There were some good positive highlights from the past year mixed in with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan, who shared his comments in a year-end interview.
The biggest highlight of this year for Duncan was the announcement of the location for Weyburn’s new integrated health care facility, to be built on Fifth Avenue North, between King Street and Fifth Street. For this announcement, Duncan had Premier Scott Moe, the Health Minister and a number of other colleagues and dignitaries from the community.
“Definitely for me that was the highlight this year, bringing more certainty to the project,” said Duncan, noting the top two questions he has had from constituents, either calling him or stopping him on the street, was when Weyburn is getting a new hospital and where it will go.
He noted that signs will soon be going up on the site of the new hospital, and tenders for the project will soon be going out to start the process.
The other main highlight of the year was the provincial election, held on Oct. 26, his fifth campaign.
“They are all different, but this one was much different than what we’re used to,” he said, noting having the Saskatchewan win a fourth consecutive majority was a historic win, not seen in Saskatchewan since the days of the Douglas government.
“It’s the third consecutive majority with over 60 per cent of the vote. That’s only happened one other time in Canadian history I think,” said Duncan, adding, “I’m pleased to be a part of that. I don’t take it for granted.”
One other highlight as Environment minister was being a part of the government’s taking a stand against the federal carbon tax, by taking their fight to the Supreme Court of Canada. “We’re all waiting for the decision from the justices. For me that was important to be part of the government in taking a strong stand against something that we felt was harmful for our province.”
The past year has been marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Duncan had a unique view as a member of the provincial cabinet when the discussions and decisions had to be made on what to do in response to the threat of the coronavirus.
“I was doing cabinet meetings from my basement during the lockdown,” he said. “I fielded a lot of calls from constituents, from all points of view. Some felt the measures went too far and were too restrictive, and some felt we should be doing more, and we should’ve locked down even more. I think this was a year unlike anything that we’ve ever seen.”
With vaccines starting to roll out, Duncan added that he’s “pretty optimistic” that as a province we’re going to make it through this pandemic.
In the meantime, the government is working towards having a spring budget, he said, pointing out Saskatchewan was the first province to bring down a budget in the past year after the pandemic was declared, although it was delayed when the lockdown orders came out on the day the budget was originally supposed to be delivered.
Duncan had been in his portfolio as Environment minister for three years after serving in that position before, so he had quite a bit of background knowledge and contacts who helped him with all of the issues of the department. Following the election, he was shuffled to be the new Education minister, and he admits he has a bit of a learning curve in this ministry, with lots of briefing notes and materials to sift through.
“It’s a unique one for me, because unlike a number of previous ministers, I’ve never been a teacher or served as a school board trustee. It’s been over 20 years since I finished high school, and our oldest is in Grade 1. I’m coming at it through the lens of a parent. I think it will give me a different perspective,” said Duncan.
Right now in K-12 education, most every school division and teacher is focusing on getting through this school year after the lockdown had closed schools from March 20 until the end of the school year in June.
“It’ll be different school by school,” he said, and noted the government allocated $150 million in extra funding to help school divisions handle the challenges of the pandemic. “We just released the second phase of funding from that.”
The hope is that as many students as possible will be able to finish the school year in a class with a teacher, he added. In looking ahead to the next school year in September, the issues will likely include how to address any gaps in learning caused by disruptions due to COVID.
Duncan is also greatly looking forward to being in Weyburn in September for the opening of the Legacy Park Elementary School, as well as of the Credit Union Spark Centre. He was able to host the premier for a tour of the facilities just a couple of weeks prior to the start of the lockdowns in March.
He said these facilities, along with the remodeled Weyburn Comp from a few years ago with the Cugnet Centre, make Weyburn a great model for other communities to look at for combining facilities for the community with local schools.
Overall, in looking back at 2020, Duncan said everyone has been impacted by this year.
“It’s been a trying year, and it’s been a struggle for a lot of people. I recognize the impact brought by the economy, for people who have lost jobs or have been impacted directly by COVID-19. Some people have questioned things we’ve done in response,” he said.
On a positive note, he pointed out the numbers of COVID cases have remained low here in the southeast since the start of the pandemic, and it’s because people here have acted smartly and responsibly for the most part.
But lest anyone gets complacent about our situation, he said, they should look to North Dakota and to Williston, where even though that state has a much lower population than us, their case levels and death rate is much higher than ours, so it is possible for this to happen here if people don’t take care and observe the public health measures.
