Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is promising to bring back a tax credit for kids’ recreation and to create more child-care spaces.
Moe says if his party is re-elected in the Oct. 26 provincial vote, he will reintroduce the active families benefit, which was eliminated in the 2016-17 budget.
“One of the best ways to ensure strong, healthy families is to have your children involved in sports, or in arts and cultural activities,” Moe said on Monday.
The benefit would provide families earning less than $60,000 a year with a refundable tax credit of up to $150 per child to take part in sports and cultural activities. For a child with a disability, the benefit would be up to $200.
The party says the tax credit would come back in the 2021-22 budget and cost the province $5.7 million annually.
“Over the years, I have coached hockey and softball and I know what a benefit those activities have been to our kids and other kids in our community,” Moe said, adding that he also knows “that it costs money to get your kids involved in sports and other activities.”
Moe also promised that his government would create 750 new child-care spaces over the next four years; 230 of them would be in schools that are set to be built. The party expects that 120 of the new spaces would be available in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
“We know that access to childcare is a challenge for many Saskatchewan parents,” Moe said.
“That’s why we have worked to increase the number of licensed childcare spaces by nearly 90 per cent, from 9,196 spaces in 2007 to 17,423 spaces in 2020.”
In the 2022-23 budget, Moe committed to increase some of the grants going to home-based daycares. The child-care promises are pegged to cost $9.7 million over four years.
Before the election campaign officially began, NDP Leader Ryan Meili promised to bring in $25-a-day child care and create thousands of more spaces.
(Canadian Press)