The Canadian Bankers Association noted in a report issued this month that Saskatchewan is several times the national rate for mortgages in arrears, and leading the country.

NDP Opposition Leader Carla Beck said families are having trouble putting food on the table, and the premier is plowing ahead and making life more expensive with energy rate hikes and higher taxes and fees.

“Why is the premier choosing to make life more expensive when there are five times as many people in this province, at risk of losing their homes, than anywhere else in the country?,” Beck asked.

Deputy premier and finance minister Donna Harpauer responded that there is $2.2 billion invested into affordability measures in this budget.

“The NDP simply have no credibility on this file,” she said. “(T)hey stand and say we do nothing, while the citizens are receiving $500 cheques, Mr. Speaker. So that is hardly nothing, and the citizens don’t see that as nothing.”

Mortgage arrears are statistically measured as when they are at least three months behind. According to figures from the Canadian Bankers Association put out earlier this month, out of 1,33,114 mortgages in the province, 792 are in arrears – or, 0.59 per cent. That compares to 0.37 per cent in Alberta, 0.27 per cent in Manitoba and 0.06 in Ontario. That