REGINA – Things did not go as planned for the NDP’s attempt to introduce a private members' bill to stop SaskPower and SGI rate hikes.
The NDP's critic Aleana Young had tried to introduce Bill 612, the Lower Power Bills and Car Insurance Act, on Wednesday afternoon.
But instead of first reading, Government House Leader Tim McLeod rose on a point of order to ask that the proposed bill be ruled out of order, on the grounds that the bill required a recommendation to the Assembly by message from the Lieutenant Governor before being considered by the Assembly. This is required before a bill could be considered which authorizes expenditure or impacts the government's summary financial statements.
Opposition House leader Nicole Sarauer argued no Royal recommendation was needed for the bill. Speaker Todd Goudy will make a ruling on the point of order on Thursday, meaning the proposed bill is in limbo, for now.
The turn of events surprised Young.
“What we saw today is certainly not what I expected — it’s unprecedented when it comes to my years in the Legislature,” said Young to reporters.
Young made known she thought the reason the government was trying to stop the bill from being introduced was because “they do not have solidarity amongst their members.”
“Their constituents will be telling them, just like mine are telling me… that cost of living is a number one concern for people,” said Young. “And so the Sask Party is afraid that some of their own MLAs will be voting in favour of this.”
Young could not say any more about her proposed bill due to House rules, but she did say they “did not draft this in a vacuum and we do not believe this bill needs a Royal recommendation, and we will wait to see what the Speaker’s ruling is tomorrow.”
For the time being, Young said, the “Sask Party government is blocking a bill that we think is important and that we believe will speak to the very real affordability concerns faced by the people of Saskatchewan.”
In response to the NDP messaging on affordability, the Sask Party circulated a list of power rate increases by jurisdiction from 2020-24, ranging from 4.78 per cent for residents of Vancouver to over 56 per cent in Calgary and just under 68 per cent in Edmonton.
In comparison, SaskPower had raised power rates in February by 3.9 per cent and is set to raise them 3.9 per cent next year as well. Auto rates are due to rise 3.75 per cent in June, pending approval from the Rate Review Panel.
In a statement, the Sask Party said Saskatchewan continues to offer residents “the second lowest utility bundle in the country. SaskPower has not applied for a rate increase in over three years.”
