Sask.'s Bill 40, budget reversals confuses economic planning: prof

Thehead of the politics department at the University of Regina questions if the province, withall of the changes to its spring budget, is still on course to balance the books within three years.

Tom McIntosh was responding to Premier Brad Wall's announcement that the government would be scrapping a bill to privatize up to 49 per cent of Saskatchewan's Crown corporations.

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For him, the big question is what does thisabout-face along with numerous others, such as the reversal ofthe corporate tax reduction have on the government's three-year plan to balance the budget.

"We're a year into that plan and they've made numerous changes to the financial plan of the province in terms of reversing some cuts and not going with the corporate tax cut and the like.

"It's really unclear now whether or if this government can still say its on target to meet its current budget deficit goal and then how that impacts the idea that we have two more years and will be balanced."

"It does sort of throw up everything into the air, I guess, in terms of the way the province has done its economic planning."

Back in August, then-finance minister Kevin Doherty announced the government was dipping into its contingency fund to keep the budget on track.

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The province had set aside a $300 million contingency fund. By August,$135 million had remained.

McIntoshsaid he wassurprised at Wall's announcement to do-away with Bill 40, made on the eve of the fall sitting of the legislative assembly.

He recognizes the timing may have been to publicize the decision before the start of session, but also believes it's part of the government's response to the backlash its faced from the controversial piece of legislationand its unpopular spring budget.