Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall convenes the first cabinet meeting where ministers used iPads to store, carry, and read documents. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall convenes the first cabinet meeting where ministers used iPads to store, carry, and read documents. (CBC)

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall convenes the first cabinet meeting where his ministers brought iPads to the session.

The portable computer devices have been touted as a way to conserve paper and reduce courier costs.

Wall and his cabinet of 17 ministers were each issued an iPad. A handful of senior bureaucrats were also provided with one of the devices for a total cost to taxpayers of about $23,000.

It was earlier estimated that the annual savings could amount to about twice that initial outlay.

Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart reads the 2010 throne speech from an iPad to open the fall session of the provincial legislature Oct. 27.Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart reads the 2010 throne speech from an iPad to open the fall session of the provincial legislature Oct. 27. (Troy Fleece/Canadian Press)

"This may be a small savings to taxpayers and a small achievement for the environment," Wall said Wednesday. "But small achievements are important too, and so are small savings.

"Frankly, this technology is pretty easy to use," Wall added. "And can be life-changing in terms of the number of binders we usually have in our lives."

The iPad also made a debut in the legislative assembly on Oct. 27, when Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart used one to read the speech from the throne.