The Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU) in Saskatchewan has launched a petition calling for safer parking conditions after several nurses reported being harassed on their way to work.
“We’ve had recent ones where nurses have been chased to their cars, where weapons have been drawn on registered nurses who are trying to get to their parking spot which unfortunately could be a significant distance from their workplace,” said Tracy Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses.
The petition currently has more than 700 signatures supporting the safe parking initiative.
“We call on the Saskatchewan Health Authority to implement a Park & Ride shuttle service for employees at RUH, City Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon as an interim measure until suitable onsite parking facilities can be constructed,” read the petition.
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Zambory said that parking at the Saskatoon hospital has been an issue for years and not all of the employees are granted permanent spots.
“Some people tell me they have been waiting for a parking spot for over a decade.”
The SHA stated in a response to Global News that there are currently 1,340 staff parking stalls at Royal University Hospital, 595 at St. Paul’s and 523 at the City Hospital.
Zambory said that there has been a committee since March 2022 dedicated to discussing these issues with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and other stakeholders.
“We recently modified our site After Hours service to accommodate more employees with differing schedules,” said a spokesperson for the SHA. “SHA Protective Services offers to escort employees to their vehicles if they park off-site on the street.”
Zambory said that they are looking at several more options to keep the nurses safe.
“Public transport is one, or looking at a park-and-ride and safe rides where there are vehicles where the employee can make a phone call and get a ride,” Zambory said.
The SHA confirmed they are also looking at increasing the number of staff parking stalls and are open to exploring all options.
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The next committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 7 to discuss parking improvements.
“We are going to keep pushing forward for a much better plan when it comes to parking, when it comes to safety,” Zambory said.
Sask. daycares experience staffing shortages despite government grants
As of Dec. 31, 2022, there were 88 patients on the kidney transplant wait list in Saskatchewan.
While that number is down by approximately 50 patients since 2021, organ donation numbers are still not enough to meet demand.
Organ transplant recipient Jessica Bailey said this news doesn’t surprise her.
“I think people don’t really understand how much of a normal life they could live after donating a kidney,” Bailey said.
Bailey received a kidney in November that she had been waiting on for four years.
“Every day you are waiting. You don’t know if you are going to live to see tomorrow.”
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She said that the longer a patient waits on the transplant list, the less change they have to receive a healthy transplant.
“It’s so important and it’s like the gift of life,” said Bailey. “There’s nothing better that you can give, obviously, than a chance at life.”
The Ministry of Health invested $21.6 million in surgery for 2022/2023 to begin a three-year program to eliminate the COVID-19 surgical backlog by 2025.
A statement from the Saskatchewan Health Authority claimed that they are “working to adjust and increase surgical volumes by focusing improvements on orthopedic surgery volumes, investing in health system human resources, and expanding involvement of private sector partners in surgical service delivery.”
Bailey said that if the health authority wants to speed up the surgical backlog, they need to change some of their processes and advocate for transplant programs.
During the transplant process, she had two willing donors. Each was required to simultaneously go through testing programs.
“All the testing took about a year, which would be something I’d love for them to change in the transplant program,” she said. “For them to be able to test more than one person at a time.”
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Bailey said that in the future, she hopes the health authority will do more advocating for transplant programs.
“It’s the best thing you could ever give. I don’t know what else much to say about that.”
Saskatchewan Health Authority urging people to get flu shots
The Saskatchewan government has announced that new paramedic positions will be added to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Regina over the next three months.
A total of 24.5 full-time paramedic positions will be added and will cost the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) $2.4 million annually.
“It’s very exciting that we have new opportunities for paramedics in Regina but also across Saskatchewan,” said Saskatchewan Minister of Health Paul Merriman.
“We know there have been some pressures there as well as in Saskatoon. We want to make sure that we have the right complement of individuals to help address any emergency needs in the Queen City.”
This plan comes one day after the SHA and provincial government announced the addition of 100 post-secondary training seats for primary care paramedic students at the Saskatchewan Polytechnic and regional colleges.
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EMS call volumes in Regina have increased by over 14 per cent since 2020.
“Number one is we’re seeing an increase in population in the province, which is a good thing, but it also means more resources needed in their time of need,” Skoworodko said.
“Secondly, we have an aging senior population. So that baby boomer group is getting older, and as we always get older our needs for health care are increasing.”
He said the third was residuals from the pandemic, like people not addressing their health issues during the height of COVID-19.
