Sask. Premier Scott Moe talks housing, agriculture supports and a greener economy

Global News' Chris Carr sat down with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to discuss several hot topics around the province.

Global News’ Chris Carr sat down with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to review several hot topics around the province.

The two discussed agricultural supports, housing, inflation, the Saskatchewan Income Support Program and the push towards a greener economy.

Carr: I’d like to start with the province’s Ag producers. Many farmers are feeling pretty desperate right now. As many as 20 rural municipalities have declared a state of emergency, areas ravaged by drought. What are you hearing from producers right now and the challenges they’re faced with?

Moe: Well, just that, and yet again this year, like in some areas last year, and many of them are the same areas. We have a lack of rain that is impacting our Ag industry, not just the crop industry, but certainly our livestock industry as well. We had made some decisions last year to expand some of the water access that folks had to expand some of the access that they had to feed as well, and to really ensure that on the grain side, that our crop insurance system is working and being responsive to Ag producers.

Carr: We hear the calls for immediate help, but we also hear the calls for the long-term solutions. SARM among those pushing for the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation expansion, a plan that would more than double the irrigated land in the province. How realistic is this and how soon could we see something like this?

Moe: I think it’s realistic, but it is a generational investment that will happen not just in two and three years, but will happen over five, ten, 15 and 20 years with respect to the irrigation. And that is an important investment for agriculture, for municipal water security, as well as for water security, for the Ag value added industry that we’re buying here.

Carr: Not just farmers or Ag producers looking for support to these days, many feeling the pinch. The financial strain first rising costs, inflation, then interest rates rising as well, putting a strain on household budgets. What is the province hearing from people who are struggling to afford even the very basics?

Moe: Well, the inflationary pressures that we’re feeling, whether they be in small business, the Ag industry, the retail industries or whether they be in our personal family households are very real. And there’s challenges there that we have looked at addressing in any way that we can in this province. We had affordability tax credit cheques of $500 that went out this past year. But I think as we find our way to this coming year, find our way to three strong financial years at the provincial level.