A first-quarter budget report will be not released

The NDP wants the province to reveal the current state of the finances.

This year the first-quarter report will not be released for the first time since quarterly reporting began in 2002.

Typically a budget is revealed in March and the first quarter report is out in August.

With the budget being released so late in June 2016, the government argued an update isn’t needed until it is required at the mid-year point in November.

Trent Wotherspoon says the public has a right to know what is going on.

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“Be honest with Saskatchewan people, that is the whole point of the reporting system that we support,” Wotherspoon maintained.

“This is a government that frankly is lacking decency in sharing these numbers with Saskatchewan people as they are ramming through callous cuts.”

In response, Finance Minister Kevin Doherty insists things will get back to normal next year.

“There wasn’t a budget in March this year. The budget did not come down until June 1, after the April 4 election, so it is a different kind of year. We will be back on the same schedule for this next fiscal year,” Doherty insisted.

“I think we were pretty transparent to the people of Saskatchewan that we were running deficits. As to the extent of the deficit or the actual year end deficit number, obviously we wouldn’t have known that until the end of the fiscal year.”

The last update showed the government was in the red by $675 million.

Email smills@cjme.com

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