“We’ve never seen this shortage of staff and qualified paramedics in the province.”
He said a survey was done of the membership in the spring that showed 102 vacancies in the province, with some of those positions left empty for as long as two years.
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“More paramedics and more boots on the ground can meet more urgent needs in Regina,” Merriman said.
The new paramedic positions in the city will fully staff two additional ambulances and two smaller paramedic response units.
Smaller response units are used to assist primary paramedics on advanced calls or beat the ambulance to the scene to start providing immediate care.
“Investing in additional ambulance capacity is not just about adding resources, it’s about improving the quality of life for our paramedics and ensuring the timely delivery of critical care to those in need in our province,” SHA provincial services-community care executive director Rod MacKenzie said.
Saskatchewan is not experiencing a high turnover rate of paramedics from post-secondary schools, so the province said it is focused on retention instead.
“We’re not seeing a lot of those new people come out of school, and we’re finding that a lot of the people that are taking the primary care paramedic program aren’t actually coming out and practising in an ambulance,” said Skoworodko.
He said there are other avenues people can go with that course, like industrial or fire.
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“Our paramedics that are trained in Saskatchewan are the best in the world,” said Merriman. “We know that they are sought after but we want to make sure it is advantageous for them to choose specifically Regina and Saskatoon, but also rural and remote communities.”
— with files from Global News’ Brody Langager.
Additional seats added to Saskatchewan health care training programs
Some of the million units of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen imported by the federal government are now on pharmacy shelves in Saskatchewan.
In an emailed statement, Health Canada said “the distribution details specific to SK or any other province or territory are not known yet” but federal health minister Minister Jean-Yves Duclos confirmed during a Friday morning press conference that “distribution is currently underway across Canada.”
Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan CEO Michael Fougere, meanwhile, confirmed that some Saskatchewan pharmacies now have kids painkillers in stock, but did not reveal where the shipments ended up.
“I can’t give details as to which locations but there definitely will be supplies across the province,” he said.
“There’s equitability to this. It is on a fair basis that it’s not just one area, it is spread across the province.”
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Fougere added that with respiratory illnesses swirling among Saskatchewan residents young and old, demand is likely to again outstrip supply.
He reiterated information pharmacists and health officials have shared in recent weeks – that some pharmacies have the ability and authority to prepare children’s pain and fever medication behind the counter, and that alternatives to well-known brand names can sometimes be found as well.
Compound pharmacies flooded with requests for children’s Tylenol
“This is a key message. There are pharmacists that will compound, but there are alternative medications that are just as effective as Tylenol or Advil for children,” Fougere said.
“Speak to your pharmacist. They will give you that information and help you out.”
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The federal government announced plans for a special importation of kids medication last week.
Duclos said Friday that, across Canada in community pharmacies, the average annual demand for painkiller medication is between 300,00 and 400,000 units. He said that current demand is “a lot larger” due to increased circulation of respiratory viruses.
Canada receiving more than 1 million bottles of child medication to combat shortage
In addition to the million units already making their way onto shelves across the country, Duclos said another 500,000 units will arrive over the next three weeks.
He added that domestic production also ramped up in November.
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“All that put together, both domestic production and special importation are significantly enhanced,” he said.
The medication comes as provincial data shows respiratory illness is indeed circulating in Saskatchewan, resulting in a spike in reported cases.
The most recent community respiratory illness surveillance program report shows that between Nov. 13 and Nov. 19, 635 flu cases were detected in Saskatchewan. Between Oct. 23 and Oct. 29, just 68 cases were detected.
SUN president Tracy Zambory said this move will help in the long term, but noted there are some actions that need to be taken now.
“There are still months yet before these individuals will be work-ready,” Zambory said.
“While we need to recruit people, the biggest thing that we need to do in this province is actually retain people.”
Minister of Health Paul Merriman said they are seeing similar challenges in health that are seen in other provinces, noting that they’ve brought in nurses from the Philippines successfully back in 2012 and 2013.
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“They integrated very easily into our system, or some of our remote communities,” Merriman said.
He added that bonuses of up to $50,000 over three years are being offered to entice people to fill some of those positions.
Merriman anticipates people to be on the ground in Saskatchewan before the end of the year while they work in a bridging program to help them transition.
Zambory said it’s the mid- to late-career nurses who have kept the health-care system in the province running, and there isn’t a plan in place to keep them.
