The Saskatchewan government has emptied its $200-million health and public safety contingency fund.
After spending $40 million in the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced Monday it had issued another $160 million in what it called “new contingency allocations.”
The government issued February special warrants totaling $322.8 million.
“These special warrants are needed for pandemic-related costs, as well as for health system requirements, AgriInvest Program payments, and highways construction and winter maintenance,” Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said in a media release.
“In part through these special warrants, as well as in-year appropriation approved earlier in the fiscal year, our government has drawn down the Health and Public Safety Contingency.”