Sask. Party cuts continue to hurt the education that Saskatchewan students and their families expect and deserve. The latest consequence of these damaging cuts is the elimination of 29 educational assistants from the Saskatoon Public School Division.
“The Sask. Party are underfunding education in this province, crucial classroom supports are being eliminated, and students – our children – are losing out,” said NDP Education Critic Carla Beck. “On top of it all, it’s heart-wrenching to think about the 29 people who get up every day to help teach our kids who are now heading into the holidays knowing their jobs are being cut.”
The elimination of these 29 educational assistants is just latest in string of job losses and cuts caused by Sask. Party underfunding. Before this announcement, there were already 95 fewer teachers and 188 fewer classroom staff in Saskatchewan this year and parents were already raising concerns that their children were no longer getting the support and access to education assistants that they need.
Even though the Sask. Party hiked taxes and collected an extra $67 million in educational property taxes, they cut government funding for education by $54 million.
“The reality is, after years of Sask. Party mismanagement, scandal and waste, they’re now forcing teachers to do more with less, and leaving students without the attention they need,” Beck said. “Instead of threatening the people who work in our kids’ classrooms with wage reductions, job losses and even more cuts, the Sask. Party needs to understand the need for appropriate and predictable funding to teach Saskatchewan’s children.”
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.