She suggested the implementation of a nursing taskforce, and said they’ve been pushing Minister Paul Merriman, the Sask Party, and Premier Scott Moe to allow them to create a table for nurse unions, regulators, educators, and other stakeholders to come together and be able to speak with nurses on the frontlines.
“We have yet to actually do that, to actually have conversations with people to say what is it that we can do in your workplace to make it so you would stay.”
She said the taskforce could be up and running in two weeks, and would be having conversations with people in a short period of time.
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“People are leaving, they are at their wits end. We talk about them being at the end of their rope, there isn’t even any rope left.”
She said parts of the system have collapsed, and many workers are just working in the rubble to move forward.
“People are waiting many, many hours in the emergency room because they can’t get care. There’s not enough staff, there’s not enough physical space, and there’s no relief for that in sight.”
Zambory said the workplace has become unmanageable, and this is why nurses are leaving.
She noted that these issues were starting to show pre-pandemic, but nothing was done to address it.
Zambory said the collaboration that SUN and the government used to have was similar to the taskforce she’s calling for, and was something that allowed them to address issues on a granular level.
“It is every single sector of healthcare that is affected by this, and it isn’t about people taking vacations or people retiring. It’s about a system that’s in free fall, and we’re doing very little to stop that.”
She said there are retirees willing to come back, and the new nurses could receive the mentorship they need.
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“I’ve heard from so many one-year-in registered nurses who have been thrown into the shark tank and told ‘cope’, and they can’t, because while they have the knowledge, because they are now a degree prepared professional, they don’t have the experience.”
Zambory said we may run into similar issues trying to pull nurses from the Philippines and getting them to work in chronically understaffed positions.
“They’re bringing these people into the hard-to-recruit places. Well, these places are hard to recruit for a reason.”
“What have we done to be able to deal with that? What have we done to make sure that those workplaces are ready, and capable, and have the mentorship required to be able to manage bringing in someone who not only is a brand new nurse, but is brand new to the country, brand new to the system?” Zambory said.
She said hurdles like lack of leadership, short staffing and housing haven’t been addressed by the Ministry of Health.
“We’ve asked them, and we haven’t got any of those answers.”
Some Alberta nurses leaving front-line care for more work-life balance
The family of a man who died of drug overdose last year says he didn’t receive the health care needed to save his life when in hospital just hours before.
Shayne Turner died of fentanyl poisoning in White City on Nov. 8, 2021, his sister, Ashley, told reporters at the Saskatchewan legislature Tuesday.
The night of Nov. 7, she says, he was admitted to Regina General Hospital following an initial overdose.
“In the hospital, within a four-hour period, he had pleaded to an addictions counsellor, multiple nurses and a doctor for detox seven times,” Turner said, adding that her brother was told there were no detox beds available nearby.
“He was experiencing withdrawal and knew he needed medical care. Instead he was sent home with two pamphlets and a cab voucher. He was released, and that very same day my brother died of a fentanyl overdose.”
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Now, amid a promise from the Saskatchewan government to contact the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) over the matter, they’re calling for a coroner’s inquest.
“I’m here today because I lost my person and my best friend. Grief and pain is a foundation of who we are as a family,” said Turner of her brother, who was 31 and a father of two when he passed away.
“It is time for people with power and authority to execute an overdose prevention plan that is going to be successful.”
In addition to her family’s call for an inquest, Turner asked for more provincial funding for mental health and addictions service, more detox facilities, funding for supervised consumption sites and the decriminalization of drugs.
Turner said the Saskatchewan Coroner has reopened the investigation into Shayne’s death and on Nov. 6 said he would respond to the family within 60 days.
In an emailed response, a Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice spokesperson confirmed that the Saskatchewan Coroners Service has received a request for an inquest from the family.
“The Chief Coroner is reviewing the investigation and the family’s request,” the statement reads.
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“The Coroners Service plans to reach out to the family once it has completed its review.”
Speaking to reporters, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Everett Hindley said this is the first he’s heard of Shayne’s story but that “he’s going to be asking questions” of senior SHA leadership about the death.
Hindley said he couldn’t provide details on the current availability of addictions treatment beds, but said, “We do need to add capacity.”
He said the RFP process for the creation of 150 new treatment beds wrapped up this past fall, and that he hopes for those beds to be operational “very soon” and that he’s hoping to make another announcement on the matter this winter.
Asked about addictions supports in Saskatchewan, and the idea of finding safe consumption sites in the province, Hindley referenced investments in drug testing strips and spectrometers and access to naloxone kits.
