(File photo/paNOW)

By paNOW Staff

budget reaction

No big surprises in provincial budget for Prince Albert

Mar 19, 2025 | 5:34 PM

For the most part, this year’s provincial budget is what community leaders in Prince Albert expected to hear.

There were no big surprises according to Mayor Bill Powalinsky. The province has put a lot of money into multiple projects in the city over the last several years, something he acknowledges.

“We’ve got these major, major initiatives that without the province, those wouldn’t have happened,” said Powalinsky. “Those kind of investments in our community are very important and very much appreciated.”

Provincial money is helping to pay for the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre which includes a new pool and two new rinks, the major expansion of the Victoria hospital and a new Francophone school announced last year.

“I know our population is growing, our Francphone population is growing, so it’s very important we are getting that,” said Prince Albert Northcote MLA Alana Ross.

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Prince Albert Carlton MLA Kevin Kasun noted his excitement about the increase in revenue sharing from $2.9 million in 2007 to $9.4 million in 2025.

“That’s a 214 per cent increase in revenue sharing. I mean that’s incredible,” he told paNOW.

The provincial health budget includes funding for new urgent care centres in Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and North Battleford. Urgent care centres are meant to provide another option to patients who need urgent but non-emergency care, meaning those who can’t see their family doctor on short notice or don’t have a family doctor.

“It’s in a different location and it takes the pressure off the emergency room and we are seeing great success in the ones we have built,” explained Ross.

One thing the city is looking forward to hearing more about is the $6 million in new capital funding for the expansion of Complex Needs Emergency Shelters (CNES) in new communities. There are currently two 15-bed CNES pilot projects in Regina and Saskatoon that provide individuals in crisis with a safe place to stabilize while being monitored for the negative effects of drugs or alcohol. Both the Mayor and Prince Albert Chief of Police have expressed a need for a CNES in Prince Albert.

“These shelters have proven to be effective in protecting and supporting individuals who are intoxicated and presenting as a danger to themselves or others,” Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr said in a new release. “These facilities keep the individual in crisis safe and help transition them to support services and programs. We are exploring other potential locations that are best served by these facilities, as several Saskatchewan communities are interested in creating a Complex Needs Emergency Shelter to help individuals struggling with addictions and in need of these interventions.”

This year’s budget incorporates $679.4 million for the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety. It includes funding to continue public safety commitments that were announced last fall including the 17 additional police officers Prince Albert was promised.

Police Chief Patrick Nogier said they still need to do a deeper dive into the budget to determine whether other monies being allocated to policing will have a significant impact for Prince Albert.

Nogier, who has already lost 5 police officers to the Saskatchewan Marshal’s Service is concerned about losing more members to them. This year’s provincial budget allocates an additional $3.6 million to hire 50 new officers for the Marshals.

“Yeah, it’s a big worry. So, when you talk about recruitment and retention, those are the two things that are always on the tip of the tongue when it comes to our executive leadership,” said Nogier. “What are we going to do to make sure that the Prince Albert Police Service remains attractive as a potential place of employment.”

The budget is also providing $8.8 million in funding for the Saskatchewan Firearms Office, including $569,000 to support the Saskatchewan Ballistics Laboratary in Saskatoon, which is set to open this fall. Nogier had previously expressed the importance of the ballistics lab for the future of law enforcement in the province.

Cumberland NDP MLA Jordan McPhail is the Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs, Forestry and SaskTel. He said the budget is not focused on the future and denies the massive challenges communities are facing.

Noting meetings he’s had with community leaders around Prince Albert, McPhail said one of the key concerns raised had to do with crime and policing.

“This budget has been weak on crime, weak on the causes of crime, we need boots on the ground and not more bureaucy,” he said.

“The Sask Party’s marshals service is just wasting money at a time when we need more investment in the existing frontline services and the local police that are throughout our province”

NDP Leader Carla Beck has been vocal the past two week’s about her desire to see Premier Scott Moe stand up to U.S. President Trump and have a strategy regarding the tariffs. McPhail, who noted deep concerns from people he has spoken to in the forestry and mining sectors, said the lack of a contingency plan proves the government is ‘asleep at the wheel.’

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panews@pattisonmedia.com