REGINA: "One step forward, twelve steps back." That's one way to describe the tax record of the current government according to Richard Truscott, Saskatchewan Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

"In the run-up to the election, government politicians have been bragging that they have cut income taxes and sales taxes, but the true tax record of the government is that its tax hikes are more than twelve times bigger than its tax cuts," says Truscott.

Since 1992, the government's tax cuts have added up to $320 million, but its tax increases add up to $4 billion, for a net increase in the tax burden of almost $3.7 billion. "This government's tax hikes have cost the people of Saskatchewan $3.7 billion, or about $460 million per year, in higher taxes," says Truscott. "That's about $3,700 for every man, woman, and child in Saskatchewan, or $460 bucks a year."

The CTF looked at the tax measures in each of the NDP government's budgets since 1992-93, and calculated the cumulative revenue impact of each tax cut and tax hike. The CTF did not include things like bracket creep, higher utility taxes, the jump in payroll taxes, and increasing property taxes, which have added even more to the overall Saskatchewan tax burden.

Truscott expects the government will respond to its true tax record by blaming their predecessors. "The current government will claim they had to clean up the mess left by the previous administration. But after eight years in power the NDP government has to take responsibility for the massive tax burden. It is this government that decided to focus on massive tax increases, rather than prioritizing and controlling spending and selling Crown assets."