Letters: A federal election without hate, division and interference

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The federal election is upon us. Unfortunately now begins the spewing of slogans and attack ads peppered with anger, hate and divisiveness. The vile, vindictive politics of our southern Trump neighbour, who now perceives us as an enemy, has infected our political system.

Social media has done us no favours, as it enables the spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories and sometimes outright falsehoods. We need to be reminded that Canadian values were instilled by our ancestors of all race, colour and creed.

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We need to identify and filter out foreign interference by Russia, China and India. We must ignore the malarkey and meddling of Donald Trump in our politics, with his latest manipulative and reverse psychology lies to deflect the trade war he started.

In this election, we must understand that opinions are not facts and facts must be checked through reputable sources. Finally, we must be reminded that a poor leader is one who divides. A true leader doesn’t create separation, but brings people together.

Terry Neefs, Saskatoon

An Alice in Wonderland budget

Saskatchewan’s 2025-26 budget “Delivering For You” would more accurately be titled “Through the Looking Glass.” It is not grounded in reality.

Forecasting a surplus of $12 million on spending of $21 billion is as credible as forecasting a surplus of $13. It is based more on optics than economic and fiscal performance

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The $12-million figure does not factor in U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the net effect is a bogus surplus that will not survive the first quarter of the fiscal year. Finance Minister Reiter admits that tariffs over an extended period will mean a deficit.

According to Saskatchewan Finance, a full year of tariffs would mean a $1.4-billion reduction in revenue. The surplus is based on 1.8 per cent real GDP growth in 2025-26.

Finance projects a year of tariffs would mean negative GDP growth of negative 5.8 per cent. Trump’s tariffs will drown the $12-million surplus in a sea of red ink.

The budget forecasts gross debt will increase to a record $38 billion in 2025-26. Net debt is increasing as it is a ratio of net debt to GDP. This is all based on the sanguine budget projections under the Wonderland notion of no tariffs and positive GDP growth.

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Rates will inevitably rise at some point in future, and debt servicing costs will soar even higher. Health remains the largest spending item in the budget at $8.1 billion. In 2007-08, it was $3.4 billion.

This is a disappointing budget with few major new initiatives, modest tax cuts, a raft of new fee increases and mountainous debt continuing to grow. It is difficult to see what this budget will “deliver” other than hard times and despair.

Roy Schneider,  Regina

Share your views

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• Include your full name, address, phone number and home community so we can verify your identity. Only your name and community will be published.
• Emailed letters are preferred but they can also be sent to 300-1964 Park St., Regina, Sask., S4N 7M5

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