Sask. Opposition criticizes government's travel spending

It’s less red carpet and more red hot exchanges. So Mr. Speaker, today we have some awards to hand out to members of this tire and out of touch government and we’re going to call them the spending. The Saskatchewan NDP is focused its travel criticism here in Dubai. The nine day trip for five people cost more than $32,000. But it’s this $765,000 pavilion the government used in Dubai that is under the most scrutiny. The award goes to none other than the premier, with his million dollar week in Dubai the most expensive junket in Saskatchewan’s history. Mr. Speaker, the member opposite, calls it a junket because she doesn’t understand how important trade is to this province, how important it is to industry leaders. That trip is a part of the nearly $200,000 the government spent on international travel from April 2023. To April 2024, the most expensive excursions were to the Philippines and Singapore, India and the United Arab Emirates. We are going to be out there working with our job creators, working with our employers, working with our companies to sell those products around the world and attracting investment back here to Saskatchewan. Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan politicians spent nearly as much money traveling within Canada as well. One example, Minister Jim Ryder spending nearly $28,000 on a four day trip to Toronto, 12 1/2 thousand alone to host guests with food and catering. In an e-mail, the province said the Toronto trip included a full delegation of five people total, and they say the trip gave the officials a chance to meet with delegations there and mining companies to bring investment to the province. Dane Patterson, CBC News, Saskatoon.