Mayors Merlin Seymour, David Gillan and Ames Leslie shared their thoughts on how the 2022 budget will impact their communities in Meadow Lake and the Battlefords. (File photos/City of North Battleford/Town of Battleford/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Mixed reaction

Local mayors examine potential impact from federal budget

Apr 19, 2022 | 4:40 PM

Expectations for what kind of impact the federal budget will have in Saskatchewan is mixed amongst local city mayors.

Political reaction came swiftly after the announcement of the 2022 budget, which projects a deficit of $53 billion, with MP’s largely falling in line with responses from other members of their respective parties. At the municipal level however, there was more variety in the various assessments.

Meadow Lake

Mayor Merlin Seymour didn’t have many opinions to share on the new budget with his focus pointed at local issues. However, he did express criticism of having this kind of spending while also raising the federal carbon tax by 25 percent, up to $50 per tonne of emissions.

This works out to an extra 2.2 cents per litre of gas. The government has claimed that eight out of 10 families will see a net benefit from carbon pricing, despite the increase.

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Seymour said the costs will continue to affect every part of his community.

“Carbon tax is [hurting] everybody,” Seymour said. “From residents to business owners to the municipalities, it’s huge.”

Part of the budget also included a $2.6-billion carbon capture tax credit for the energy sector.

North Battleford

Mayor David Gillan had a more favourable view of the 2022 budget, praising its supports for housing in particular for being a need in this region. He noted that first time home buyers are being shut out in today’s market and that there needs to be a solution.

“I like that they are putting funds together to drive affordable housing and there’s even discussion around working with municipalities to do that,” Gillan said. “I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I think that’s a good thing.”

“We’ve got a lot of people in our society who are just not able to get into a house right now, so the more we can do to make housing more affordable, [the better]. It really makes a difference in our community.”

In the budget is $4 billion over the next five years for the Canada Housing Mortgage Corporation’s new fund and $1.5 billion over two years for the Corporations Rapid Housing Initiative.

Gillan also pointed to the $5.3 billion for dental care, more than $2 billion to help push forward zero-emission vehicles, day care funding and mental health support all as factors that will effect North Battleford residents. He added that addressing these issues, especially with reducing emissions, are necessary in the province and the country continuing to move forward.

“These are very topical subjects that we need to look at more in this country, we need to be a part of the global economy,” Gillan said.

“I think it’s a reasonable budget and there’s a lot of things that are going to trickle down into the community.”

Battleford

Mayor Ames Leslie had a more mixed reaction to the details in the budget, though he shared Gillan’s enthusiasm for the dental plan, which came about from the Liberal government’s partnership with the federal NDP.

“There were some good things in there on the surface, that will help a lot of people in our town and region,” he said. “Big question is how we will pay for it.”

While Leslie liked seeing attempts to make housing more affordable, he questioned the timing of the spending amid inflation stating that the first time homeowners tax incentive misses the mark.

“It’s not going to anything to address the elevated prices of what real estate is right now in Western Canada, even to a lesser extent in the Battlefords,” he said. “Hopefully they can revisit that one soon.”

In general, he questioned the amount of money being spent in the budget.

“Our future generations will have to pay this back,” he said. “It would have been more appropriate for our federal government to have taken a smaller chunk out of the budget and keep the status quo.”

Leslie added that he hopes further details and future revisions will result in more allocation of funding towards roads, bridges and other projects that are critical for Saskatchewan municipalities, such as Battleford.

“If we can get more support from federal and provincial governments to address infrastructure deficits in our communities, it’s going to go a long way to keep some money in the pockets of our residents.”

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

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