Higher oil prices will give the Saskatchewan government some wiggle room for additional spending in next Wednesday’s provincial budget.

Premier Scott Moe provided a few hints during an address to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) convention in Regina on Wednesday morning.

“In this budget you are going to see significant investment in healthcare,” Moe said. “Specifically on surgical wait times and recruitment and retention of healthcare workers. (There will be) a specific focus to ensuring that not only are we not losing services in our rural communities, but the few that we have lost temporarily, we are going to get them back very quickly.”

Higher oil and natural gas revenues helped Alberta balance its budget for the first time in eight years. Moe was not specific but did say that Saskatchewan is “moving closer to balancing the budget.”

The Premier also addressed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, noting that Russia and Belarus are global supplier of grain, potash and oil—-just like Saskatchewan. The difference is that other countries can purchase those products from an ethical and sustainable source.

“It turns out that it really does matter where you source your energy . . . . and who you choose to do business with,” Moe said.

The Premier said Western Canada can help supply the United States with additional energy and encouraged the Biden administration to take a second look at the Keystone XL Pipeline. A recent U.S. survey said 64 per cent of respondents believe more oil should be imported from Canada, now that the United States has stopped buying energy from Russia.