The Official Opposition suggests the provincial budget is no longer balanced. During Question Period, Shadow Finance Minister, Trent Wotherspoon stated that a $12 million surplus minus the approximately $432 million that would have been made from the carbon tax on large emitters does not mean a balanced budget. It’s a deficit. He wanted to know how the government was going to fill that gap.

The NDP wants to see a plan with funds set aside to tackle tariffs. Wotherspoon said, “When will that Finance Minister bring forward a budget that addresses the real challenges Saskatchewan people face, that’s based on the facts and that steps up to the tariffs we face from both the U.S. and China?”

Minister of Finance, Jim Reiter explained that every time the price of oil goes up or down, or potash or uranium, it impacts revenues, and the government is not going to rewrite the budget every time that happens. He added, “Talking about budgets though, here are the budgets that are significantly impacted by this carbon tax change, for the good, Mr. Speaker – the budget of every household in this province, the budget of every municipality in this province and the budget of every business in this province, Mr. Speaker, especially small businesses.”