REGINA, SK: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is bringing the Debt Clock to the Saskatchewan Legislature today to call on Premier Scott Moe to balance the budget and stop adding to the provincial debt.

“Taxpayers balance their household budgets and they are only asking for the government to do the same,” Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director, said. “The debt is projected to hit $18.9 billion by the end of March. That’s an increase of more than $380 million compared to last year.”

The Debt Clock is a huge digital counter mounted on the side of a moving truck that shows the provincial debt. The CTF is taking the Debt Clock to the Legislature to show the debt increasing in real time:

• Saskatchewan’s provincial debt is about $18.9 billion, or $15,500 per Saskatchewanian.
• Interest charges on the debt will be about $640 million this year, or $522 per Saskatchewanian.

The provincial government originally planned to lower the debt to $18.1 billion but instead it’s going up to $18.9 billion.

The government last balanced the budget in 2022-23. The government has not balanced consecutive budgets since 2012-13 to 2014-15

“The government needs to give Saskatchewan a balanced budget,” Haubrich said. “The debt cannot keep increasing and put taxpayers on the hook for even higher debt interest charges.”