With the Global Transportation Hub (GTH)’s annual report showing debt continuing to pile on and still no land sales being reported, the NDP is committing to a public inquiry into the land scandal at the heart of the project, and is calling for the Standing Committee on the Economy to examine the last two annual reports – something the government once did but is now refusing to do.
With COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan rising while testing continues to lag well behind the national average, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili and Education Critic Carla Beck called on the Sask. Party government to get serious about plans to reopen schools in September, and laid out seven essential requirements for a safe back-to-school plan.
“It’s so important that we get this right. The first priority for the safe reopening of schools during the pandemic period is the safety of children, teachers and education staff,” said Meili. “Health Minister Jim Reiter has failed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic effectively, with inadequate testing, inadequate preparation within the health system, and no clear plan for safe school reopening. This has left parents flying blind as they prepare to send their kids back to school. Parents want our kids to go back to school, safely.”
The Saskatchewan NDP called for an explanation from Health Minister Jim Reiter regarding serious gaps in Saskatchewan’s healthcare capacity, with internal memos indicating rising pressures on testing and bed occupancy, and public complaints of immunocompromised patients being left in hallways. NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat and NDP Leader Ryan Meili were joined by Angela McLean, a woman who spoke out last fall after being left in a crowded hallway in the Pasqua Hospital for nearly a week.
“We’ve had months to prepare the health system for re-opening,” said Mowat. “Minister Reiter has failed to plan for the health system’s needs in a COVID-19 resurgence and now families and patients are paying the price.”
In light of the unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases and testing shortfalls in Saskatchewan, NDP Leader Ryan Meili today called on the Sask. Party Government to extend the rental eviction moratorium and come up with a plan to help landlords and renters.
The government has announced that eviction hearings for non-urgent matters will begin again starting August 4.
NDP Education Critic Carla Beck was joined by Krysta Shacklock, a Saskatoon mother with an immunocompromised daughter, to call for an adequate plan to get vulnerable kids with compromised immunity back to school safely.
“Parents want to send their children back to school in the fall, but they haven’t seen a plan from the government that will lead them to believe that it’s possible to do so safely, especially in light of the province seeing a spike in cases of COVID-19 and the government falling behind on testing,” Beck said. “The uncertainty only worsens for the many parents in Saskatchewan when they have immunocompromised children – the Sask. Party has simply failed these parents.”
After such a heartbreaking loss, we want our leaders to take responsibility, and to take action. Today, I’m calling on Scott Moe and Jim Reiter to reach out to the Uko family, to make it clear that they will take action to prevent this happening to anyone else.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority’s overdue apology comes at the same time as Tristen Durocher is walking from La Ronge to Regina protesting the government’s lack of action on the suicide crisis, an ongoing overdose crisis is claiming more lives every week, and the average wait time for emergency mental health support is thirteen hours in Regina and Saskatoon.