According to the July labour report from Statistics Canada, there are 12,300 fewer Saskatchewan jobs – 7,000 of which are full-time – compared to last month and there are 3,000 fewer jobs compared to this time last year. These jobs losses helped raise the province’s unemployment rate to 7.1 per cent, which is the highest rate in Canada outside the Maritimes and well above the national average.
“These numbers certainly are concerning for Saskatchewan people especially when it comes shortly after the announcement of major job losses at Cameco and Nutrien,” said NDP Jobs Critic Vicki Mowat. “Sask. Party decisions such as cutting $3 million out of job training and workforce development programs have impacts, and that is what we are seeing in this month’s report.”
Compared to last year, the agriculture sector is down 2,100 jobs, the manufacturing sector is down 700 jobs and the trade sector is down 1,400 jobs. 900 jobs were lost in the Forestry, fishing, mining and oil & gas sectors. The First Nations unemployment jumped and is sitting an abysmal 21.2 per cent.
“These numbers should be a wakeup call to the Sask. Party,” Mowat said. “Whether it’s mining jobs in the North or jobs in agriculture in rural Saskatchewan, we need people working to help build a stronger economy. The Sask. Party have been distracted by their mismanaged projects like the Regina Bypass and the GTH land scandal. Meanwhile the unemployment rate is going up and people are struggling to find jobs.”
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.