According to the Ombudsman and Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner, evacuees have been left without food, without shelter, and without timely financial support. Some have resorted to sleeping in their cars. Others are going hungry or have run out of funds altogether while waiting for emergency payments that never came. These failures by the Sask. Party were described as “unprecedented” several times during a news conference Tuesday.
The independent officer is launching a “systemic” investigation into the Sask. Party’s handling of the wildfires in light of these concerns.
“This government ignored people in the North when they needed help most,” said Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck.
“They downplayed the concerns of evacuees. They gaslit families who were pleading for support. And now, after being publicly shamed by an independent officer of the Legislature, Scott Moe has finally decided to show up.”
Beck said the province’s response to the wildfires has been marked by a dangerous lack of urgency and empathy.
“What people in the North need right now isn’t more spin — they need compassion. They need leadership,” Beck said.
“This government should have been on the ground, listening, and responding weeks ago. Instead, Premier Scott Moe has been missing when his province needed him most.”
The Saskatchewan NDP is renewing its call for immediate financial aid for all evacuees – the government’s announced aid today excludes children, and there’s still no timeline for when it will be delivered, despite some communities being evacuated two weeks ago.
The Saskatchewan NDP is also renewing its call for the Sask. Party government to accept federal military help.
“We need a government that’s focused on helping people in their moment of greatest need and ready to rebuild and protect Saskatchewan’s North for the future,” Beck said.
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