Saskatchewan only province outside Atlantic Canada with higher unemployment than last year
While the Sask. Party continue with their callous cuts, unfair tax hikes and desperate sell-offs more and more Saskatchewan people are losing their jobs and looking for work. The unemployment rate rose again this month to 6.6 per cent and, even as the Sask. Party are still promising to cut more jobs, over 40,000 Saskatchewan people are already unemployed.
“The Sask. Party can play with the numbers all they want but this is not a stats class. There were 5,400 more real Saskatchewan people without a job in July than just a month earlier and there are still twice as many people looking for work than when the Sask. Party first formed government,” said NDP Jobs Critic Trent Wotherspoon. “The fact is, the Sask. Party’s mismanagement, scandal and waste have cost Saskatchewan families more than the billions of dollars that have been added to the debt; they have cost people their jobs.”
The numbers released by Statistics Canada today show that 40,600 people in Saskatchewan are looking for work. Despite the Sask. Party’s claims to be focused on supporting key industries in Saskatchewan, 4,500 jobs were lost in the last year in the industries that include agriculture, mining, and oil and gas. Saskatoon’s unemployment rate increased 2.2 percentage points since last year which is the highest increase of any of the major Canadian cities tracked by Statistics Canada.
First Nations unemployment rose last month and, at more than 20 per cent, remains unacceptably high and unemployment for those living on-reserve is even worse.
“From rural Saskatchewan to our largest city, when it comes to protecting and creating jobs, The Sask. Party isn’t working for Saskatchewan people anymore,” said Wotherspoon.
Other sectors with noteworthy job losses compared to last year include:
3,200 jobs lost in Education
2,100 jobs lost in Accommodation and Food Services
1,700 jobs lost in Health Care and Social Assistance
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.