Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says the budget sounds okay, but he wants more details. (Stefani Langenegger/CBC) The federal budget hit many of the right notes with provincial and municipal leaders in Saskatchewan, but without more details, no one is saying yet that the fiscal plan is music to their ears.

"There is a lot in this budget, and the details are still unclear," Premier Brad Wall told reporters after watching federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty deliver his economic blueprint for the country.

"It looks like, it looks like the booster shot is there, in terms of infrastructure," Wall said.

Wall's cautious tone was echoed by Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco, who said Tuesday he wanted to know how new federal infrastructure money would get to municipalities.

"I think it's great that there are additional dollars," Fiacco said. "My only concern is accessing those funds. Are we going to be able to have those funds so that we can get started and pay for these projects?"

'The devil is in the details' — Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco

Fiacco added a common phrase associated with many large documents, "The devil is in the details."

In Saskatoon, affordable housing is a major issue. Mayor Don Atchison said he hopes federal budget initiatives to support social housing can be combined with other programs.

"I'm hoping what it does is it in fact helps us to stack programs together, so it helps to reduce the cost even more for senior housing, for affordable housing," Atchison said.

According to the federal budget documents, an existing infrastructure program called Building Canada will be continued and enhanced. The government also promised to streamline the approval process for that program.

The 2009 budget unveiled what it called an Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, offering an additional $4 billion for projects across the country. That program requires matching contributions from the province and the local government undertaking the work.

"This initiative will be structured to flow funding and get shovels in the ground quickly," the budget papers said.

The notion of advancing shovel-ready projects has been touted by many as a good way to cushion the Canadian economy from a global slowdown.

The concept, however, is not well defined, according to Ken Rasmussen, associate dean of the Johnson-Shoyama graduate school of public policy at the University of Regina.

"I'm skeptical of that concept of shovel-ready," Rasmussen told CBC News on Tuesday. "I don't really know what it means. I don't think many people know what it means. I think it means, 'Just give us the money, and we'll determine what we're going to spend it on.'"

Agriculture information scanty

The federal budget spoke generally about challenges facing the agriculture sector, especially the livestock industry.

It announced a new program will be put in place to encourage diversity and improve productivity on the farm.

New spending on the initiative was pegged at $190 million, over two years.

Another $50 million was promised, over the course of three years, to support meat slaughter and processing operations in Canada. The budget did not say where that money would be spent, beyond referring to "various regions of the country".

The National Farmers Union was critical.

"There is no provision to ensure these fund do not simply end up in the pockets of Cargill, Tyson and XL, the big-three packing companies," the NFU said in a news release.

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association was kinder in its assessment of the agricultural initiatives, expressing optimism that the programs announced will benefit farmers.

At the same time, the Wheat Growers repeated calls for an end to the marketing monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board.