Later in the year, after accusations of underfunding by the Saskatchewan Nurses Union, Cline and the Romanow government introduced an additional $40 million for the provincial health system (SSP, 22 August 1996).
In 1997, Cline indicated that Saskatchewan would take steps toward the legalization and regulation of midwifery, (Globe and Mail, 27 March 1997) and announced a $25,000 incentive for doctors setting up a practice in rural communities (Winnipeg Free Press, 26 April 1997).
He also spoke out against plans by the federal government of Jean Chrétien to offer pharmaceutical companies twenty-year patent protection for new prescription drugs (SSP, 17 April 1997).
Cline wrote an editorial piece in the Financial Post newspaper in mid-1998, arguing that the Romanow government had prevented Saskatchewan from falling into bankruptcy through its policy decisions since 1991 (4 August 1998).
Cline's 1999 budget reduced the provincial sales tax by 1%, and put $195 million of new spending into health care (Winnipeg Free Press, 27 March 1999).
He described the budget as providing for "growth and opportunity for Saskatchewan" rather than "buying the short-term goodwill of people with their own tax dollars" (Globe and Mail, 30 March 2000).
Cline was mentioned by some as a possible successor (Canadian Press, 25 September 2000), but he declined to contest the position and did not publicly endorse another candidate (SSP, 1 December 2000).
Cline's first budget under Calvert introduced $370[clarification needed] worth of new spending, while also providing tax cuts for small business and projecting a narrow $2.8 million surplus.
Subsequent declines in gas revenue and losses in federal equalization later forced Cline to withdraw $479 million from the fiscal stabilization fund to prevent a return to deficit spending (Canadian Press, 20 February 2002).
Despite the worsening economic circumstances, Cline was able to present the NDP's eighth consecutive balanced budget in early 2002 with a modest surplus of $45,000 (Regina Leader-Post, 28 March 2002).
At the party's 2003 convention, Cline argued that Nystrom was best positioned to "speak to the realities of the market economy and how to generate wealth" while also affirming the role of public programs "to maximize equality of opportunity" (Canadian Press, 22 January 2003).
While acknowledging the surplus, the auditor general suggested that the government was concealing some economic difficulties by transferring funds among departments and crown corporations (Canadian Press, 30 January 2003).
Both the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the Saskatoon Police Association welcomed the decision for an inquiry (Canadian Press, 20 February 2003).
Cline also announced that Saskatchewan would become the first province to completely protect Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and related funds from creditors, in the event of bankruptcy (Canadian Press, 25 February 2003).
As chair of the Liquor and Gaming Authority, Cline approved plans for a new casino on the Whitecap Dakota Sioux reserve in August 2004.
Cline acknowledged that the SIGA had made significant improvements in recent years, and indicated that the government would hold the casino's profits in trust if further concerns were not resolved (Canadian Press, 7 August 2004).
He presented to the conference on Saskatchewan's pioneering Reclaimed Industrial Sites Act, which requires funds to be in place to ensure environmental reclamation and monitoring after mines shut down.
In response to opposition questions later in the year, he argued that constructing a nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan would not be economically viable (Canadian Press, 19 October 2004).
The following year, Calvert and Cline headed a Saskatchewan delegation on energy resources to the United States, which met with Vice-President Dick Cheney (The Oil Daily, 22 February 2006).
After retiring as a corporate executive in 2018, Cline returned to the practice of law part time and commenced working as a fused glass artist on a professional basis.
In a full-page article in the National Post in August 2019 and a longer essay in the international online magazine Quillette the next month, Cline strongly condemned the expulsion arguing there had been clear evidence of malice and bias, rush to judgement, lack of due process, procedural unfairness, a contrived fishing expedition, inconsistency in treatment of caucus members, lack of transparency, and selective and misleading provision or withholding of information, all overseen by Singh acting unilaterally.
There was no response to any substantive issue raised by the former politicians or by Cline other than Singh’s televised personal characterization of them, and no NDP Member of Parliament or executive officer expressed concern.