ALANNA KOCH:
Continuing
Infrastructure
Development
The Saskatchewan Party
By Alanna Koch
SASKATCHEWAN LEADERSHIP CANDIDATE
TATIANA53 / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
In the past decade, the Saskatchewan Party made record in-vestments
in infrastructure spending across our province and
I fully support those decisions.
While the NDP are quick to say that Brad Wall should have de-posited
that money into a rainy-day fund instead of spending on
roads, bridges and other large projects, I firmly believe we need
to constantly upgrade our province’s infrastructure as we can
afford it.
Avoid infrastructure deficit
When the Saskatchewan Party became government in 2007,
Saskatchewan had a massive infrastructure deficit after years of
NDP governments. We can’t ever let that happen again because our
economy, jobs and future prosperity rely on having a strong provin-cial
infrastructure.
Make no mistake, the key to our future prosperity is ensuring
we get our products to market. The types of infrastructure projects
we’ve seen over the last decade, most with SHCA members’ partici-pation,
are key to jobs and opportunities for Saskatchewan people.
Growing Saskatchewan needs
infrastructure spending
In addition to the contribution infrastructure spending makes to
our economic prosperity, we require a solid infrastructure plan to
also help us meet the challenge of a growing population.
Without infrastructure investment, we can’t handle population
growth, create new businesses or grow our existing industries – all
of which are key to growing Saskatchewan’s economy, creating jobs
and bringing more opportunities to Saskatchewan families.
I also know how important it is to invest in roads and highways to
improve road safety and help Saskatchewan people be able to safely
access the goods and services they need. This is something I would
be committed to ensuring is an ongoing priority.
If I am fortunate enough to become Premier, I will provide the
Saskatchewan taxpayers a rolling four-year plan of our govern-ment’s
priorities. I know that is important for SHCA members so
you know about future projects and you can build your business
plans to match the province’s needs.
Having said that, I am also committed to balancing the budget –
I know we have to live within our means. That means that our roll-ing
four-year plan would have to adjust for fiscal challenges but I am
committed to being transparent and ensuring your industry knows
our priorities.
Financing large infrastructure projects
As Premier, I also want to work with your industry to creatively look
at how we finance large infrastructure projects now and for decades
to come. What are the options for predictable long-term financing
for the billion-dollar projects that we need to build to stay compet-itive
and handle our future growth? Let’s work together to look for
answers. I don’t profess to have all the answers and would love to
draw on your experience.
My pledge to you
The main message I want to leave with you is that I am committed
to growing the province and when there is growth, we need to build
big projects that SHCA’s 200 members will participate in. Thanks for
everything you do for our province.
thinkbigmagazine.ca | Quarter 4 2017 | Think BIG 9