REGINA – Opposition politicians are ramping up the pressure on the government to stop the rate hikes by Sask Power and SGI.
Opposition critics Darcy Warrington and Aleana Young stood alongside Deepan Dasgupta, a resident of Warrington’s riding Saskatoon Stonebridge.
Warrington said Dasgupta is struggling to make ends meet with some of these costs… whether it's children's clothing, whether it's food for grocers, PST on groceries, and now SaskPower increases and SGI increases. He can't handle these extra costs and difficult decisions may have to be made. And others in the province are going to be facing those same challenges come June.”
The NDP was responding to the proposed 3.75 per cent SGI rate hikes scheduled for June, and the 3.9 per cent Sask Power hike that took effect in February.
Dasgupta made it known he felt nickled and dimed, saying that the word “Crown” was “all about making things expensive, without actually thinking why they are doing it.”
Dasgupta pointed to other grants not going up to address the costs.
“Just imagine, the grants for students have not gone up, right? It's limited, people are living with $600, $800 on their own. Now you're going to actually make them, you're going to add another $40 to their expenses. As it is, they have a little bit of money, it's subsistence money.”
Dasgupta also pointed to newcomers struggling to make ends meet.
“When you talk about going from one place to another, having three jobs, catering to three jobs, both double income kind of a thing. Running from one corner to another, taking the children to school, taking children to maybe hockey, any kind of sports training. How do you actually justify this?”
He also said that immigrants “don't have just one car, they have to have two cars. Otherwise, one of the spouses has to stop working.”
”Where are we going to stop? I'm really concerned. Sorry.”
Dasgupta was also not impressed with the responses of Minister of Crown Investments Corporation Jeremy Harrison in the Assembly that day, who noted that the Saskatchewan Auto Fund is not for profit.
“I would just reiterate that SGI has the lowest average personal auto insurance rates in the entire country, Mr. Speaker. The Auto Fund operates on a not-for-profit basis. We’re going to make sure that we maintain the integrity of the Auto Fund going forward and its ability to pay out claims,” Harrison said in the Assembly.
“I would also note, Mr. Speaker, that there has not been a rate increase in this province at SGI for over a decade. Mr. Speaker, that’s because our hard-working officials and managers at SGI have done a very, very good job in keeping those costs down at the company. We’re going to continue to work hard to do that, Mr. Speaker. But there have been an increase in cost per repair of vehicle, and that’s going to be reflected in rates as we move forward.”
“I think it's rhetoric,” said Dasgupta of Harrison’s remarks.
“What is he talking about when he says that we are a not-for-profit? Where are they paying the dividends from? Their total collection has gone down. But… how can I believe that? What about the number of fines? The fines have gone up, right, over the years? And though in 10 years it's gone down, why isn't he counting the inflation rate there? It's not, when you say not-for-profit, it's not a social welfare organization, is it? What is he talking about?”
As for the SGI and SaskPower rate increases, the NDP’s Young indicated to reporters that “we intend to introduce legislation in this House to stop these increases” the following day, Wednesday.
Details are few until the actual bill is tabled in the Assembly but Young pointed to actions of “other jurisdictions in Canada that understand that affordability is the number one concern. We're in a cost-of-living crisis, and they are freezing rates at their crown corporations.”
“So I have a message to every MLA in this House, the government MLAs in particular, we intend to bring this bill forward tomorrow, and I want them to think really hard about what they've heard from their constituents when it comes to cost of living, when it comes to their ability to pay their bills, to look after their families, and put away money for retirement. I know there's some cynicism around bills that the opposition brings forward and the likelihood of success, but as I said, cost of living is the number one concern for people.”
