Throne Speech Debate (27 October 2025)

From Hansard (27 October 2025)

 

Throne Speech Debate

Hon. Travis Keisig: — Well thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the famous words of former MLA Nancy Heppner, “and now for something totally different.”

As always, Mr. Speaker, it’s a great honour to rise and enter into remarks. It was a very busy summer filled with many events, but I’m happy to be back in the House today with all of my colleagues, debating the Speech from the Throne.

The day of the Throne Speech is always very exciting, Mr. Speaker. The building is bustling with so much activity. We all have friends, family, constituents sharing our excitement about Her Honour delivering a speech, and just having so many people in the building, Mr. Speaker, adds to that level. And I was very fortunate to even have guests arrive from Texas and Montana, made the long trip up to see the Speech from the Throne.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, my wife, Sheila, was not able to make it this year as she was in Ottawa with SARM [Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities] members advocating for the people of the province. My wife does fantastic work, Mr. Speaker, and I’m very proud of the work she’s done and continues to do for the province as the president of the Rural Municipal Administrators’ Association. I’m very happy to have a wife who not only supports every aspect of my career but also has such a strong ambition to be successful and pave an incredible legacy for herself.

Before I get too far, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not thank other people who have assisted me in my journey as your MLA. My daughters — I have to talk about them, Mr. Speaker — are very passionate, hard-working, and I may be a little biased, but they sure have turned out to be amazing young women.

My eldest daughter, Shannara, when she’s not busy at work as an LPN [licensed practical nurse], is looking up her next destination where she’s going to travel off to. She’s really got a travelling bug, Mr. Speaker, but her and her boyfriend do have a lot of fun. And she really enjoys her work as an LPN working within the province of Saskatchewan.

My younger daughter, Sharlize, started a new job in Yorkton. She’s a veterinary technician and loves animals, loves her work, loves the veterinarian she works with. And when she’s not at work, Mr. Speaker, she is busy on the farm. Her and her boyfriend have rented a bunch more land and have been very busy. And I can honestly say I have done more farm work this year, Mr. Speaker, than I have in the last four years combined. It was really good to get out and operate a combine and assist them with harvest. You know, they did such a good job of planting the seeds, and very happy to report to the House that they had a very successful harvest.

I also want to thank the people in the building who keep this building running, Mr. Speaker, from the custodians to the Clerks, you know, the legislative staff, the staff that works in caucus. I want all of them to know that the work you do to keep this building running smoothly is essential, and we appreciate everything that you do for us and the people of the province.

And I also want to thank you, Mr. Speaker. You have done some really good work with the Legislative Assembly Service, starting the new program you have for the mock parliament. I was really excited to have . . . Southey school was able to attend. They were the inaugural school. It’s a great program that really teaches students about how the legislative process works, and I’m going to be doing a lot of lobbying to have other schools from my constituency attend, Mr. Speaker. You did a fantastic job, and the Legislative Assembly Service did a great job on it too.

I also want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, on your work with the library staff on something that I planted the seed with the Speaker and he has followed through with it. There is 296 rural municipalities within the province of Saskatchewan. And the Speaker’s been very passionate about this: there should be an RM [rural municipality] map for every RM in the Legislative Library. And they are slowly getting there. I check in on them every now and then to pull a map and see how they’re progressing. It’s a slow process. The mail strike has kind of thrown a monkey wrench in, Mr. Speaker, but they are doing great work at the library.

I also want to thank the team I have in the building here, Mr. Speaker: my chief of staff, Kenneth; Kielle; Leona; and Emily. Your hard work is evident, and I’m very grateful to have you as part of the Environment team and assist me on my journey as Minister of the Environment.

And there’s always that ongoing debate in here, Mr. Speaker, about our constituency assistants. Tina has done fantastic work serving the constituents of Last Mountain-Touchwood. We started together. She’s been with me for over five years now, Mr. Speaker, keeps the office running smoothly. And I really can’t say enough good things about her, like her work ethic and her diligence and everything else. It’s noted by the constituents, and it’s definitely noted by myself too. I truly have a great team that kind of surrounds me, and I really appreciate all of them.

