Saskatchewan NDP Caucus

On National Child Day, Meili raises concern over rising number of baby apprehensions

The number of Saskatchewan babies apprehended in their first month of life has risen 42 percent over the past five years, a Freedom of Information request filed by the Saskatchewan NDP reveals. Such apprehensions of children less than 30 days of age have risen each of the past five years, from 104 apprehensions in 2013 to 148 in 2017.

“The last thing we’d want to be announcing on National Child Day is that over six hundred babies have been taken away from Saskatchewan families over the past five years,” said NDP Leader Ryan Meili, “And for those entire five years, we’ve been waiting on this government’s promised overhaul of the foster care system, which they first announced six years ago.”

Sask. Party’s inaction on high ambulance fees continue to burden Saskatchewan families

As more and more Saskatchewan people struggle to get affordable access to ambulance services throughout the province, the NDP is calling on the Sask. Party to finally scrap fees for inter-hospital transfers and start working towards the day we no longer have among the most expensive ambulance fees in the country.

“If even one person chooses not to call an ambulance for help in a medical emergency because the fees are too expensive, that is too many,” said NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat. “Sadly, that’s what we continue to hear – horror stories of enormous bills and people thinking twice about calling for help because the Sask. Party hasn’t addressed having one of the costliest ambulance systems in Canada.”

Meili calls on Moe to follow the money regarding contracts stemming from vendor-sponsored junkets

This morning NDP Leader Ryan Meili called on Premier Moe to bring clarity to last week’s confusion over the government’s handling of vendor-sponsored travel for public employees.

“Public employees responsible for awarding public contracts should not be accepting gifts from the companies vying for those contracts — period”, said Meili. “We have no clarity on whether contracts were improperly awarded because of them.”

NDP introduces bill to bring $15/hr minimum wage to Saskatchewan

This morning Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili introduced a bill that would increase Saskatchewan’s minimum wage to $15/hour by 2022.

Advocate joins NDP in calling for improved access to addictions treatment

Addictions treatment under the Sask. Party government is failing families who are seeking help for their loved ones. That’s the message from Stacey Bereza, who joined the NDP at the Legislature today to call on the government to improve access to treatment for those battling addictions.

“There is an opioid and crystal meth crisis underway in Saskatchewan, and there simply aren’t enough spaces or supports for those seeking treatment for these addictions,” said Mental Health and Addictions Critic Danielle Chartier. “The provincial government can and must do more to address this crisis.”

NDP calls for transparency around conflict of interest at eHealth

The NDP has been digging into why public employees at eHealth were flown to luxury events on the dollar of the vendors they are awarding contracts to. Instead of providing transparency and taking responsibility, however, the Sask. Party has fought to keep a lid on the scandal.

“It’s clear that there are a number of issues at eHealth, but what’s most concerning is that the Sask. Party government would rather the Saskatchewan people not know about them or what’s been done to address them,” said NDP Leader Ryan Meili. “Instead of providing leadership and transparency, the Sask. Party has continued to work from its GTH-land-scandal playbook.”