‘2017 is good:’ Premier Brad Wall looks ahead
At the end of 2016, CJME affiliate reporter Sarah Mills sat down with Premier Brad Wall for his annual year-end interview.
Balancing the provincial deficit
Sarah Mills: It has been several years since we have met for these interviews now so this year I thought I would try something new. Let’s call it word association. I will say a word and then you can expand for me on the word. Okay?
Premier Brad Wall: Okay, what could possibly go wrong?
SM: Deficit.
BW: We’ve got to balance the budget. You know, we’re not going to delay.
It is interesting to see what is happening today in Canada where jurisdictions are saying, yeah we’ve got a huge deficit, but we’ll balance it in five years or six years or after the next election.
I’ve never understood promises that take governments to the next election because you don’t know if you’re going to be the government. But that is the same sort of thing that happened in the 80’s.
Governments of all stripes did the same thing they kind of punted, they kicked the can down the road on getting the budget back to balance…We are not doing that in Saskatchewan, other jurisdictions can do that if they want.
“Everything is on the table”