Reaction continues to come in regarding yesterday provincial budget announcement. 

"The budget was pretty standard," shares Jackie Wall, The Estevan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. "There were not a lot of surprises. There had already been a few announcements made when Premier Moe took his seat as the Premier."

"Some of the encouraging things was that there were no changes in taxes. A  lot of people expected that and I actually there would be an increase in the PST. So that was encouraging."

"I know that we still have issues in the restaurant and the construction industry as far as the change last year and how that had impacted their industry. The chamber network is still working on that within the province to see if we can't get some concessions there."

While PST will remain at 6%, it will be added to light used vehicle sales over $5,000 and energy efficient appliances. 

"I think anytime a government takes a look at tweaking things rather than an increase across the board, I think that shows that they are putting some thought into this. That they are trying to really be practical and perhaps taking a little bit more time to really have a thought process behind the decisions that they're making." 

"I think it shows some fiscal responsibility."

wall adds that she is encouraged by the money put into highways.

"Across the province but specifically between Regina and Estevan, we have been requesting for years that it either be twinned or at least passing lanes so it is nice to see that the province is still continuing to invest in infrastructure. especially since it is so vital to our economy to have the infrastructure."

"Right now farmers are having a hard time getting their product to market because the rail system is failing them, quite honestly. At least if we have a good highway infrastructure, there is a little bit of option there but the majority still have to deal with the rail system."

She also mentioned that there was no mention of implementing a carbon tax, something she would like to make sure doesn't come into effect. 

"I think that from the feedback we've been getting at the Chamber that that is something that the majority of the province is still behind. I think that we all agree that we need to definitely look at what our carbon footprint is and we have to work towards making environmental decisions that are good across the board but at the same time, perhaps a carbon tax is not the best avenue to do that."

Generally speaking, she is pleased with what was released.

"I think overall, it was a budget that is staying its course of what they have already decided what to do. And it was encouraging to hear that they are working to get the budget balanced again within the next year, year and a half."

"We can't all get what we want out of the budget and we all know that things aren't what they were three or four years ago. Overall, I think it was a thoughtful and good budget."