December 8, 2014

Government Wraps Up Fall Session Focused on Keeping the Province Strong

The fall legislative session concluded today with the government maintaining its focus on keeping the province strong.
I think the Premier said it best when he summed up Saskatchewan in one word strong said Herb Cox, Caucus Whip and
MLA for The Battlefords, for example, just this past Friday StatsCan reported we saw over 15,000 new jobs created in
Saskatchewan over the previous year.
Saskatchewans job creation rate is three times the national average, our unemployment rate is 3.4 per cent, we just hit 24
straight months with the lowest unemployment rate in Canada and our population continues to climb, Cox said.
This is in stark contrast to the bleak prospects for Saskatchewans people under the NDP.
Some highlights of the fall legislative session include:

Development of a 10 year Mental Health and Addictions Plan;

Opening of 79 new housing unit projects in communities across the province as well as breaking ground on 13
more, totaling over 11,600 units developed and refurbished since 2007;
Opening of a long-term care home in Prince Albert and ground-breaking on another in Kelvington;
Proceeding with the Request for Proposals to build 9 new joint-use schools across the province as well as a groundbreaking on the new K-12 school in Langenburg;
Confirmation of our provinces AAA credit rating by international rating agencies;
Balanced Budget despite volatile oil prices with a projected surplus of over $70 million.

And thanks to growing economic strength our government is able to make the investments that the NDP would not do,
Cox added, were building new schools, were building new hospitals, were hiring doctors, nurses and healthcare workers,
were building highways and physical infrastructure across the province.
Since 2007 under the Saskatchewan Party Government:

There are 400 more doctors, 2600 more nurses and 750 more people working in long-term care;
Surgical wait times have gone from the longest in Canada under the NDP to second shortest in Canada today;
Our government has invested over $6 billion in building hospitals, schools and highways

We know there is much more work to do, and my colleagues and I are focused on the challenges that a growing province
like ours faces, but I know the people of Saskatchewan are up to them and together we can tackle them, said Cox, we will
continue to focus on getting results for Saskatchewan families, while the NDP remain mired in ideology.
They may have a different leader, but from everything weve seen its the same old NDP, Cox said.

30

For more information, contact Sean Osmar

Room 203, Legislative Building
Regina, SK S4S 0B3

Government Caucus Office

www.skcaucus.com

Phone: 306-787-4300
Fax: 306-787-3174