SaskForward, a coalition of Saskatchewan-based civil society groups, has released a new video that challenges the Saskatchewan government’s claim that deep cuts to public services and programs are inevitable. By reversing the 1% corporate tax cut announced in the last budget, the video shows that $67.5 million could be recuperated and used to restore funding to many services and programs including the STC, a variety of post-secondary education programs, funeral services, parks, the hearing aid plan and much more.
In the winter of 2017, SaskForward heard from over 100 individuals and organizations as part of its consultations on the Saskatchewan government’s promised ‘transformational change’. In these consultations, groups proposed numerous ideas that could reshape public services through new investments while avoiding austerity budgets that harm the most vulnerable in our province. The new video exposes the government’s deliberate decision to increase the profits of corporations at the expense of the services and programs that Saskatchewan residents cherish.
Peter Gilmer, of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry, a participating organization in SaskForward, is enthusiastic about the message in the video. “It is encouraging to know that we could maintain so many needed benefits and services for Saskatchewan people by simply reversing the 1% corporate tax cut. I believe that such a return would be in line with the values of the vast majority of Saskatchewan residents” he says.
The video can be viewed online at:
For more information about SaskForward see: https://saskforward.ca/
Media Contact:
Peter Gilmer
306-550-8949
rapm@sasktel.net