THE BATTLEFORDS ‑ Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill has voiced his support for the Speech from the Throne delivered last week.
Cockrill was scheduled to deliver his response to the speech in the legislature Monday night. But it was pretty clear there was little suspense in how Cockrill felt about the speech, as he voiced his support in speaking to the News-Optimist/SASKTODAY.ca Friday.
The Speech from the Throne is “really a blueprint from our government for how we see this particular fall session proceeding, and then also the next couple of years,” said Cockrill.
The speech, given by Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty Wednesday, is really a statement outlining the government's priorities for the session. Cockrill said it was built around five pillars: a “stronger Saskatchewan, safer Saskatchewan, healthier Saskatchewan, better educated Saskatchewan and then also more independent Saskatchewan. Those are the five pillars that we are guiding our government as we proceed here in this session, and then heading into the next couple years.”
Overall, Cockrill says he is delighted to be back at work again in the legislature after the summer recess.
“It’s nice to be back in session,” said Cockrill. “Obviously,we have a pretty set schedule at the legislature, so you kind of look forward all summer to being back in the House.”
It is a session where the opposition New Democrats are already zeroing in on the government’s response to COVID-19 as the main issue. Opposition leader Ryan Meili has been attacking Premier Scott Moe over high case counts causing stress to the health-care system.
But Cockrill explained there were other priorities to deal with. He noted that during the first Question Period back on Thursday, “what we saw was the opposition leader go for 25 minutes of questioning the Premier on COVID."
“And obviously, we’re still battling through this pandemic — our government has been very focused on making the vaccines as available to as many people as we can as quickly as we can. We do believe that that’s our best tool in fighting the pandemic. The data clearly shows that vaccinated people are much less likely to end up in the hospital or the ICU if they are vaccinated. I expect that the leader of the opposition and his team are going to continue to call for much more stringent measures, lock downs, further mandates. But, I mean really, again what we’re focused on are those five pillars that we talked about. There’s lots of things going on in Saskatchewan. We’re trying to position Saskatchewan for the next decade of growth here that we’re in. We’re about making this province stronger, safer, healthier, better educated and more independent, and so that’s what you can expect to hear from our government throughout the session here.”
One of the key areas outlined in the throne speech were crime reduction measures announced.
“I think really the public safety section of the throne speech really was the most substantial section of the throne speech. In total we’re looking at 60 new police positions, 11 more civilian positions. And really, it’s focused around the trafficking of illegal drugs into this province and the distribution of those — and really the crime by products that come from the drug trade, some of which we’ve seen right in our own community.”
He looked forward to seeing the trafficking response team set up with specialized offices set up in major transportation corridors in and out of the province. Cockrill also saw as significant the announcement of the Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team West, which he believes will make an impact in bringing down violent crime.
“What we’re finding is that a lot of people committing these violent crimes in our province, they already have outstanding warrants, and so what we’re really doing with that specific team is putting in even more of a focus, putting dedicated staff, over and above what other municipal forces and RCMP detachments are doing on that particular front to try and find these people with outstanding warrants before they can commit more criminal acts.”
He also welcomes some changed announced with regard to the seizure of criminal property and in going after the proceeds to crime. He also welcomes the expansion of Crime Reduction Teams to more communities in the province: Moose Jaw, La Ronge, Meadow Lake and Lloydminster.
Although the Battlefords was not mentioned by name, Cockrill said he was “pretty optimistic in terms of conversations with the Ministry of Corrections and Policing in Public Safety as well as local officials here that having those additional CRT resources in Meadow Lake and Lloydminster is going to indirectly help our Battlefords CRT so they can spend more of their time and resources to bolster to the Battlefords in our community.”
Regarding COVID-19, there will be measures to prevent protesters from blocking access to hospitals.
“Obviously, COVID has been a challenge in the last couple of years, and ... we certainly believe that everybody in this province has the right to health care. We are going to be introducing some legislation in this fall session just addressing protesters who block access to hospitals, just because we see that as being counter to the right people have to health care in this province. We look forward to introducing that.”
From a Battlefords perspective, a few items stand out for Cockrill.
“I do think the public safety piece is probably the part that I was most excited about, just as it relates to the constituency and us in the Northwest region of Saskatchewan.”
The other piece he pointed to was economic investment — $10 million in private investment to Saskatchewan in the last six months. Cockrill pointed to the canola crushing plants, the pulp mill just outside of Regina, and biggest of all the BHP Jansen potash mine.
“Certainly, great news for Saskatchewan, not just for that area as a province, but BHP is committed to having 20 per cent indigenous participation in their workforce in Saskatchewan, so that’s exciting.
“And that’s really one of the other pieces that I’m excited about and how it’s going to hopefully involve our Indigenous community more in the economic development that is going on, is the Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation that we announced in Wednesday’s throne speech.”
What that entails, he said, is to try to find incentives for companies that are making investments in Saskatchewan in Indigenous communities and organizations.
“We already have a strong Indigenous participation in our forestry sector in this province which we see in places which aren’t so far away from us like Meadow Lake, Big River, Prince Albert. We see there’s more and more opportunities out there, and looking forward to Indigenous communities getting more involved in those from an equity point of view.”
Also mentioned in the Throne Speech were the provincial measures focused on truth and reconciliation.
“We talked about the $2 million that we provided FSIN for them to continue their work investigating residential school sites in Saskatchewan. Obviously in July, the premier and the prime minister were present at Cowessess First Nation when we signed that historic agreement for Cowessess to assume jurisdiction over child welfare of their members. The Ministry of Social Services is continuing work on that.”
He also pointed to the agreement signed by SIGA and SLGA for the new online gaming site in Saskatchewan.
“Obviously (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron, who was re-elected this week, spoke very positively about that agreement, and look forward to working with SLGA and SIGA as they develop that new online site. Obviously, online sports betting and online gaming is increasing in popularity so we look forward to being partners with SIGA on that.”
Cockrill looks forward to being active in the upcoming legislative session in his various legislative roles in Regina.
“I have the opportunity to sit on a couple of boards that work on our provincial budget every year — the SaskBuilds board and the Treasury Board, so there’s a significant number of hours that we spend in terms of preparing for next year‘s provincial budget … And again, continuing to speak for the Battlefords whether it be on policing or whether it be our regional college, where I can to communicate that the Battlefords are a significant contributor to the success of this province.”
