NDP to focus on health care and keeping things affordable for Sask. residents during sitting

Ryan Meili is heading into one final sitting as the leader of the Saskatchewan NDP.

Meili announced Feb. 18 that he would be stepping down as leader of the party, just days after the NDP lost the Athabasca riding in a byelection. The NDP had held the riding since 1998.

A leadership convention is to be held in June.

“There are big changes going on within our party, but for these next weeks, we are laser-focused on making sure we speak up for what matters most for Saskatchewan people and that means holding Scott Moe and the Sask. Party to account for their failures,” Meili said.

The second sitting of the 29th legislature is to begin on Monday. The Saskatchewan Party didn’t make anyone available for an interview regarding the start of the sitting.

“As we’re looking at what’s happening in Saskatchewan and the world right now, we see a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet,” Meili said.

“A lot of people in Saskatchewan have gone through a tough couple of years and are having a hard time paying the bills and we really need to be calling on this government to make the choices now that will reduce costs for people and make life more affordable.”

Health care will be another major point the NDP will focus on.

“(COVID) didn’t cause the problems in our health-care system, it revealed them,” Meili said. “Health care across this province is a mess and we’re going to be pushing for this government to fix health care, in particular in rural Saskatchewan, but also mental health and emergency rooms. There are so many aspects of care that people can’t access today.

“It all comes down to a question of a government that has really shown they are not interested in making the choices that will improve the lives of Saskatchewan people. Over and over again Scott Moe plays politics, appealing to the extremes of his own party instead of making the decisions that will improve the lives of Saskatchewan people. That’s what we will be fighting for to make sure that happens.”

While the government has lifted all COVID-related public health measures, Meili said there is still a high level of concern in the province.

“People are really worried about a government that has abandoned ship when it comes to any public health measures, including the simple measure of telling people the truth about what is going on,” he said.

“We know that we had another 44 people die in Saskatchewan in the last week, one of the deadliest weeks in the entire pandemic, and still this government is not allowing testing (and) is not giving us daily updates on hospitalizations and cases. It’s a government that has decided that they are done with COVID but unfortunately it is not done with us.”

One of the bills the NDP will be fighting against is Bill 70, which would eliminate the sergeant-at-arms role and replace Legislative Building security with a new service that answers to the Minister of Policing and Corrections.

“The government introducing a bill to eliminate the traditional sergeant-at-arms – an independent non-partisan approach to keeping the building safe and secure – and replace it with a police force that would respond to the minster, a potentially partisan and privatized police force, that didn’t make any sense when they first introduced it,” Meili said.

“We’ve had the experience of the convoys that were so different in Ottawa than Regina. In Ottawa, they took over for weeks. In Regina, it was taken care of in a matter of hours by the Regina Police Service and the sergeant-at-arms doing a great job. Any argument that the sergeant-at-arms isn’t serving the roles that they need to is completely brought out of the water.”

Meili is also calling out the province for proposing a rate hike for SaskPower customers.

“This is not a time for people’s power bills to be going up — one of the few points of inflation that this government actually has some control over,” Meili said.

“We are going to be calling on this government to make sure that they don’t hike some people’s power bills, that they do everything they can to keep life affordable (and) take advantage of what good times are coming in terms of the commodities and try to make better times in the lives of Saskatchewan people.

“The good news is we see prices for commodities on the rise and that’s likely to show up in some better numbers in terms of the provincial coffers – that’s something we all want to see. What we want to make sure is that doesn’t become a way the Sask. Party backfills the choices they’ve made in the past with their spending and allows them to send more bonuses and contracts to their buddies that they love to do.”

The NDP is also hoping to get one of its own bills passed — the one that deals with paid sick leave.

“During the pandemic, it has become increasingly clear that you don’t want people having to make the decision, ‘Should I go to work or I’m still sick?’ or ‘If I can’t go to work, I’ll be out of money and can’t make ends meet.’ People are in this impossible position of going to work when they shouldn’t or being unable to pay the bills,” Meili said.

Things are going to look a bit different during this sitting of the legislature – and that means a return to how things were pre-pandemic.

“I understand all of those public health measures in terms of seating and Plexiglas, those are all gone but I intend to still be wearing a mask,” Meili said. “I would love to be at a point where I could say, ‘Our COVID numbers are low enough. We don’t have to wear a mask,’ and do that safely but the fact of the matter is the government is hiding the facts from Saskatchewan people so we’re stuck hiding our faces.

“It’s my last sitting as leader and it should be Scott Moe’s as well. He has let Saskatchewan people down in a tremendous way and is not fit for the job of premier. He should be making plans to do other work.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick