AUDITOR’S REPORT EXPOSES SASK. PARTY’S GROSS MISMANAGEMENT OF HEALTHCARE, CHILDCARE, AND COST OF LIVING

REGINA – Yesterday’s Provincial Auditor’s report lays out in stark detail how the Sask. Party government is failing Saskatchewan people on healthcare, childcare, and the cost of living.

“Healthcare in Saskatchewan is worse than it’s ever been,” said Meara Conway, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Health. “The auditor’s report makes clear that after 18 years in government the Sask Party cannot deliver public services that are cost effective and meet the needs of Saskatchewan people,” said NDP Health critic Meara Conway.

“They are failing. They are failing in health, in education, in housing and the simplest functions of government such as procurement, bookkeeping and basic financial management.”

The Auditor found that the Saskatchewan Health Authority still has not implemented major 2022 recommendations on recruiting and retaining hard-to-find healthcare workers, including identifying the facilities struggling most with shortages and reviewing staff exit surveys. The Sask. Party has also failed to inspect special care homes, with 30 homes not inspected once in the last four years.

Meanwhile, the government’s error-prone IT systems continue to burn through taxpayer dollars. The AIMS payroll system has ballooned to $400 million, and another IT program, EBMP, has blown past its initial estimate by an additional $130 million — putting total spending on just these two systems at more than half a billion dollars.

The Auditor’s report also revealed that nearly 700 funded childcare spaces are sitting unused — despite families in many regions of the province waiting for spaces and centres struggling with staffing shortages.

“How does this government explain nearly 700 under-used childcare spaces?” asked Joan Pratchler, Shadow Minister for Early Learning and Childcare. “Childcare is essential economic infrastructure, and this government simply hasn’t made it a priority.”

Finally, the Auditor panned the Sask. Party government for forcing Regina taxpayers to cover an additional $7 million to keep the future Costco location in Westerra from being derailed by its own proposal. The report found the Global Transportation Hub lacks clear collaboration procedures.

“This is exactly the kind of reckless, unnecessary spending that happens when Scott Moe and his government engage in a pointless bidding war with municipalities,” said Erika Ritchie, Shadow Minister for Municipal Affairs. “City budgets are already stretched to their limits. Regina taxpayers shouldn’t have to spend millions just to keep the Sask. Party from undercutting them in their own backyard.”

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