Saskatoon / 650 CKOM
Apr 6, 2021 2:25 PM
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer answers questions on the 2021-22 provincial budget on April 6, 2021. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
COVID-19 has left Saskatchewan in a bigger hole than originally expected.
Before delivering the 2021-22 budget at the Saskatchewan legislature on Tuesday, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said it was difficult to overstate the impact of the pandemic.
“It was not only a worldwide health crisis; the COVID-19 pandemic is also the largest shock to the Saskatchewan, Canadian, and world economies of any event since the Second World War,” Harpauer told reporters.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge that requires a significant response.”
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And that, she told reporters, is “pretty frustrating.” “I do think that we were there for the people of Saskatchewan. We need to be there for Saskatchewan. We need to also plan for growth and for the days where we will again be leading the nation in growth that we did in the past. And I think we have the right budget to do that. “But we are borrowing.” That wasn’t the initial plan, before the pandemic hit. Harpauer said, “In my pre-COVID budget that never happened, I was actually paying down debt.” The reason for deficit is simple: the pandemic. Harpauer said, “It is difficult to overstate the impact of the pandemic. It was not only a worldwide health crisis, the COVID 19 pandemic is also the largest shot to the Saskatchewan, Canadian and world economy of any event since the Second World War.