And I also have to thank the constituents of Last MountainTouchwood, Mr. Speaker. None of us would be here without the support of our constituents. And I really appreciate them reaching out to me and understanding that your role in cabinet, it can be quite demanding. But they are very honoured to have a member representing them in Executive Council. And you have to say thank you, Mr. Speaker. You truly do.

It is also our duty, Mr. Speaker, as members of the Legislative Assembly, to keep this province and its people strong, safe, and secure. If we were to fail at this, we would be dishonouring the legacy of all of those who’ve come before us. This is why ensuring that the government works closely with our greatest asset — the people of the province — to build confidence in our economy, so they can feel safe in their homes and communities and that their future and this province’s future are secure.

When the Lieutenant Governor was delivering the Speech from the Throne, Mr. Speaker, you may have heard the word “legacy” being mentioned. And that truly made me think about how legacy plays such an important role in a family unit. And I think back to the passing of my father, Mr. Speaker, and since his passing, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of building a legacy that both of my parents would be very proud of.

With each new generation our government has the opportunity to build and improve on what those before us have built, while ensuring we honour their hard work and the challenges that they faced. What’s important about a legacy is that we take the situation we were left with, the lessons we were taught, and begin to leave our own mark in history by working together to build a stronger, safer, and more secure opportunity for all the future generations.

There was lot of investments that are going on in the constituency, Mr. Speaker. And one thing that I’m very excited about and I know many of my constituents are excited about, it’s the passing lanes from Highway 10 from Fort Qu’Appelle to Melville. This project includes turning lanes and the construction of eight passing lanes. As we are sitting here today, work is under way. They have culverts there now, Mr. Speaker, and large cattle culverts for some of the livestock producers there.

When the initial announcement was made, I had a lot of phone calls and text messages and constituents reaching out to me and just, you know, one word: finally. They were very happy to see it moving forward.

I always remember in 2013-ish when the very first passing lanes in the province were put in from Fort Qu’Appelle to Balgonie. That was the most dangerous stretch of highway, Mr. Speaker, and when those passing lanes were built it was an absolute game changer for safety and for productivity. They work very well. They’re a very important part of our highway network, and people really, really appreciate that.

Saskatchewan has also led the nation in year-over-year job growth with the lowest unemployment rate, and leads the country in capital investment growth. Our economy is the strongest economy in Canada, Mr. Speaker. That did not happen on its own — took a great deal of work and a group of forward-thinking individuals. And we also have to say, a lot of hard work from our Premier.

Now it was truly an honour, Mr. Speaker, to be asked to serve as Minister of the Environment. And you get a lot of great opportunities. Earlier this summer, I was down in Estevan for the opening of the new Sarcan recycling centre, and I also had an opportunity to tour the Regina Sarcans.

Sarcan is, you know, truly a hidden gem in the province of Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker. It’s a leader in environmental protection, job creation, and economic growth. I was really honoured to witness first-hand, and got a real nice behind-the-scenes tour of the meaningful work they’re doing for our province, our community, and our citizens.

Also, Mr. Speaker, this summer I had the opportunity to head up to Denare Beach. You have to really see some of the challenges they were facing after the wildfires, and I went up there several times, met many of the community members. And you have to see it to really get a handle on the scope of the challenges that they were facing.

I met with the local leaders to discuss how our government could put families in the North first as they recover from the severity of the fire season. Along with many of my colleagues, we met with officials and were provided with regular briefings. Our government has committed 20 million to support cleanup and debris management efforts.

The Ministry of Environment has worked with Denare Beach and East Trout Lake on landfill expansion plans for the wildfire debris. Now I really want to put this into the record, Mr. Speaker. The plans were reviewed and the team at the Ministry of Environment worked diligently, and it was approved later on that day. They had the entire team focused on these landfill construction permits, and it flowed seamlessly.

The team at the Ministry of Environment did fantastic work, and I really want to thank them for all of their due diligence. It’s greatly appreciated by the people of Saskatchewan. The wildfire recovery task team is committed to community-centred recovery. We remain committed to working together to rebuild in that northern part of the province.

Also this summer, Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to join my colleague, the member from Moosomin. We did an aquatic invasive species event at the boat inspection station on No. 1 Highway on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. You can’t have a Minister of the Environment get to his feet without talking about aquatic invasive species, Mr. Speaker.

