Question Period (10 April 2025)

From Hansard (10 April 2025)

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Cost of Rental Accommodation; Addressing Homelessness

April ChiefCalf: — Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Sask Party government about a new report showing that rents in Saskatchewan are rising faster than everywhere else in Canada. And what was the Minister of Social Service’s response? Everything is just fine.

How out of touch. Does the minister really think that everything is just fine for families in my riding who are facing eviction if their rent goes up again?

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of rental rates in Saskatchewan, this government has put forward $88 million in this year’s budget for renovation, repair, and maintenance of existing housing. We also have a $5 million rental incentive plan for new construction. These are all things that will get more housing online and will increase the capacity that we have to find individuals housing in this province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

April ChiefCalf: — Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. Rent in Saskatchewan has gone up 34 per cent in five years. One in three Saskatchewan people is struggling to pay their bills. And the Sask Party government thinks everything is fine. They have nothing to offer for relief to renters, nothing but unchecked increases that are higher than everywhere else in Canada.

Again what does the minister say to families worried that they’ll be thrown out on the street if their rent goes up again?

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The member opposite referenced numbers from across Canada and where Saskatchewan sits compared to the other provinces. According to rentals.ca, they’ve released their April 2025 report and Saskatchewan has the lowest average asking rent in the country for a one-bedroom apartment. That’s $1,336 a month, which is over $200 less than the second-lowest province, which happens to be NDP [New Democratic Party] Manitoba, who have an average rent of $1,592, Mr. Speaker.

Regina and Saskatoon remain one of the most affordable cities in Canada, and Regina rent prices having decreased, decreased year . . . [inaudible interjection] . . . Do you want to get up and ask a question? I’d look forward to seeing you get on your feet.

April ChiefCalf: — Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying that everything is fine when it comes to rent, and he’s just plain wrong. He’s not focused on the future. How do we ensure that people who have a roof over their heads today have a roof over their heads tomorrow?

Yesterday I also asked him about the way higher rents drive homelessness in our communities. His response: “. . . it’s not a rental issue. What the issue is, Mr. Speaker, we have a drug problem in this province.”

Does he really think that families losing their homes, to rising rents they can’t afford, have a drug problem?

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the member opposite asked actually several questions within that one question.

But when it comes to rental in Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker, again we’re putting $88 million into repair, renovation, and rehabilitation of homes across Saskatchewan, including $9.2 million for three large projects to bring those back online. And that’s all included in this budget, which the opposition voted against. So I’m not sure if they want us to really do this or not. Apparently they don’t because they voted against this very, very effective measure.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to affordability in this province, this government has $2 billion in every budget in affordability initiatives. Plus we’ve added to that this year with different things, like doubling the child benefit, the active families benefit, and we’ve also made the largest personal income tax cut since 2008 in this province, Mr. Speaker. That is going to make things more affordable for more residents of Saskatchewan.

Addressing Homelessness

Brent Blakley: — Mr. Speaker, when we ask questions about the ways rent increases are driving homelessness in Saskatchewan, the minister blames it on drugs. He should rather blame it on almost two decades of Sask Party policies punching down and forcing people onto the streets.

It is the Sask Party government that has let rents climb 35 per cent in five years. This Sask Party government has let thousands of units sit vacant. And this government ended the direct payment of rent and utilities for social service clients, forcing thousands of evictions.

Mr. Speaker, when will the Sask Party government take some responsibility for the homelessness crisis they created?

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would just say this: the homelessness issue is not just a Saskatchewan issue. It is a cross-country issue. We see it in BC [British Columbia]. We see it in Ontario. We see it in every province, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had conversations with my counterparts in different provinces as well as the previous federal minister prior to the election. We’ve had good discussions in terms of how each province is approaching this.

And when we talk about the provincial approach to homelessness, Mr. Speaker, that’s a $40.2 million investment into supportive housing, into transitional housing, funding outreach workers on the streets to be able to interact with individuals that find themselves in this situation. We have a $40.2 million plan. That is a large investment in the people of this province who need housing, and we’ll continue down that road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Brent Blakley: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s no question that higher rents are leading to more homelessness, but the minister doesn’t think that’s the case. Blaming it all on drugs might be convenient but it’s far from the whole truth. Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Sask Party government’s choices have created this homelessness crisis, and their policies have made it worse.

Mr. Speaker, instead of claiming that people losing their homes from sky-high rents just need to do less drugs, why don’t they act to bring down rents for families?

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Mr. Speaker, it’s a well-known fact, in Saskatoon when they did their most recent counts, that 82 per cent of people that were contacted on the street that were homeless identified as having a substance . . . having a substance abuse issue or an addiction.

In that provincial approach to homelessness where we have invested $40.2 million into ensuring that these individuals have a place to go, and also investing into the outreach workers who can meet those people in place — identify the barriers they have to get into housing and address those barriers, whether that’s through detox, whether that’s through treatment — we also have our complex-needs shelters in Saskatoon and Regina, Mr. Speaker.

We are tackling this from many different angles, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to do so.

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