“This is a challenge right across Saskatchewan. We’re trying, with what resources we have, to spread those out across the province as much as we possibly can.”
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Turner added that as he was being discharged from hospital, Shayne was told by the addictions counsellor to seek assistance from social services.
“He didn’t need social assistance. After a near-death experience he needed continued health care,” she said.
She said he also was not given a naloxone kit when he left the hospital, another tool that could have saved his life.
“I miss my brother immensely, and every cell in my body is mourning the loss of him,” Turner said of Shayne, whom she says was the “glue of our family, a great father and very funny.”
“My brother is gone but I will not let him be another statistic in the system.”
Saskatchewan patients are now benefitting from a robotic-assisted surgical system that offers less pain, faster recovery times, and lowers the risk of infection.
The da Vinci Surgical System is the first of its kind in the province and has assisted in over two dozen surgeries since September.
“We are pleased that Saskatchewan patients and physicians can benefit from this innovative treatment option close to home,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said. “Having a robotic surgical program advances patient care and helps to develop and attract highly-skilled physicians.”
Up until now, the da Vinci has successfully performed a prostatectomy, nephrectomy, pyeloplasty, and cystectomy.
The da Vinci is controlled by specially trained surgeons and reportedly allows the surgery to be less invasive than a normal procedure.
With more research and practice, the da Vinci will hopefully expand to gynecology, oncology, thoracic surgery, and other specialties.
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The da Vinci Surgical System was purchased for roughly $2.5 million and completes the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation capital campaign. The purchase of da Vinci was assisted by the Merlis Belsher family with a donation of $1.1 million. The robot is named “Daryl” in honour of Merlis Belsher’s late son.
Mark Turcott, a cancer patient, recently underwent a surgery by Daryl and said he had no concerns about going into the operating room.
“I knew I was in good hands. We had many discussions about what procedure even that I was going to pursue and then once that decision was made, all of the information and consequences that take place after the surgery, I was ok with everything. I had no concerns.”
Turcott said he would recommend any surgery with Daryl to anyone undergoing a procedure.
Doctor Varun Bathini, Surgical Robotics Program Lead, handled Turcott’s surgery with the assistance of Daryl.
“The biggest application is anywhere we can do minimal invasive surgeries, so basically laparoscopic, or video-assisted surgery like they do in thoracics,” said Bathini, “that’s where robotic surgeries have been advantageous.”
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At a press conference at Saskatoon’s St. Paul Hospital, he explained some of the benefits of using Daryl versus performing surgery on his own.
“The 3D visualization that you get with the robotic surgery, the ability to manipulate the instruments with a 360 motion. This allows you to manipulate the tissues in much tighter spaces. We can offer this surgery to patients with a higher BMI (body mass index), patients with a more challenging anatomy,” he said.
“Certainly, I think we need to start looking at expanding to other centres in the province such as Regina,” said Bathini. “If thoracic surgery grows and our urology volume continues to be where it’s at there could be a potential for a second one.”
Bathini said that surgery with Daryl usually lasts one less day, but sometimes, it can save up to three to four days in a hospital bed.
According to Andrew Will, Saskatchewan Health Authority’s CEO, these quicker recoveries will hopefully help address the overflow and understaffing of the health-care system.
“Not only will it help us serve patients, provide the highest quality of care for them, faster recovery times, but it will also help retain and recruit more surgeons and other staff to our province.
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“I certainly think the establishment of this program and the expertise in delivering it will allow us to see the full benefits of the program and have that ability to grow it over time as patients’ needs and technology (change).”
B.C. will be moving to a three-year exemption to remove criminal penalties for people who possess a small amount of certain illegal drugs for personal use starting on Jan. 31, 2023.
The BC Coroners Service said at least 1,827 people have died due to illicit drugs in the first 10 months of 2022. But B.C. isn’t the only province struggling with a drug toxicity death problem.
An overdose outreach team was announced in the province on Thursday to attempt to reduce the number of overdoses, with Mental Health and Addictions Minister Everett Hindley noting that overdose cases are having a major impact on the province.
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“The ultimate cost, and what we’re trying to deal with and address is the loss of life. We’re trying to do everything we can to prevent people from losing their lives to addictions,” Hindley said.
“As part of that as well, this is having a significant impact on our health-care system, and on our first responders, our fire departments, our police departments, our paramedics and ambulance services across this province that are spending significant resources.”