We truly see the devastating impact that aquatic invasive species have, like zebra mussels, and they continue to spread in Ontario, Quebec, and right next door in Manitoba and North Dakota. This province is a premier destination for boaters, anglers, and anyone looking for opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. We know that Saskatchewan’s thousands of beautiful lakes and rivers are a big part of what makes this province so special.

Members of the public have a role to play in reducing the risk of introducing AIS [aquatic invasive species] into our waters by becoming knowledgeable on how aquatic invasive species can unintentionally spread. The clean, drain, dry watercraft campaign ensures everyone understands the risks and our government’s priority to ensure our communities are safe and secure from aquatic invasive species. Prevention efforts as a province have been very successful, and I’m happy to report that no invasive zebra mussels have been found in Saskatchewan waterbodies to date. We must remain diligent and continue to ensure Saskatchewan is free. And our government is committed to ensuring that Saskatchewan’s economy also remains the strongest in Canada.

Another environmental program I’ve had the privilege of bringing forward, Mr. Speaker, is the derelict building pilot program. We believe municipalities are best suited to know what they need when it comes to disposing of them. This is a voluntary program, Mr. Speaker. It will allow municipalities and our world-class volunteer firefighters to partner and provide training opportunities that communities and fire chiefs deem relevant. This pilot project will be totally voluntary and require sign-off from both the municipality and the volunteer fire department. Applications are now open for municipalities to start filling out, with an official start date of November 1st. Our government is always putting families first by ensuring Saskatchewan communities are safe and secure.

In the Throne Speech too, Mr. Speaker, we talked about how the government will amend The Saskatchewan Firearms Act to protect Saskatchewan gun owners from financial liability resulting from the federal firearms prohibitions and preserve the right to receive fair compensation, since the federal government continues to move forward on their gun buyback program that takes firearms away from responsible, law-abiding firearm owners.

This program will do nothing to reduce firearm-related crimes across the nation. Our government will always continue to ensure our communities are safe and secure by addressing the issue of firearms-related crimes, and not going after legal firearm owners and our great hunting community.

Also this summer, Mr. Speaker, I really had the privilege of being elected president of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, or PNWER. PNWER is an organization representing the American states of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska; the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan; and the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories. Combined, Mr. Speaker, we are the 11th-largest economy in the world, and we do a lot of work on cross-border trade, animal health issues, economic corridors, among a myriad of other things.

During these challenging times with our neighbours to the south, these organizations truly show their value. We need allies in our negotiations and people who are truly informed on the issues with a deep understanding of just how intertwined our economies are, how all of us benefit from free and unfettered trade moving north and south.

Last week, Mr. Speaker, I was in Portland, Oregon for the PNWER economic forum, and I had the opportunity to address many participants in both the public and private industry sectors. And I talked a lot about widgets. Now I like to use the term “widgets” to describe what your jurisdiction produces. In Saskatchewan’s case it’s agri-food products, energy, fertilizer, forestry, and manufactured goods, just to name a few.

You can produce the best widget in the world, however it’s worth nothing if you can’t get it to your customer. Oregon, Washington, BC [British Columbia], and Alaska have truly won the geographical lottery by having access to tidewater, which allows them to ship their widgets anywhere in the world. And there’s not only an economic case, Mr. Speaker, but there’s also a moral case, I feel, to allow every jurisdiction to have the ability to access those tidewater ports. Because in Saskatchewan we produce the most environmentally, socially, and sustainably produced widgets, and we want to get it to the global marketplace.

I just want to end on this note, Mr. Speaker. Twelve months ago Saskatchewan people had a choice at the polls, and they chose this Premier and this Saskatchewan Party to lead the province during these challenging times. But like the Premier said, they also voted for change. And that change was delivered.

An all-new cabinet that has been working diligently alongside caucus on new energy policy, supporting our farm families with land ownership review, and innovative ways of delivering health care all across this province with one true goal in mind: to keep our economy strong, keep our communities safe, and secure our future. So my children and your children, Mr. Speaker, and all young people across Saskatchewan will have opportunities to stay, work, and raise their families in Saskatchewan. And that, Mr. Speaker, is truly the ultimate goal.

So with that, I will be supporting the Throne Speech moved by the member from Weyburn-Bengough, seconded by the member from Carrot River Valley. And I will not be supporting any amendments brought forward by the opposition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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