NDP slams fiscal update after Sask. posts $249M deficit to end 2024-25 fiscal year

Saskatchewan's Official Opposition is slamming the government's latest fiscal update, which shows the province posted a $249-million operating deficit to close out the 2024-25 fiscal year.

"They failed to balance the budget and failed to properly address the real big challenges that Saskatchewan people face," NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said Wednesday. 

The Saskatchewan Party government's 2024-25 public accounts show that after starting the fiscal year with a projected deficit of $273 million, the province closed out the period with a $24-million improvement from the budget.

The province released its public accounts on Monday, a day ahead of Canada Day — a decision that drew criticism from Wotherspoon, who accused the government of trying to hide the fiscal update from public scrutiny.

"We see a government here, in the way they're releasing information, that's really trying to avoid any level of scrutiny and not being accountable for their failures," said Wotherspoon. 

He also railed against the province's failure to take advantage of a windfall it received as part of the $32.5-billion national tobacco settlement.

Saskatchewan recorded $400 million of the $700 million it's due to get from the settlement in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to public accounts. 

"Even with that, [the province] failed to balance the budget. They still ran a deficit of $249 million," said Wotherspoon. 

He also took issue with the provincial government's decision to increase its net debt by $1.3 billion. 

The Saskatchewan Party government said it used debt to help finance large infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads. 

In a statement accompanying the release of the public accounts, Finance Minister Jim Reiter said the province's revenue increased by $994 million, to $20.9 billion, from the figures in the 2024-25 budget. 

At the same time, expenses grew by $970 million, to $21.1 billion, primarily due to a higher than projected number of crop insurance claims and natural resource-related expenses, he said.

"We are continuing to make investments that deliver on what the people of Saskatchewan have said is important to them — affordability, health care, education, community safety and fiscal responsibility," said Reiter. 

A statement from the province provided to CBC after the NDP's news conference on Wednesday again pointed to spending on the Saskatchewan Party government's priorities, and said Saskatchewan maintains the second-lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in Canada.