REGINA – Today, Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette, Official Opposition Critic for Mental Health and Addictions, introduced Bill 601, The Saskatchewan Strategy for Suicide Prevention Act, 2021. Despite government MLAs previously voting against the same bill in the last legislature, MLA Vermette hopes the government’s new stated focus on mental health will cause them to re-evaluate their vote and introduce a much-needed strategy to address the crisis of Northern suicide.
Meili invites Premier Moe to join him on tour of Regina ICU
REGINA - New Democratic Party Leader Ryan Meili stood in the Legislature today to ask Premier Scott Moe to join him in a tour of one of Regina’s struggling ICUs to gain a better understanding of what is happening on the front-lines of the battle against COVID-19.
Official Opposition Joins Call from Saskatoon doctors to vaccinate non-SHA front-line health care workers
REGINA - Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat stood in the Legislature today to join the call by physicians at the Saskatoon Community Clinic (SCC) who are raising the alarm at the treatment of front-line health care workers not employed by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) in the government’s vaccine plan.
Sask. Party broke election promise to seniors, failed to staff up to fight pandemic in long-term care
REGINA - Last night during the consideration of estimates, Seniors’ Critic Matt Love pressed the government for answers on the government’s broken promise to hire 300 Continuing Care Aides (CCAs) in the province’s hard-hit long-term care sector.
During the last election the Sask. Party promised that these 300 CCAs would be included at a cost of $18.4 million for all four years of their mandate. Instead, Budget 2021 cut this commitment by two thirds, allocating only $6 million for 90 continuing care aides in LTC and 18 in home care.
Sask. Party government must be accountable for COVID-19 failures
REGINA - NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat called on the Sask. Party government to do the right thing and take responsibility for its failed COVID-19 strategy instead of its continued approach that seeks to minimize and deflect the real harm being done to Saskatchewan families and businesses.
Statement by Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat Tuesday, April 13, 2021
The statement reads as follows:
"Scott Moe saw the modelling and knew the variants were on the rise. Instead of acting to win the race between the vaccines and the variants, he gave the variants a head-start. Just like in November, we are seeing a Premier unwilling to take serious steps when they are needed.
Many parts of Saskatchewan have far higher case counts than Regina did when this government applied the current restrictions to the city, yet today’s measures are not as diligent as those originally applied to Regina. This lack of consistency is causing confusion across the province.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers and forget there are real people, real Saskatchewan families dealing with illness and the loss of lives attached to those numbers.
These variants are highly contagious and far more harmful than the original COVID-strain. The facts on the ground are changing daily. We need to be nimble and proactive in combatting this virus, not sit around and give it a head-start while we wait for the government’s Tuesday media events."