SaskPoliticker held a press conference in front of the provincial legislature in Regina to discuss the findings of a Treasury Board report on the impact of cutting corporate subsidies

“Friends, our government’s decision to reduce transfers to provinces to incentivize scrapping corporate subsidies and to improve our federal fiscal position would have been a difficult one, if not for the findings of this report.”

“For years, economists have panned corporate subsidies as wasteful, releasing study after study demonstrating that the vast majority of subsidies damage our economy, decrease real wages, and create no new jobs.”

“The most thorough and critical report in the Canadian context was conducted by John Lester of the University of Calgary. His findings led ultimately to our decision as a government and the good news we have to share today.”

“By cutting corporate subsidies, our economic efficiency is projected to improve substantially. Spending by all levels of government on corporate subsidies had a net negative impact on our economy of $3.4 billion this year alone.”

“The changes we have made have not only allowed us to reduce federal expenses by enough to balance our budget by next year, but they have added significant revenue to our federal budget and the budgets of all provinces.”

“The Treasury Board has projected a $519.5 million dollar increase in federal corporate and personal tax revenue per year. Provinces will take in even more, with a total of $799.3 million.”

“BC and Alberta will see increases over $100 million each, Manitoba and Saskatchewan will gain $20 million each, Quebec will see a $230 million increase, Ontario gains $280 million, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador gain around $5 million each, and Nova Scotia gains $12 million.”

“The varied gains are based on the amount each province was previously spending on corporate subsidies that damaged the economy in each and every province.”

“Our government continues to cut waste and deliver more for less to Canadians across this country. We are grateful for the support from our colleagues in the House from the Pirates and Social Credit who have allowed our government to make these decisions.”