Mayor David Gillan and Mayor Ames Leslie had praise and concerns regarding the provincial budget. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

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Mixed reaction to budget from Battlefords Mayors

Apr 9, 2021 | 4:08 PM

While some reaction to the provincial budget have been positive in the Battlefords, the reaction of the region’s two mayors is more mixed.

Following the province’s announcement on Tuesday, which detailed billions of dollars in investments for healthcare, infrastructure and more, North Battleford Mayor David Gillan said there were a number of things he liked, including some increases in the Urban Highway Connector Program and the Community Airport Partnership Program.

“We don’t know how that will affect us exactly, but that’s a good thing,” he said. “These are programs that we take advantage of, so we’re obviously happy that funding is still there.”

Gillan said it was also good to see that the province is bringing back the grant to offset the cost of rink operations. However, the mayor said he also has a number of concerns, starting with the absence of the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) in the budget. Given the difficulties brought on the pandemic, Gillan said MEEP provides an important stimulus when revenues are down and people are unemployed.

“It’s been a bit of an economic driver in the province, helping us to navigate through COVID-19,” he said. “[This year] 2021 will also be a difficult year.”

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Gillan said he would have preferred more infrastructure investment as a way to keep the economy stimulated regardless of where restrictions of the pandemic are at. However, he wasn’t surprised by anything he saw in the budget.

There’s a number of things I expect because of the reality we are facing,” he said. “I would have liked to see more stimulus, like the MEEP program, but I’m hoping something will still come up,”

Another concern is that education property taxes increase.

“That will affect everyone in the province, including here in the Battlefords,” Gillan said. “It’s been a couple years since it was increased, so I understand it, but it will impact people for sure.”

Mayor Leslie also has mixed reaction

Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie echoed the sentiment of wanting more money for infrastructure projects, particularly for highways. With no sign of restrictions lifting soon, he said it’s likely people will choose not to travel again.

“I know they can’t do everything, but I think there was a golden opportunity for that,” Leslie said.

Additionally, Leslie said he was hoping for a better balance of municipal sharing and thinks it’s another missed opportunity to remove the PST on things like construction. He said it’s great to get a home renovation credit, but people forget they are paying PST on it first.

“That adds another six per cent that the taxpayers have to cover, which shouldn’t be there or wasn’t there in the past,” he said.

On the positive side, Leslie said it was good to see the province listen to taxpayers in a few areas, including the SaskPower rebate and increasing education funding, and was very excited about the 20 per cent increase in taxation of vape products.

“Vaping is a huge problem in our province and the price has been too attractive to our youth. So, hopefully this will bring change.”

Both mayors said they are consistently communicating with the province as they move forward.

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports