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The provincial budget deficit has been climbing since Finance Minister Kevin Doherty unveiled a $434 million shortfall in June. When the government released its mid-year financial update in November, the deficit had grown again, to $1.04 billion.

Wall said Monday it was his “unhappy duty” to report that an eight per cent decline in government revenue this year — mostly due to crumbling resource royalties and higher than expected crop insurance claims — has pushed it to around $1.2 billion.

“Our goal is still to get to balance this year,” Wall told reporters, reiterating his government’s position that “everything is on the table” when it comes to finding savings for a budget he described as “austere.”

While details of the Sask. Party’s cost savings plan likely won’t be known until it releases the 2017-18 budget this spring, Wall said “very deep cuts” to education, health care, municipal revenue sharing and civil service salaries are possibilities.

“But also on the table is this notion of, ‘Well, do you do it all in one year, or do you set out a clear short-term plan?’ Either way, we’re not going to procrastinate. We’re not going to do what other jurisdictions are doing, and what happened in the past.”

Wotherspoon took exception to the premier’s plan, arguing the Sask. Party should have replenished its “rainy day fund” instead of spending $20 billion on infrastructure over the last decade, and warning that its proposed cuts could have dire consequences.