 500 doors. Had some great conversations. And when I was out, a few of those door knocks do relate directly to this Throne Speech, the theme “Build and Protect.”

One of those door knocks I had was with a gentleman by the name of Milt Lepp. Milt has a seed cleaning company, just off of Highway 12, just north of Martensville. Milt is . . . I can’t remember the exact age, but I believe he’s 85 now or 84. He took me on a tour of his entire operation, and it’s grain bin after grain bin after grain bin. This guy started from scratch, back probably 50 years ago or more.

He has his own drinking water system on the farm, aerated ponds, filtering systems, and everything. I have never seen somebody so proud of what they have built. And it really hit home that he has built all this, and he reinvests into that operation regularly to protect it. He wants it to be there for the next generation. So that one really stuck with me, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees.

So when we look at things in the Throne Speech like the PST rebate of 42 per cent on all new home construction, and the secondary suite plan that we’ve rolled out, I look at how important those things are in the communities of Warman, Martensville, Osler, and the surrounding area. And I’m just going to read a quick letter, email that I received into the record because it’s important, and I think it really describes how important this is. It’s from Angela Steiert, and Angela is one of my guests on Throne Speech day. She’s the executive director of the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce. She was here with Melissa Stevenson, who is the Chair. So I’m just going to read this email really quick into the record:

The Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to assisting its members in the dynamic communities of Warman, Martensville, and the surrounding areas — all of which are among the fastest growing cities in Canada. As our province, and our region in particular, experiences remarkable growth, we are committed to witnessing the development of the central infrastructure that will catalyze our regional economies.

The continuation of the provincial sales tax rebate for new home construction remains a pivotal tool in fostering the expansion these flourishing cities require. With the economic growth also comes employment opportunities and the need for housing to accommodate those workers. We are happy to also see that both are a priority for this government through the Sask jobs plan and the secondary suite program.

So when we talk about growth, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, we’re not talking growth just for the sake of growth so we can roll out new numbers every month and everything is fine. We’re doing it for our kids. We’re doing it for our grandkids. We’re doing it for our nieces and nephews. We’re doing it for our neighbours. We’re doing it for the people of Saskatchewan and the newcomers to our province.

We have better schools. We have better healthcare facilities. We have better infrastructure. And it’s important to remember that none of that happened when the NDP were in power. We have the Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital. We have the Saskatchewan Hospital at North Battleford, new hospital in Moose Jaw, new ones coming online in the coming years in Prince Albert, Weyburn, and Yorkton. And in my constituency we’ve got two new schools in Martensville, the École Holy Mary and Lake Vista Public School; one newly renovated and expanded high school in Martensville; three new schools in Warman, middle-years school Traditions and Holy Trinity.

This summer we added three nurse practitioners in the city of Warman. There’s three more nurse practitioners going to be starting work in Martensville in the very near future. We’ve had calls and emails that have recognized this very worthwhile initiative, and the people are thankful to our previous Health minister because he listened and he responded. And that’s something we will continue to do for the people of Saskatchewan tomorrow, next week, and all the days forward.

In Martensville, if you’re driving up Highway 12 you’ll see this big monster of a building on the west side of the highway. It’s a $46 million recreational facility, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees. That was funded partially through ICIP [Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program], so a federal-provincialmunicipal fund cost-sharing agreement. In Warman, I was lucky enough last week to be able to cut the ribbon. And it’s not the most glamorous project, but it was a lagoon expansion. This lagoon expansion, okay, through the ICIP program, will allow the city of Warman to grow to 40,000 people. It’s a terrific investment, and it shows the confidence that the city of Warman has in this government to continue to grow the economy and grow the population.

We have not one, but two new interchanges on highway 11 and 12 as well as the realigned Highway 305 that runs between Martensville and Warman — much safer road, I might add. And there’s just so much going on, whether it’s through ICIP; municipal economic enhancement program or MEEP; or through municipal revenue sharing, which we all know is tied to the PST. And the stronger the economy is, the better the revenue sharing is for our municipalities.

There’s so much positivity everywhere, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, except over there. There isn’t, according to the member from Nutana, anything, anything to be proud of. The economy is apparently a dumpster fire, according to a member over there. Well tell that to the roofing contractors, the farmers, the salon owners, the dentists, the restaurant owners. Business people are telling me that things are good. Things are very good. In fact, you know, the Conference Board of Canada is predicting Saskatchewan’s economy is going to lead the country again in 2024. We’re leading it in 2023, and we’re going to continue that in 2024.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, a member opposite said, Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard over and over from a lot of residents, we can’t find a job in Saskatchewan. To that, I’m going to remind the members opposite that SaskJobs, as of today, has over 16,000 jobs posted — 7,200 in the sales sector, 3,400 in trades, construction, and transport. There’s over 4,100 jobs available here in Regina and over 4,300 in Saskatoon.

The population is growing at the fastest rate in over a century: 1.22 million people and growing. Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, when my wife and I moved to Warman in 2006 the population was 4,700 people. Today the population of Warman is estimated at 13,700. That’s a growth of nearly 200 per cent. That’s an average of 11 per cent per year, one of the fastest growing communities in all of Canada. Martensville, which is 3 kilometres away, has recorded similar growth numbers: 4,900 people in 2006, today 11,300. That’s 130 per cent growth or seven and a half per cent per year.

So, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, with that growth that we’ve been experiencing since we formed government in 2007, it’s important to protect the investments made by the people that are here. And it’s even more important to protect our residents, especially from the harmful policies that are emanating from Justin and Jagmeet in Ottawa.

Our government has been very clear. We will work with the federal government where it’s a benefit to the residents of Saskatchewan — $10-a-day daycare, ag programs, things like that. But when it comes to things like carbon tax, clean fuel standard, net zero power generation by 2030, that’s not on the table.

We’re also committed to protecting our residents with additional funding and tools for law enforcement. We’re building a stronger and more resilient economy. We’re building stronger communities, regardless of where those towns, villages, and RMs [rural municipality] are in the province.

So back in the spring I was chairing a Human Services Committee meeting. The member from Saskatoon University decided to bring the graduate retention program to the floor and asked questions. The member from Saskatoon University was advocating that this government get rid of the graduate retention program. True story. Even though 81,000 post-secondary graduates who have stayed in Saskatchewan, those postsecondary graduates have received $739 million through that graduate retention program. It’s a terrible idea. Our government, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, is committed to doing more. We’re committed to protect what has been built, not only protecting what has been built in the past, but we’re going to protect what is going to be built tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and for generations to come.

So with that, Mr. Deputy Chair of Committees, I will not be supporting the amendment put forward by the opposition, but I will be supporting the motion made by my friend from Saskatoon Southeast and seconded by the member from Lumsden-Morse. Thank you.

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