Hindley noted that Saskatchewan has been spending record amounts on mental health and addictions services.
Kayla DeMong with Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon says they also have data showing the cost that overdoses are having, but says they don’t get a direct answer from the government when they ask why drug decriminalization isn’t a part of the discussion.
“We get very generalized responses when we ask why. It’d be nice if they gave a definitive response to why they are refusing to look at what has been said is best practices,” DeMong said.
“And we have the data to show that these initiatives have a huge impact, not only on quality of life for individuals, but on the cost of substance use to our justice system, our health system and our social services system, right? And the cost savings are massive.”
DeMong noted that there were flaws with the B.C. decriminalization system, but added that a perfect system would be difficult to create.
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The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in B.C. outlines on its website that people 18 years or older will be able to possess a cumulative amount of 2.5 grams of certain illicit drugs without fines, arrest or seizure.
The drugs being decriminalized are opioids, including heroin and fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamines and MDMA (ecstasy), with the FNHA noting that these are the drugs that are poisoned in B.C.’s toxic drug supply.
It also noted that this will help reduce stigma so people can get help.
“This will mean that many people are likely to be more open about their substance use, talk about it with friends, families and care providers, and feel like they do not have to hide their use – and use alone, where no one is available to provide naloxone or call for help,” FNHA’s website reads.
Minister of Justice Bronwyn Eyre says this system slated in the new year for B.C. is further reaching than other jurisdictions have gone.
“B.C. gets to be the guinea pig, if you like, for this pilot project with the federal government,” Eyre said.
She said Saskatchewan will be watching to see how the project comes along, but noted the province wasn’t considering the same move right now.
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“We would suggest that now is not the time to decriminalize hard drugs,” Eyre said.
“I know part of the narrative has been about lowering stigma. I guess Saskatchewan would suggest that the stigma really comes down to the risk of harm, tragically of death.”
Hindley seemed to disagree, noting they are actually working to end the stigma by way of awareness campaigns to shed a light on the services being offered in Saskatchewan.
“It’s important to address stigma, and we talk about this for addictions, but also for mental health,” Hindley said.
He said there’s been a positive push with mental health in terms of community engagement and awareness, saying that it’s OK for people to reach out for help, and not handle in isolation.
“What we’re seeing with addictions reaches each and every one of our communities. I think all of us don’t have to look too far in our communities and our own neighbourhoods to be able to point to someone who might be struggling with addiction,” Hindley said.
“Stigma should not be a barrier to access support to help a person that might be facing an addictions challenge.”
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Checking in on Oregon’s hard drug decriminalization, as B.C. draws closer to its new laws
An Armstrong, B.C. man is speaking out about his experience living at a long-term care facility run by Interior Health.
Todd Darbyson feels his rights as a resident of Pleasant Valley Manor were ignored and his care plan put him at risk.
Darbyson said he is sharing his story to make family members of other residents aware.
“My coming out with this is no longer to change Interior Health’s ways, because they will never say, ‘Sorry, and we have corrected the problem,’ it is now to inform the families that have family members or friends. Be a little skeptical of your loved one’s complaints,” Darbyson said.
The 47-year-old lives with ALS and was a resident of the Interior Health-operated long-term care facility for around six months last year.
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In June, months into his time at the care facility, he was devastated to be put on a minced diet.
Darbyson said the minced food caused him to have trouble swallowing, made him throw up, and put him at high risk of choking.
“I told management that the diet the dietitian put me on was dangerous, (and) explained what it was physically doing to me,” Darbyson said.
“I still pay my bills, (and) taxes. I can still vote but I can’t choose the texture of my foods that was clearly putting me in danger.”
Darbyson wasn’t happy with the response to his complaints about the minced diet and other concerns and felt his rights to participate in the development of his care plan were trampled on.
“I learned firsthand how it is to go hungry, be ignored, scared, (and) treated where my rights don’t mean much if it interferes with management. I almost lost my will to live,” said Darbyson.
The Armstrong man was also concerned about staff being told to turn his computer stand to face the window while doing his care as he uses a tablet he controls with his eye movements to communicate.
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“Management bullies because they get away with it. That is why management took my voice/communication away. How pathetic is that, (to) take away a person’s voice?” he said.
In a written response to Darbyson’s complaints to Interior Health’s patient care quality office, an Interior Health staff member said, at the time, officials were under the impression they were involving Darbyson in decisions.
