A manufacturers tax credit is a key point in developing Saskatchewan’s value-added industry, according to Progressive Conservative Party Leader Ken Grey. That’s a major part of their platform, especially for helping out rural Saskatchewan.
Grey responded to a series of questions on rural issues in this election when he was in Estevan on Oct. 19, where he met with local Estevan candidate Linda Sopp.
Between Oct. 16 and Oct 19, all six party leaders were asked the same set of five questions focusing on issues facing rural Saskatchewan.
Municipal infrastructure
Asked about the infrastructure deficit facing rural municipalities and towns, given depopulation is a continuing trend, Grey said, “I think what would be a fair thing to do is we would have to sit down and talk with the various municipalities, but I think that there has been some discussion about sharing part of the PST for that purpose. And so, (this is) one of the things that we're very conscious of. And I was just talking to our fellow in Melville today and he was saying to some of the roads are in just really terrible shape and that's part of the infrastructure problem that municipalities have.
“So, I think we need to look at a better and more sustainable and more predictable form of revenue sharing with municipalities to kind of address this going forward.”
Keeping agriculture a priority
With the continuing trend toward fewer rural residents, what will the Progressive Conservatives do, if elected, to ensure agriculture remains a priority for the government? Grey responded that Saskatchewan needs to look at value-added endeavours. “I know the government has actually committed itself now to some value-added agriculture and in our rural areas and I think we would we would certainly agree with them on that.
“We have, actually, in our platform a manufacturers tax credit. The whole purpose of that is to try and attract manufacturing, secondary industry, which could be value-added agricultural manufacturing that's going on in in rural Saskatchewan. We have some really great opportunities with some really reasonably priced real estate out there so that companies can actually move in. We just need to get the incentive in place so that there's a there's a value for them, or an incentive for them to move into real Saskatchewan and set up shop.
“And if we're doing that in terms of agriculture, then we then we're also helping our local farmers out some, maybe the pulse crops and things like that where value-added can really make a difference.
“We also need to look at helping to establish markets for a lot of our different crops. And so, we would we would certainly look at more focused towards helping corporations and other governments get together and market our products to other markets, and other countries.”
He is looking more towards trade missions as opposed to trade offices. Grey said, “I'm more interested in trying to get to some individual deals done.”
Bolstering rural health care
With regards to keeping rural emergency rooms open and having sufficient doctors in rural facilities, like Preeceville, Grey noted he has a background in the health field, having worked as a sleep disorder technologist and previous to that, as a continuing care aide. He’s talked to a lot of out-of-province doctors and doctors who ended up leaving Saskatchewan.
“I would ask them, if they were here and leaving, ‘What's the allure of going to a place like Edmonton?’ and he said, ‘Well, quite frankly, it's just more opportunity for us.’ And the same question for doctors from outside of Saskatchewan, ‘Why don't you come to Saskatchewan and set up a clinic here as well?’ Because they might have multiple clinics all over Western Canada. They say, ‘There's too many restrictions.’
“So maybe we need to look at treating our physicians, not so much as employees, but maybe we need to start looking at them as more of a corporation, which is what they really are. And give them some opportunities to come in and invest in, set up local clinics, whether that be through our health system in an emergency room setting and or setting up urgent care centres in certain areas, using a public private partnership process. And I think that that would do quite a bit in terms of alerting people or bringing the physicians here.”
As for getting University of Saskatchewan-trained physicians to set up shop in rural Saskatchewan, Grey said, “I've worked with some students from that college as well and a number of them actually do come here from other provinces as well. And so that may be part of the problem there. But again, a lot of them are going because of opportunity. I don't know very many that were actually in the family doctor area. Most of them were going into specializations, but I think it can still apply, that if we just kind of consulted with physicians to see what we can do to give them an expanded practice within the province, I think that we can solve a lot of the issues of lack of doctors in our province.”
He currently works as a supervisor with Regina Paratransit.
Rural connectivity
With internet access still painfully slow in for substantial portions of rural Saskatchewan, amplified by the need of children to do school work from home during the pandemic, how would they improve rural connectivity? Grey said he’s heard concerns about rural connectivity on the doorstep.
“We need to we need to address it,” he said, noting the federal government had said they were going to do something on that front.
“We have a Crown corporation that's dedicated to this stuff. And so, we should really be looking at trying to partner with them and maybe even some other private corporations that have some expertise in getting into rural markets and see if we can't work out a partnership to expand that.”
He said some areas in the Last Mountain area, north of Regina, only 30 per cent of the population has internet. Grey said the cost to get an installation can be thousands of dollars.
“We're just going to have to make that investment, because otherwise rural Saskatchewan is going to be at a horrendous disadvantage,” he said.
Improving rural environment and water quality
Grey noted there’s 26 to 30 communities in Saskatchewan with boil water orders. “It’s all part of the rural infrastructure and issues with rural infrastructure,” he said. “We need to make sure that that water quality is there for our folks. So, if we need to help communities put in reverse osmosis or something along those lines that can help them with their water supply, I think we should do it.”
Grey said in northern Saskatchewan, accumulations of large piles of wood pulp, due to the lack of a pulp mill, is both unsightly and a fire hazard. There’s been some discussion on using it for biomass power generation, he noted. He also suggested using garbage incineration for power production, to reduce the need for landfill space.
