Settling in as a new MLA
December 2, 2024, 12:50 pm
Kevin Weedmark
I am honored and humbled to be representing the great people of Moosomin-Montmartre as your Member of the Legislative Assembly. I do not take lightly the responsibility you have entrusted to me, and I will work hard to represent you.
I have been very busy with my new duties already. In addition to serving as your MLA, I have been appointed Deputy Government Whip, which entails a lot of duties while the house is in session.
In addition, I have been appointed to the Cabinet Committee on the Economy, where we review any issues that have an impact on the economy that are going to cabinet for a decision, and we make a recommendation to cabinet on how to proceed.
I have also been appointed to the Board of Internal Economy and the Caucus Management Committee.
My days are busy. For instance, my schedule Tuesday started with the Agribition Breakfast in the Barn at 8 am where I had a chance to speak with the president of BHP Potash, Karina Gistelinck, who is a fascinating person to speak with!
That was followed by a House Leadership meeting—as Deputy Whip I am part of the House Leadership. That was followed by a Caucus meeting.
The House was in session from 1:30 pm to 5 pm, and I was busy during the session as my Deputy Whip Duties include assigning speaking orders and keeping the proceedures moving.
From 5 to 7 pm there was a caucus supper, then from 7 to 10 pm we were back in the House for an evening sitting. Normally during session, we will be in the house until 10:30 pm Mondays and Tuesdays, so it makes for some very long days.
Guests welcomed to the Legislature
I have been honored to have welcomed several guests to the Legislature already.
We had several people from the riding attend my swearing in, and a larger group attend the Throne Speech Monday.
Thank you to all of the guests who were able to join me at the Legislature!
On Thursday I was thrilled to welcome Victor Santos Cardoza to the Legislature. I introduced him to the Legislative Assembly at the opening of the day’s session, and a few minutes later made a member statement explaining that Victor, at 20 years of age, is the youngest person elected to Moosomin town council, and explained that he wanted to give back to his community because of the way the community rallied to allow him and his family to stay in Canada when they were threatened with deportation. The family had fled to Canada after Victor’s father witnessed the murder of a journalist in Honduras and had his life threatened.
Following adjournment for the day, I took Victor to the Premier’s office to meet Premier Scott Moe.
I am very proud of Victor and his accomplishments, and I’m glad everyone in the Legislative Assembly got a chance to meet him!
Speech from the Throne
The first session of the new Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly began with a Speech from the Throne that promised a new beginning. Many Saskatchewan people voted to re-elect our government to keep our economy strong and our future bright, while many others voted for change. Our government will deliver both.
Our government will keep the economy strong and work to achieve the targets set in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth. A strong and growing economy allows our government to deliver on all the commitments made during the recent election campaign, including making life more affordable for Saskatchewan people.
In health care, our government is committed to expanding patient access to the health care system. We will shorten surgical wait times by ensuring that 450,000 surgeries are performed over the next four years. Increasing this capacity will reduce surgical wait times to no more than three months.
The first Urgent Care Centre (UCC) is up and running in Regina and has already served over 14,000 patients, providing timely access to medical care and mental health services while taking pressure off emergency rooms in hospitals. Work is underway on another UCC in Saskatoon in partnership with Ahtahkakoop Cree Developments, and we will open additional UCCs in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Moose Jaw and Regina.
Over four years, our government will invest more than $2.6 billion into health care infrastructure.
Our government will work to ensure everyone in Saskatchewan has access to a primary health care provider – a doctor or a nurse practitioner – by the end of 2028. We will continue to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals through our Health Human Resources Action Plan.
To ensure we engage with these health care providers, our government has invited all nursing teams and the unions that represent them to join a first-of-its-kind patient-focused nursing task force.
In education, our government will expand the Specialized Support Classroom pilot to 200 more schools throughout the province. We will focus on improving reading levels in Kindergarten to Grade 3, giving students every opportunity for academic success.
More teachers and education staff will be added to deliver on these commitments. Our government will increase funding to school divisions to help meet the pressures of a growing student enrollment and the challenges of classroom complexity.
We will continue to build more schools to meet the needs of our growing province. There are currently fourteen new or consolidated school projects and three major renovations underway in communities throughout the province.
Finally, our government will expand regulated child care spaces for our youngest learners. There are currently 5,100 spaces under development, and another 12,000 will be added by the end of next fiscal year.
In terms of affordability, our government is committed to making life more affordable here in Saskatchewan. We will introduce the largest personal income tax reduction since 2008 by raising the personal exemption, spousal exemption and the seniors supplement by $500 per year in each of the next four years, in addition to fully indexing income tax brackets.
The Saskatchewan Low-Income Tax Credit will be increased by 20 per cent over the next four years.
We will introduce legislation to extend the carbon tax exemption on natural gas home heating through 2025, saving Saskatchewan households about $480 next year.
The Active Families Benefit and income threshold to qualify for it will both be doubled.
The Home Renovation Tax Credit will allow homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in home renovation expenses every year. The Saskatchewan First-Time Homebuyers Credit will be increased by 50 per cent.
Seniors will be able to claim an additional $1,000 every year, and seniors who reside in a personal care home will see the Personal Care Home Benefit increased by $1,000 per month.
The annual amount that can be earned through employment without having Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disabilities benefits reduced will increase by $1,000.
Bill 1 of our new Legislature will be The Saskatchewan Affordability Act – legislation to enact our government’s campaign commitments to reduce taxes and make life more affordable for everyone in Saskatchewan. Our government looks forward to getting to work on these and other initiatives highlighted in the Throne Speech.
Holiday Train
This Friday, December 6, I will be part of the CPKC Holiday Train cheque presentations to food banks in Moosomin, Broadview, and Indian Head. I plan to be at the event in Moosomin at noon, and then ride the train to Broadview and Indian Head. I look forward to seeing my riding by train, and hope to see many of you at the three events.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to my office at office@kevinweedmark.ca or stop in to see my constituency assistant, Charlene Easton, at 622 Main Street in Moosomin.
