The tour, being steered by Rural & Remote Health Shadow Minister Jared Clarke and Associate Shadow Health Minister Keith Jorgenson, comes after the Sask. Party refused to pass Bill 606 during the Spring Sitting, which would have required real-time reporting of emergency room closures within one hour.
Beck’s team has received leaked proof that the Saskatchewan Health Authority tracks such information centrally but only provides it publicly twice per day. Initially, the Sask. Party voted in support of Bill 606 before inexplicably changing their minds and denying its passage.
"It's clear the Sask. Party doesn't care about people in a medical emergency in rural Saskatchewan," Clarke said. "That might sound like a harsh statement, but I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't pass Bill 606. Except for one. They don't want people to see just how bad things are in health care in this province after 20 years with this government."
"There is no one else to blame at this point, except the Sask. Party."
During debate of Bill 606, Jorgenson mailed a petition to municipal leaders across Saskatchewan seeking their support for transparency around rural emergency room closures. To date, he has head back from more than 40 that support the measure. Jorgenson also joined Kipling’s mayor to go door-to-door garnering petition signatures for the bill.
“These municipal leaders know full well that more could be done to keep emergency rooms open — we could be doing a better job of recruiting frontline workers, of improving culture and retaining existing workers and more,” Jorgenson said. “They also understand that, in the event of a closure, access to information can make a real difference. Literally, minutes can be the difference between life and death.
"They have the information. Scott Moe’s Health Minister could look right now and see where his family should head if they were having a medical emergency. I have to ask why won't he let your family have that same information?"
The launch of the tour comes as part of the ongoing Your Care, Your Say project. Recently, Beck’s team produced an interim report after consulting more than 1,000 people about the future of Saskatchewan healthcare — this is the largest consultation on Saskatchewan healthcare in a generation. People are welcome to review the report and share their own ideas and feedback at YourCareYourSay.ca.
“The Sask. Party isn’t listening, so we are,” Clarke said. “We have a 20-year-old government that has lost touch with the very people it was elected to serve.
“They run flashy ad campaigns and cover up their mistakes. They crackdown on workers and gaslight patients that speak out.
“Our message is simple — Saskatchewan people deserve better. We don’t have to settle for this Sask. Party garbage anymore. It’s time to get to work on fixing healthcare by delivering big, bold change and going back to doing what Saskatchewan does best and that’s leading on healthcare.”
Clarke launched the tour Wednesday in Balgonie and will head to Fort Qu'Appelle, Melville and various areas in the constituency of Last Mountain-Touchwood this week.
Next week, the tour moves to Kipling, Swift Current, Moosomin, Estevan, Weyburn, Canora, Yorkton and elsewhere. Further dates will be confirmed for the rest of July and August.
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