Provincial NDP Leader Carla Beck has been vocal on Saskatchewan's economic record since being introduced as head of the Opposition. 

The NDP stated earlier this month that the value of building permits in Saskatchewan had only grown 1% a year between 2018 and 2022.

In response to that statement, Kindersley MLA Ken Francis addressed Beck saying it went a step too far, providing some stats to correct the record during a recent address from the Assembly:

West Central Online spoke with Francis last week after returning from another week of sitting in Regina, as the local MLA expanded on his reasoning for calling out the Opposition.  

"Basically, what we find repeatedly is that the Opposition will take stats, and kind of twist them or take individual stats to try to paint a negative picture in an actual good story," shared Francis last Friday, "Our economic numbers are really good compared to the rest of the nation." 

Francis explained further.

"What the Opposition will do is take a month-to-month, or take a small snapshot where there is a retraction in a number," he shared, "It's still growth, it's just smaller growth. That's what we wanted to point out, is they kind of cherry-pick their numbers to try and paint a negative picture about our economy and how it's performing."

The state of the provincial economy, that is growing at its fastest rate in more than 100 years according to the Government, has been a major topic from both sides as the Third Session of the Twenty-ninth Legislature resumes this week.

This week represents one of the bigger dates on the parliamentary calendar, as the 2023-24 Saskatchewan provincial budget will officially come down Wednesday, March 22nd.