Premier Scott Moe wants the spring sitting of the Legislative Assembly to commence on April 6th, with the next provincial budget to be tabled that day.

Moe says, “The new budget will be the main focus of the spring sitting,” He says it will be designed to see Saskatchewan through the rest of the pandemic and then into a strong economic recovery.

The premier says the budget will make investments in health, education, infrastructure and our economic recovery. He says it will also continue to work toward a balanced budget by 2024.

The spring sitting is expected to last eight weeks, concluding in late May.

The NDP says the Sask. Party is trying to hide from scrutiny by having a shortened legislative session. The planned beginning of April 6th is several weeks later that the normal time of the spring sitting. The New Democrats say that means less opportunity for scrutiny of the government’s COVID-19 response and very little time to debate any legislation besides the provincial budget.

House Leader Vicky Mowat accuses the government of trying to ram through legislation with little debate. Mowat says, with Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout scheduled to begin in April, there should be an opportunity for legislative oversight beforehand.

She wants the Human Services Committee to be convened to scrutinize the pandemic response and the vaccine plan.

The opposition party also says that if the government refuses to introduce a budget before April then the Finance Minister must release the 3rd Quarter Financial report in advance of the budget.