In her complaint response, Alicia Ponich, a seniors care director for Interior Health North Clinical Operations, details a series of meetings staff had with Darbyson about his care.
“While we aim for a person-centered approach to care, which preserves dignity and respect, I recognize from Todd(‘s) perspective this was not met. I truly apologize we were not able to meet his needs,” Ponich wrote.
“I am committed to reviewing the quality of care we provide and will continue to ensure that we collaboratively work with residents and families to ensure standards of care are met.”
The minced food diet was ordered in early June. By mid-July, Interior Health said Darbyson was told a different unit, with more staff, could feed him a regular diet, and a trial feeding was arranged but Darbyson was offsite that day.
Darbyson has expressed that he was concerned that if he moved to a different unit, staff that didn’t know him would be doing his care.
In a statement to Global News, Interior Health said it makes every effort to avoid moving residents within a facility unnecessarily, but, “there are times when a resident is moved to a unit where there is more staff with the ability to meet that individual’s specific needs.”
Shortly after, at the end of July, Darbyson moved out of the facility altogether to live with a friend who offered to take him in after seeing how he was struggling in the long-term care home.
The health authority’s response is little comfort to Darbyson who says he is much happier now that he has been removed from the facility.
B.C. government working out details for virtual health care
Interior Health doesn’t explain, in either of its statements, why the staff was being directed to turn Darbyson’s computer screen away from him.
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Darbyson believes it was an overreaction to him having a camera in his room in the hopes he “would be treated better if some staff knew there was a camera in the room.”
He said the camera was never actually on and was put away when the policy about videoing staff was explained to him.
Interior Health did not make anyone available for an on-camera interview on Wednesday about Darbyson’s complaints but said it “takes these kinds of concerns seriously.”
“Investigations are conducted to determine whether the care provided and the actions taken to solve complaints were thorough and appropriate,” the health authority’s statement said.
Despite the controversy that surrounded the appearance of convicted killer Colin Thatcher on throne speech day, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said her government “accomplished a lot” in the legislature over the past five weeks.
On the topic of Colin Thatcher, Harpauer said him being invited to the throne speech “was a mistake”, but that she thinks her government got back to its agenda “very quickly”.
She said she doesn’t feel the sitting presented any other surprises.
“Obviously as finance minister, with the strength of our budget I’m very pleased that it’s on track with what we predicted in the first quarter,” she said Wednesday as the fall sitting concluded.
“But we also have committed additional dollars in the plan for health care recruitment and retention. We also addressed stresses in education by providing additional dollars for inflation for our school divisions. There were significant in-year dollars committed to agriculture. We introduced the Saskatchewan First Act.
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“So yes, I think we were quite busy.”
More recently, the government has faced criticism over a bill introduced Monday with just two days left in the fall sitting.
The Saskatchewan Revenue Agency Act aims to establish a framework for taking control of provincial corporate income tax administration.
Opposition Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon has called the initiative a “boneheaded exercise” that will create unnecessary costs for the province.
“There’s always legislation that people may or may not agree with but we think this is a priority,” Harpauer said.
“This is a very high-level piece of legislation that won’t come to fruition for a few years but at some point we do want to explore it and this lets the public know what our agenda is.”
Opposition Leader Carla Beck, meanwhile, says she’s satisfied with the work her party did to critique the government on its response to issues like health care and affordability.
“The reason we chose those priorities is because that’s what people described to us as their main priorities when we were out the month prior to session,” said Beck at the conclusion of her first sitting as party leader.
“We’ve raised those issues consistently. We’ve had people wanting to come in to talk about how their challenges with affordability and health care are impacting their lives.”
On the Saskatchewan First Act, Beck said the bill has “political motivation behind it” and “materially wouldn’t have that much of an impact on the people of this province.”
“It reasserts rights that already exist and where there are very real concerns is around the lack of consultation with Indigenous and Métis communities.”
And, on Thatcher’s appearance, Beck said it shows a government that is “out of touch.”
“The fact that they did not see a problem inviting a convicted wife killer to the legislature on throne speech day and then took five days and international embarrassment to table the weakest of apologies shows this is not a government that has its finger on the pulse of what people care about,” she said.
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“This sent a terrible message in a province that has twice the rate of domestic violence as the rest of the country.”
In Washington on a trade mission, Premier Scott Moe was unavailable Wednesday for further comment on the fall sitting.
Inviting a convicted wife killer to Sask. throne speech an ‘error in judgement’: MLA
