It is an understatement to say that Saskatchewan Budget 2017 has been a disaster, especially for marginalized groups.
As reported by Devan C. Tasa in the March 29 issue of the Humboldt Journal, libraries, schools, STC, funeral services for those on welfare, hearing aid plans, podiatry services, low-cost orthotics, as well as other services have gone under the knife of Premier Brad Wall and the Sask Party.
And of course, people are upset and, of course, they are showing their displeasure.
In the past month and a half since the budget has been released, there has been a couple major protests that have been in the news and they have been very different from one another.
Ever since it was announced that STC was being discontinued people have gathered numerous times to protest the loss of this service.
Despite protests, nothing has changed yet in saving STC.
April 7 saw the DEAR: Drop Everything And Read protest with thousands of people across the province taking part in read-ins at municipal offices to protest library cuts made in the budget.
The one in Humboldt saw around a hundred people, including classes from Humboldt Public School, come out to read in solidarity with the Reid-Thomspon Public Library.
And what has been the result of that? The province has restored funding for the provincial library system.
The most recent protest saw hundreds of people from a dozen organizations converge on Prairieland Park in Saskatoon on April 27 to protest at the annual Premier’s Dinner.
Some people kept it classy but according to reports from various news organizations protesters were getting unnecessarily violent and confrontational.
Even though we are disagreeing with each other, we can still remain classy, civil human beings to each other.
Unfortunately as soon as violence enters into the equation, that is all we tend to focus on as outsiders.
One of the positives that did come from the dinner was Brad Wall’s reaction to it.
I do not agree with Brad Wall’s politics at the best of times but I do thank him for positively addressing the protest during the dinner.
“We know people are upset and obviously they’re going to express that dissent as they did today and they should be welcomed and encouraged to do so,” said Wall during his speech.
Thank you, Mr. Wall, for not condemning the entire protest because of a few questionable people.
Thank you for supporting the feelings of the Saskatchewan people hit the hardest by your budget.
