The Saskatchewan Opposition is urging Premier Scott Moe to move up the date of the government’s spring budget so as not to fall on the anniversary of the deadly Humboldt Broncos crash.
Sixteen people were killed and thirteen were injured when a semi-truck ran a stop sign at a rural intersection and hurtled into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus on April 6, 2018.
An inexperienced truck driver was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to causing the crash.
NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said Tuesday one victim’s family has expressed concern to him about the Saskatchewan Party government’s plan to introduce its budget on April 6.
“The family just feels it’s incredibly insensitive to bring the budget down on a day … that really should be remembering this tragic day from three years ago and remembering the lives lost and the impacts for all those families, all those affected,” he said.
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
Wotherspoon added that the family wants privacy.
A spokeswoman for Moe has said the date was chosen because of COVID-19, and the government needed more time to put the budget together after last year’s fiscal plan was delayed.
The premier’s office also noted that assembly rules say the government is able to start the sitting later than it usually does in March because of last fall’s election.
The NDP had already criticized Moe for pushing back the budget’s release, but Wotherspoon said the fact it falls on the anniversary of the Broncos tragedy is bigger than politics.
He said it wasn’t obvious to him that the budget was on the anniversary until the victim’s family raised the issue.
It’s possible the government made a planning oversight, Wotherspoon said.
“It was very clear to me the moment that it was identified with me that this was wrong, and insensitive, and that the date needed to be moved, which is why we’re making the call.”
(Canadian Press)
