As the province prepares to release a plan to reopen Saskatchewan businesses and services, the leader of the NDP wants to ensure the next steps are safe ones.
Ryan Meili said on April 22 the healthcare system needs to be ready for any sudden increase in COVID-19 cases after restrictions are loosened and that it’s ready to do the testing, tracing and isolating necessary to keep the virus under control.
“We all want to get back to something that resembles normal but nobody should do that in a way that's going to make us in more danger,” he said. “We've seen Alberta think they were past the worst of it and now having a spike, we’ve got an outbreak in La Loche. This needs to be done so carefully and so wisely.”
Meili spoke to the media around an hour after Premier Scott Moe announced to the public a plan to gradually reopen the province would be released on April 23.
He said that one of the items he wants to see in the plan is what would happen if there is a spike in cases and how the government would then communicate any need to to move back to increased restrictions.
The opposition leader said he also wants to see more action to help businesses, workers and the most vulnerable, suggesting the government should source labour and supplies from Saskatchewan companies first and increase the minimum wage.
“No matter what happens in the weeks ahead, people are still going to be having a hard time and our province has been nowhere near as willing to contribute additional funding to families, to businesses, to communities to support them during this challenging time,” he said.
“We also need to be thinking past the next six months and talk about how we're going to rebuild our economy in the long run.”
