Todd Goudy, right, had to wear a Battlefords North Stars jersey after losing a bet to Battlefords MLA Herb Cox, left, as the Melfort Mustangs fell to the North Stars in the SJHL league final. (Facebook/Saskatchewan Party Caucas)

By Mat Barrett

Spring Legislative Session

‘Happy with how things went’: Melfort MLA chats about spring legislative session

May 21, 2019 | 3:00 PM

The 2019 spring legislative session has wrapped up in Regina, and Melfort’s Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is calling it a success.

After a few years of trying to get back to a balanced budget, Saskatchewan finally has one, and Goudy said a lot of good has come out of the session and the budget.

“Balanced budget, some new things, but no new taxes or increased taxes which is good,” Goudy told northeastNOW.

“So, in my mind, it was a good session, and a good budget this year and I’m pretty happy with how things went.” _{-Todd Goudy}

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Goudy also said that he is happy to see Saskatchewan continue to grow.

“18,000 new full-time jobs in the province from a year ago which is great, I was pretty impressed with that,” he said. “I guess it’s not part of the budget, but it shows where, economically where the province is at.”

In the budget this year, a new tax credit was added for volunteer firefighters, money was allotted for mental health and addictions, and some pre-planning for new hospitals. He also touched on the fact that a constant conversation will be intersection safety on highways following the 2018 Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash. Locally, the Melfort area did receive some funding when it came to helping repave Saskatchewan Drive, which Goudy said is great, but there are a few other things needed in the constituency, including some help with underground infrastructure when it comes to water lines.

“20 percent water loss underground,” Goudy said. “So that was one of my big asks with the infrastructure grants coming out.”

He said they hope that comes sooner rather than later, but noted that sometimes you have to keep mentioning it, and wait in the cue.

Goudy also touched on the fact that he would like to see a new CT Scanner in the Melfort Hospital, a piece that has been advocated for at length.

Another large topic of conversation was the carbon tax, and Goudy said they would like to see some change.

“Everything that we have in this province comes from our industry,” he said. “The new money that comes into the province is vital to our infrastructure and to our human services. So if farmers have a bad year, if oil pices are down, if potash is down, these are the things that directly relate to how much money we do have for our human services or our infrastructure.”

Goudy said the province current has their Prairie Resilience Plan in place to help deal with emissions, but they would like to see a change with the federal tax in a sense of “doing something other than tax the emitters”.

Now that he is back from the legislature, Goudy said his plan is to continue visiting the constituents and hear the concerns of them.

–

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6