The spring sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature was very different from what MLAs were used to in the past, but Estevan MLA Lori Carr is still pleased with what the Saskatchewan Party government was able to accomplish in the past few weeks.
The spring sitting started on April 6 with the release of the provincial budget, and Carr viewed the budget as the highlight of the sitting.
“We had some important legislation we had to get through, we had a budget we wanted to pass so that we could get projects out the door and make those announcements for the communities, and keep the work going in Saskatchewan,” said Carr.
The budget included a number spending commitments for Estevan, including the planning of a new Estevan Regional Nursing Home, the expansion of the addictions treatment centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the addition of a Police and Crisis Team for the Estevan Police Service, and funding for additional early years family resource centre in Estevan, through a partnership with the South East Cornerstone Public School Division.
The spring sitting also saw the provincial government release its Re-Open Saskatchewan Road Map, which will adopt a three-step approach for reopening the province’s economy and allowing for more people to gather.
Step 1 of the plan will happen May 30, and Carr said people are looking forward to it.
“We’re fortunate enough to be the province to give some hope back to people that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if everybody does their part and sticks it to COVID, we’re going to be really successful with that,” said Carr.
The legislature was at close to 50 per cent capacity for the spring sitting, with 26 of 61 MLAs allowed in at a time.
“The Saskatchewan Legislature, the actual room, is a really, really large room, so what we had to do is normally the Saskatchewan Party is all on one side, and the opposition, the NDP are all on the other side,” said Carr. “We actually had to move about a third of our members over to the other side. They actually sat on the opposition side. It was really a unique dynamic,” said Carr.
It was particularly interesting during the heckling and banter that go on during a session.
MLAs had to think about social distancing, the masking and the limited number of MLAs allowed.
Carr was able to be there every day for the first three weeks, and after that, she was present every other day. The premier, as well as the ministers of health, finance and education, were there each day.
Carr attended each day in the first three weeks because some MLAs had to self-isolate, since they were close contacts of people diagnosed with COVID-19.
“I actually did have the opportunity to sit there a good portion of the days that we were there,” she said.
