REGINA — Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne used a stop in Regina on Thursday to highlight what he called a well-tailored to the Prairies federal budget, telling municipal and business leaders the spending plan delivers on infrastructure, housing and innovation at a crucial moment for Saskatchewan.
It was a morning breakfast put on by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association at the Globe Theatre. It included a wide range of municipal and business leaders in the audience anxious to hear what the finance minister had to stay.
During a question and answer sit-down with SUMA President Randy Goulden, Champagne spoke at length about the government’s priorities outlined in the $78 billion deficit budget presented earlier this month.
In speaking to reporters afterwards, Champagne said he spoke of how the budget invests in infrastructure and in the “key trade corridors that will allow farmers, canola farmers, land deals and peas farmers to bring their products to market faster and in a more fluid way.”
He also spoke on housing and affordability, “which is key, obviously, for the mayor(s) and reeves here in Saskatchewan.”
Champagne also spoke about investment in “productivity and innovation to make our country more productive.” And he pointed to their defence investment.
Following the visit to Regina, Champagne was scheduled to go to Moose Jaw to thank Canada’s men and women in uniform.
Champagne was also scheduled to meet with Premier Scott Moe. Among the items expected to come up is the energy sector, including major projects such as proposed uranium mines in Saskatchewan in the final stages of regulatory approval.
When asked about how to get those over the finish line, Champagne said the “Major Projects Office speaks to that. We need speed and scale. And when it comes to uranium and chemical and the position that Saskatchewan has achieved in the world, we need to build on that.
“So if we can increase capacity, that is a good thing. The federal government with the Major Projects Office is there to streamline a number of projects.”
But Champagne also spoke of how “Saskatchewan and Canada is in a unique position” to provide stability in an unstable world.
“Even yesterday, when we had the visit of His Majesty and Her Majesty, the King and Queen of Sweden, when I was telling them that Canada could be a great partner on nuclear energy, because we’re one of the very few nations in the world where we can offer the training. We have the firms who can build these power plants. We have a number of firms that can offer the equipment. We have firms like Cameco that can offer the fuel. And we can even operate these assets. So in the world where stability, predictability, and the rule of law is in high demand and somewhat short supply, Canada is seen as a very stable, predictable, reliable partner.”
Champagne also said there have been “a number of discussions” with Premier Moe on “how we can promote Saskatchewan and our uranium from Saskatchewan as key to support nations who want to develop their nuclear industry.”
“Because like I said, Canadians and the world understand better than probably before the nexus between energy security, economic security, I would put even food security and national security. And when you think about Saskatchewan, we can be a supplier of choice, a partner of choice to the world, both for our NATO partner when it comes to critical minerals, to our allies when it comes to energy security, and to a number of nations in the Indo-Pacific when it comes to food security. So I think we’re really well placed in this province to navigate this very different world.”
Infrastructure a key part of address
Municipal leaders were particularly interested in what Champagne had to say about plans to address infrastructure. Municipal and provincial leaders had gone to Ottawa recently looking for a replacement to the Invest in Canada Infrastructure Program which is fully subscribed, and had pitched a one-third cost-share proposal for each level of government.
When asked by Goulden on stage about how they would address that issue, Champagne said what they tried to do with infrastructure was “in the way of streamlining programs.”
One of the things they tried to do, he said, was “put that under one bigger umbrella” with three components. Build Canada Strong fund, which is “basically what the former gas tax transfer” used to be that was “collected and transferred to municipalities.”
He also said they agreed to provincial calls to “really shoulder a bit more of the infrastructure, because we want to talk about housing. But that comes with infrastructure that you need to build in our municipalities. And therefore, we say we would do that.” And he spoke of a pledge to help health infrastructure.
But in addition, Champagne told the audience, “we also added $22 billion of new money in infrastructure, generally… part is going to be to the provinces and territories, part is going to be to direct funding that we do with municipalities, which is working very well. And I know you like that because I’ve heard people like this interaction between the federal government and municipalities and then keeping a direct stream to be able to really support the projects that would matter to people locally.”
As for the reaction from SUMA to what the government was doing, Goulden told reporters afterwards that they liked what they were hearing.
“We are very encouraged. And as the Minister said about hearing and listening, we are very encouraged in the budget to be recognized for the role that we play in the national building projects that are coming forward or just in growing our country. So we are encouraged by that.
“Are there some nuances that we have to continue to talk? Absolutely. You heard me ask some of those questions. But I would like to just add to how we hear our residents. I always like to refer to our municipalities and our leaders across the province as the ‘Order of Government of Proximity’ because we’re right here. We’re in the grocery stores. We’re in the rinks. We hear our residents all the time. And that helps us make some of the tough decisions we have to make.”
