REGINA – Saskatchewan’s finances are markedly improved since the release of the provincial budget this spring – so much so that the deficit has been wiped out, a billion dollars in debt will be retired, and 900,000 Saskatchewan residents ages 18 and over will be mailed $500 cheques this fall, totaling $450 million.

Those were some of the points made by Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer in her first quarter fiscal update, released on Aug. 23 at the Legislature.

Saskatchewan has been the beneficiary of higher commodity prices due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Asked about that, Harpauer said, “We didn’t create the war. And yes, we are benefiting in our commodities. Commodities are benefiting and we’re not the only jurisdiction that that is.”