When Finance Minister Ken Krawetz rose in the Saskatchewan Legislature to deliver the 2014 budget address on Wednesday, many in Saskatoon were looking for a commitment to building new bridges in the city.
“A new commuter bridge is needed in the north industrial area of Saskatoon,” Krawetz said. “Our government is committed to working with the City of Saskatoon and the federal government to fund that priority."
But the finance minister did not include any dollars in the budget, only saying money would likely flow in 2015-16, and there has been no indication of financial support from Ottawa.
"I always said along the way I was very hopeful the province would be at the table with us,” said Mayor Don Atchison, “and they didn't disappoint -- they came through."
Still, how much money the province will provide is not certain and there was also confusion on why a project to replace the Traffic Bridge is not mentioned in the budget document even though both bridges were bundled together in a single project as part of a public-private partnership.
"The application to P3 Canada is for a parkway commuter bridge and Traffic Bridge together. It’s one project with two bridges inside it,” Atchison said.
On the health front, the Saskatoon Health region received a base operating increase of 3.9 per cent and $8 million will go towards upgrades at Parkridge Centre, but the budget still calls on health authorities to find savings.
“We will continue to be really challenged to maintain efficiencies that we’ve gained this year as well as to make sure that we optimize every resource we have,” said health region CEO Maura Davies.
Officials at University of Saskatchewan say they are pleased with a two per cent increase in funding along with $6.5 million going towards the health sciences facility.
