The upstart Saskatchewan United Party is pitching a bold plan to cut the PST in half, slash bureaucracy and reform potash royalties.
John Hromek cites unexpected sources when explaining his plan to collect more in potash resource royalties to fund a massive slash in Saskatchewan’s provincial sales tax.
Hromek wants to use the money from a revised potash royalty regime and deep cuts to provincial government bureaucracy to fund what is sure to become the party’s signature pledge in its first provincial election.
“I get it that, you know, it’s bold,” Hromek said. “It’s a bold statement.”
It’s better defined as a $2-billion statement because that’s how much money would be needed to cut in half the PST (worth nearly $3 billion in the current budget) and remove the gas tax (worth more than half a billion).
But Hromek is “confident” the promise will remain in his upstart party’s platform for the October election.
“Our potash is owned by the people of Saskatchewan, and we’re going to stand up and make sure that they’re getting their fair share,” he said.
If potash is managed properly, it can benefit Saskatchewan the same way oil benefits Alberta, the former oil and gas exploration executive explained. He noted Alberta has no provincial sales tax.
Yet, Hromek pointed out, the same provincial government is collecting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in carbon tax on industrial polluters, which it calls “output based performance standards.” And there’s $500 million-plus more with the gas tax.
As for the bureaucracy, he said its growth far outpaces the population, ballooning by 37 per cent between 2007, when the government was first elected, and 2022.
Since the last election in 2020, Hromek estimates government salaries and benefits have expanded 25 per cent, including 10 per cent last year alone.
Hromek confirmed the party plans to nominate candidates to compete in all 61 races and dismissed concerns about splitting the right-wing vote, especially in urban seats.
The eight candidates nominated so far include one each in Regina and Saskatoon. More will be announced soon, Hromek promised.
The provincial Progressive Conservatives are also planning to run candidates in every race and have so far nominated nine, including six in Regina. The Buffalo Party did not reply to an inquiry.
Hromek said urban voters are looking for a “common sense type of approach.”
But that approach dismisses action on or even acknowledgement of climate change in a province choked by smoke from forest fires again this summer.
As with his tax cut plan, you may well wonder on what planet Hromek is living.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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