The Brad Wall government had some difficult choices to make. It could have asked the rich to pay a little more. Instead, it told the poor to pay a lot more. Though this budget may help reduce the provincial deficit, it will be bad for poverty and for the long-term health of the Saskatchewan economy.

The Liberals failed to take any meaningful action on closing tax loopholes or leveling the digital playing field. They failed to deliver, again, on their election promise to end the stock options deduction that gives almost a billion dollars to some of the richest people in Canada. They failed to make the tax system simpler or fairer.

Dear Minister Michael De Jong, perhaps it was a good thing that I was not available for your call because I have a feeling you don't really want to hear what I have to say about your government's fiscal management record.

Heading into this month's B.C. budget, Premier Christy Clark is saying all the right things about scrapping the Medical Services Premium (MSP) tax. The B.C. Liberals have been busy pouring water on every smoldering election issue they can find. On and on the list goes, leaving the MSP tax as one of the few big potholes remaining on the road to re-election.

With more frequent, more severe and more damaging cycles of droughts and wildfires, storms and floods, it's clear that a more extreme and volatile climate is costly for Saskatchewan. Virtually everyone agrees that we need to prevent the worst consequences, as much as possible, and adapt to what we can't avoid.