‘Blows my mind’: NDP says Sask. Party not investing enough in northern highways, airports

A Prince Albert Police car is parked on Highway 55 as a plume of smoke rise from a forest fire burning northeast of the city in Prince Albert, Sask., Monday, May 17, 2021. The northern Saskatchewan city has declared a local state of emergency due to a wildfire that's fast-moving and forcing some residents to flee for safety. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

Saskatchewan’s Official Opposition accused the provincial government of neglecting northern infrastructure in this year’s budget, citing the severity of last year’s wildfire season.

Jordan McPhail, the NDP’s MLA for Cumberland, slammed the Sask. Party for cutting funding for northern highways and airports during Tuesday’s question period.

“Last year’s wildfire season showed us just how critical our highways and airports are in northern Saskatchewan - they’re a lifeline to communities,” McPhail said.

“That’s why it blows my mind that this Sask. Party government is cutting funding for those northern roads and airports. This bad news budget will see a cut of $36 million compared to last year.”

McPhail added that northern Saskatchewan commonly finds itself targeted for cuts by the Sask. Party government, as shown by funding dropping from $122.3 million in total funding in 2025-26 to $86.3 million in 2026-27.

Minister of Highways Kim Gartner defended the government’s commitment to funding northern infrastructure, arguing that discrepancy mainly comes from the completion of a bridge project between the village Air Ronge and the town of La Ronge.

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“Over the last three to five years, our average annual budget spent into northern Saskatchewan for infrastructure and airports is around the $80 million mark,” Gartner told reporters on Tuesday.

“This budget is not a cut; this is a commitment to northern Saskatchewan.”

Gartner also said the government looks at the full province when allocating budget money and not to specific areas.

“We are concerned with all areas of the province, and we look to improve the safety of the of the system that we have,” he said.

“A safe, reliable and dedicated system of highways and transportation for the province of Saskatchewan - in all corners of the province, is especially important to us,” Gartner said.

When asked about this statement, McPhail told media that it was still unacceptable to invest less in northern infrastructure considering the severity of the 2025 summer wildfire season.

“For me, as a person that evacuated out from northern Saskatchewan, that took patients from the hospital out to the airport to fly out of the airport in the last wildfire evacuations, hearing the highway infrastructure coming out of Creighton and Denare Beach … this was not the year to cut the budget,” McPhail said.

“This is a year to signal to every single northerner that they deserved safe and effective highways infrastructure and municipal infrastructure to get them from community to community.”