NDP candidate Trent Wotherspoon and single mother Mackenzie Darling agree that Scott Moe's tax credits don't benefit those most in need. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

By CJME

Sask Votes 2024

Sask. NDP calls out Sask. Party’s tax credits

Oct 14, 2024 | 9:56 AM

The Saskatchewan NDP is calling out Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe and the fine print of his tax credits.

Trent Wotherspoon, NDP candidate for Regina Rosemont, said people are breaking the bank just to provide basics for their families.

Moe is promising tax credits for first-time homeowners and renovations. Wotherspoon said these promises are “not as advertised.”

“If you look at them, they’re small and they ignore people that are in greatest need,” he said. “And the actual response is really delayed as well.”

He said families won’t see savings for over a year and a half.

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“People need savings now,” Wotherspoon said. “People have been needing savings and relief for years.”

He said these tax credits only benefit people who have the money upfront.

“He’s (Moe) offered up a promise that he’s going to help with IVF for families that want to start a family, but the reality is that Scott Moe’s program requires a family still to front the $20,000 or more and then receive a bit of a tax credit back,” he said.

“This shuts out many families that just simply couldn’t afford a program like that, that doesn’t have the upfront dollars.”

Wotherspoon said families deserve better.

He said the NDP, under the leadership of Carla Beck, is committed to cutting costs for families and low-income households.

“On day one, we’d scrap and suspend the gas tax ,” he said. “Then we’re going to take the PST off kids clothes and groceries before Christmas, saving families real money before Christmas time. We’re going to work hard to make life more affordable for the people of Saskatchewan and, unlike Scott Moe, we’re going to keep our promises.”

Mackenzie Darling is single mom of a three-year-old boy in Regina. She said Saskatchewan is in an affordability crisis.

“Due to the high cost of living, I’m struggling to make ends meet,” she said. “In the past, I’ve had to work three jobs while going to school full time and having my son full time, and that’s just not sustainable. Nobody should have to work three jobs to make ends meet.”

Darling echoed Wotherspoon’s statement that the first time home owner tax credit and renovations tax credit are just not realistic.

“While that sounds great in theory, it’s not acceptable for everyone,” she said.

“People who are struggling with affordability, they are not going to be thinking about renovating their homes. People like myself who are struggling with rent, and other young people in this province, we cannot afford to buy homes. Those policies only benefit a small amount of people in Saskatchewan.”

Darling worries for her son’s future when she hears statistics about child poverty and foodbank usage across the province.

“The reality is that no child should have to live in poverty,” she said. “We need a government that is going to work for all the people, not just a select few.”

Wotherspoon said the province can’t afford another four more years of Saskatchewan Party.

On the campaign trail

The Sask Party had no scheduled events on Sunday or Monday of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

The Sask NDP has scheduled a press conference Monday outside of the Pasqua Hospital in Regina where they said candidate for Regina Elphinstone Centre, Meara Conway, will release a memo showing interventional radiology services will not be available at Regina’s two hospitals for weeks to come due to a physician shortage.

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