With the legislative session over, the governing Saskatchewan Party said they’ve charted a course out the pandemic, while the New Democrats said the government’s handling of COVID-19 has hurt the province.
In a May 14 media release, Premier Scott Moe said this year’s budget provided investments in health, education, infrastructure and economic recovery, while at the same time continuing work toward the government's commitment to balance the budget by 2026-27.
“We have a framework in place to ensure Saskatchewan has a strong economic recovery coming out of the pandemic,” Moe said. “We now have a roadmap to lead those reopening efforts, bring back jobs, and get Saskatchewan back on the path of strong economic growth, where we were before the pandemic started. We have a plan to get Saskatchewan back to normal, and in Saskatchewan, normal means a growing economy and more jobs."
Ryan Meili, the leader of the opposition New Democrats, said at a May 14 media conference the government failed to control the second and third waves of COVID-19.
“We've got over 13,000 people out of work. We've also lost 500 people to COVID-19 and thousands more have or have been sick,” he said. “We've got a government who has downplayed this at every turn.”
The NDP leader said the government’s decision to not use a short circuit-breaker lockout when the numbers were bad was damaging, both for the economy and for health outcomes. He said by the end of the session, his party was asking for a public inquiry into how the government handled COVID-19.
“We can ask Scott Moe questions all day long. We're never going to get a straight answer,” he said. “We need a proper inquiry to get to the bottom of why things have gone so badly under his leadership.”
The Sask. Party pointed to the announcement of three new canola processing facilities, an upgrade to a sodium sulphate plan and a new helium facility during the spring session. They also pointed to the province’s vaccination program.
“Our healthcare workers have done a tremendous job in getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Moe said. “Throughout this session, the number of doses administered doubled from 225 thousand to 550 thousand and as more people become vaccinated and life begins to return to normal, we know that our best days are ahead.”
The Sask. Party said they also fulfilled 14 campaign commitments, including restoring the Active Families Benefit, providing funding to hire new continuing care aides, expanding individualized funding for those on the Autism Spectrum, increasing seniors’ income and reducing the financial cost for those living with diabetes.
Meili said another highlight for him was the passage of Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette’s suicide prevention bill, calling it a rare moment of collaboration between the NDP and Sask. Party. The bill had been rejected two times before.
“On that bill in particular it's really important that it be more than a piece of paper,” he said. “We need to make sure that it turns into a strategy that's followed by resources, that’s followed by the work and support that is needed to keep young people healthy, to keep them hopeful, to keep them away from even considering taking their lives.”
