There鈥檚 very little in the Saskatchewan Party government鈥檚 2021-22 budget for you not to like.
Your kids, however, may grow to hate it.
That鈥檚 the big problem 鈥� what鈥檚 popular today might be far less popular in hindsight.
A big part of Finance Minster Donna Harpauer鈥檚 2021-22 budget theme of "Protect Build Grow鈥� is kick-starting a Saskatchewan economy clobbered by COVID-19.
There was $3.1 billion doled out for capital spending.
The budget will continue to bolster success in agriculture with a $387 million more, including extra cash to get the Lake Dienfenbaker Irrigation Project going. Meanwhile, farmers will maintain their sales tax exemptions on seed, fertilizer and chemicals.
And while restructuring of municipal grants means urban homeowners across the province will be hit with an average $18 a year property tax hike, it won鈥檛 apply to agricultural land.
Similarly, those in oil 鈥� rural Saskatchewan鈥檚 other big industry that obviously had a much tougher year 鈥� will continue to benefit from what remains a favourable royalty structure and will now support for cleaning up abandoned wells.
The Sask. Party government鈥檚 budget placed the well clean up policy in its $4.8-million 鈥淐OVID-19 support鈥� package that also somehow includes its SGI auto refund rebate program.
Admittedly, one of the budget themes that will likely be successful for Harpauer and the Sask. Party government is the notion of 鈥減rotecting鈥� and preserving what we have in Saskatchewan.
It鈥檚 the long-held notion of the Sask. Party that key to this province鈥檚 success is preserving the fundamentals, which would obviously include farming, oil and mining. It鈥檚 also these core components of our economy in which Premier Scott Moe offered much of his post-budget optimism.
Yes, these things are key to Saskatchewan鈥檚 future.
But so will adapting to change. So will preparing our future so we aren鈥檛 leaving a burden with our kids.
It鈥檚 here where the budget was less successful.
On adapting, it was hard not to notice that there wasn鈥檛 enough dedicated to current problems.
For example, while the budget should get credit for smaller things like harm reduction response teams in Estevan, $750,000 for buses in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert and $440,000 to naloxone harm-reduction kits, it seems to have missed the bigger picture of the massive overdose crisis we are seeing in all parts of the province and the value in things like safe inject sites when it comes to saving lives.
Budgets are always about adopting to a changing world. Whether we like the carbon tax or not, we do need to better adjust to new sources of energy that aren鈥檛 fossil fuels.
Handing back people rebates on consumption of electricity largely produced by coal seems unhelpful. So is pinching new electric cars for $150 a year for highway upkeep when we all know the damage to highways is caused by large trucks.
But, mostly, the problem is that $2.6 billion deficit and record $17 billion in spending that will pump debt to $27.8 billion this year and $31 billion next year.
In the meantime, we will have to shell out $755 million just to serve past deficits that have become borrowing debt.
That鈥檚 less money in the here and now. But what鈥檚 more worrisome is this budget may spell a problem for our kids鈥� futures.
