With oil revenues soaring, the Saskatchewan government’s addiction to borrowing is inexcusable

It’s disappointing to see people fall short of their full potential, especially when they were so close to succeeding.

That’s how taxpayers feel about Finance Minister Jim Reiter’s budget.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation just released its annual report cards for all provincial finance ministers. Reiter received an overall grade of B-. That makes him the best-performing finance minister in the country. He received a B+ last year.

But topping the class doesn’t mean much when everyone else is failing. Saskatchewanians don’t feel any better about wasting money on debt interest just because the Quebec government wastes more.

Reiter didn’t earn a single A. That’s because he can’t earn top marks until the government stops racking up debt and wasting more than $1 billion a year on debt interest payments.

All it will take is a little extra effort for Reiter to put Saskatchewan in an enviable position.

Saskatchewan is blessed with huge swaths of natural resources and hard-working people. The government should not be using the taxpayer credit card to make ends meet. But the government is increasing the debt by $3.4 billion to $26.8 billion by the end of the year.

That debt comes with a debt interest bill of more than $1 billion this year. That works out to about $816 per Saskatchewanian.

Wasting more than $1 billion on debt interest payments should be setting off alarm bells in Reiter’s office.

Instead, the government increased spending nearly across the board. Reiter increased spending in 10 out of 11 of the government’s main spending areas this year.

The government is wasting about twice as much on debt interest as it collects annually from the provincial fuel tax.

That means if the government didn’t have to spend $1 billion on debt interest, Saskatchewanians could be saving about $11 per fill-up at the gas station right now. With more than $500 million to spare. Those are the real consequences of chronic overspending and irresponsible borrowing.

But all is not lost. Reiter has an opportunity to get the province’s fiscal truck out of the ditch and back on the highway. Taxpayers need him to take it.

Oil prices are hovering around $100 USD per barrel. If that holds, more than $500 million could flow into the province’s coffers this year from extra oil revenues alone.

Reiter needs to take that money, along with any other revenue windfalls, and use it to reduce government borrowing and, if possible, pay down debt.

It’s what Saskatchewan used to do. After an unexpected resource revenue windfall, former premier Brad Wall paid down about 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s debt in one year. That saved $180 million in debt interest payments annually.

Wall used those savings to make life more affordable for Saskatchewanians by cutting taxes.

The Saskatchewan Party says it believes in a “steady, gradual reduction in government spending and taxation while maintaining a firm commitment to balanced budgets,” according to its guiding principles.

That means that Reiter needs to resist the urge to spend those extra resource-revenue windfalls and increase spending over and above what he promised to in the budget.

On this front, Reiter will have to buck the trend. That’s because the Saskatchewan government spent $970 million more than budgeted in both 2025 and 2024. In 2023, it went over budget by $2.2 billion. In 2022, it was $1.4 billion.

Paying down debt. Holding the line on spending. And using the debt interest savings to provide tax relief. That’s the clear criteria from taxpayers on how Reiter can earn top marks for his budget.

Now it’s up to Reiter to hit the books, listen to taxpayers and make sure that Saskatchewan reaches its true potential.

Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. A former legislative assistant on Parliament Hill and an award-winning journalist with experience at the CTV Parliamentary Bureau and Sun News Network, Sims brings decades of experience covering big government and fiscal policy. Gage Haubrich, Prairie Director at CTF, is a fierce critic of government overspending and a champion for Prairie taxpayers.