Government Increases Ministerial Transparency

Released on March 2, 2020

Today, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that in-province ministerial travel and expense reports will be publicly disclosed on a quarterly basis beginning in the fiscal year 2020-21.

The current bi-annual public disclosure of out-of-province ministerial travel and expenses, a measure introduced by the current government to increase transparency, will now also be posted on a quarterly basis.

“Our government values the hard earned tax dollars of Saskatchewan people,” Premier Scott Moe said.  “While we have previously taken steps to decrease travel costs and increase transparency, we feel it is necessary to continue these efforts to ensure the public knows how tax dollars are being spent by government ministers as they travel across the province.”

The increased transparency measures accompany a number of steps the government has taken to reduce ministerial travel expenses.  These measures include a 53 per cent reduction in travel costs in 2018-2019 compared to the last year of the former government in 2006-2007, and the shutdown of Executive Air, the former government-owned air service, for an annual savings of $1 million.

Along with the implementation of new public disclosure of in-province ministerial travel and expense reports in the new fiscal year, monthly expense reports for in-province travel and expenses incurred by the Premier in the 2019-20 fiscal year to date were also released.

The quarterly proactive disclosure of in-province ministerial travel and expense reports will include monthly reports consisting of the following information:
• An itemized account of in-province charter and commercial flights;
• An itemized account of meals expensed by a Minister, including breakfast, lunch, coffee, or dinner meetings;
• Total accommodation expenses;
• Total ground travel expenses; and
• Total meal per diems.

Public disclosure of ministerial in-province and out-of-province travel and expense reports will be posted at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/budget-planning-and-reporting.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Jim Billington
Executive Council
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0425
Email: jim.billington@gov.sk.ca