The NDP pushed the province to lower rates, arguing the reserve fund has more than enough dollars needed should there be higher claims.
While Crown Investments Corporation Minister Don Morgan acknowledged lower rates are an option, he said the province wants to maintain the reserve fund to ensure Saskatchewan could withstand a year with high insurance claims.
“The last thing you’d want to do is have the fund go down enough that we’d have to increase rates,” Morgan told reporters after question period. “We want to have stable rates and not an increase because the fund wasn’t well managed.” The NDP, however, argues Saskatchewan would be able to reduce rates while also having enough cash in case of high insurance claims. Opposition critic for SGI Aleana Young explained the fund is beyond full for what’s needed to cover higher claims. There is roughly $1.3 billion in the reserve, as of December 2021. As of that month, the Minimal Capital Test rate sat at 181 per cent, above the government’s target of 140 per cent. The capital test helps ensure there are enough dollars in the reserve. “For the hundreds of millions of dollars that are routinely there that month, after quarter, after quarter, year after year, it’s a pretty obvious solution to reduce rates,” Young told reporters. “I don’t understand why any government who has the ability, the money there, to give drivers a break when inflation is at a 30-year high. It is more intent on keeping that money in a Crown corporation as opposed to lowering rates and making things more affordable to drivers.”Advertisement 3He explained the fund may be higher because there weren’t many claims during much of the pandemic.“We’ve also seen some icy roads,” he said. “The fund on first blush looks like it’s healthier than it may actually be, so we’ll work with SGI and take advice from them.” While Morgan said the province would like to maintain the fund, it may consider adjusting rates “at some point in the future.” “It could well be that the market input into the fund right now drops off,” he said. “But if our rate returns drop back to a more normal rate than that, then we probably have to adjust them. So, we’ll take it carefully.”Saskatchewan recently came under fire for hiring an Ontario company to print and mail the cheques rather than using a business from this province. Morgan said he doesn’t know if there was a company in Saskatchewan that could do the volume of cheques that are required, though Young said she knows of a company that is able. “When we can give good contracts of good value to Saskatchewan businesses who operate and employ people here in the province … I don’t know why they wouldn’t do that,” Young said. When asked whether rebating people digitally or simply offering a lower rate would save the province money, Morgan said SGI doesn’t have everyone’s banking information.Article content He said the cheques and the postage cost less than $1 per person, though the province has to send out 700,000 cheques. “It’s a lot of money when you look at it, but if you did it by way of a direct deposit or whatever other method, you would have a cost to it as well,” he said. “We thought this was the easiest and quickest way to get the money in the hands of the people.” The news seems to be flying at us faster all the time. From COVID-19 updates to politics and crime and everything in between, it can be hard to keep up. With that in mind, the Regina Leader-Post has created annewsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox to help make sure you are up to date with the most vital news of the day.
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