The provincial election is coming this fall, and provincial NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter has been touring the province to get a feel for the issues important to people in Saskatchewan. As part of the tour, he made a stop in Yorkton to campaign with local candidate Chad Blenkin.
One of the issues that he sees in the area is healthcare, particularly in staffing. He notes that a loss of 16 hospital beds and 45 nursing long term care beds is something which the region shouldn't have to deal with.
"We're just saying that at a time when the economy is doing well, and the government has lots of money coming in from royalties and taxes that it's just a shame that this health region is forced to close hospital beds and long term care beds," Lingenfelter says.
The party believes that the nursing positions are unfilled because of a lack of money, he adds. He also says that the government needs to fund healthcare properly in order to keep the standard of care at an acceptable level.
"My belief is that proper funding of the health regions is fundamental, they just haven't had the kind of increases they need in order to keep these beds open," he adds.
Blenkin says that one of the issues he comes across most often when he talks to people in the region is housing.
"Not even just affordable housing, but an increase in the supply of housing is a big need in the community from an economic standpoint. It's starting to affect some of the businesses wanting to expand, and it's starting to affect affordability. I just saw a listing today for a two bedroom house in Yorkton for $1,350, and we're hitting averages of $900 for a two bedroom house... those same houses and apartments were available for $450 a few years ago, so that's a big jump," Blenkin says.
He says that the region has seen a loss of 1,800 jobs and that wages have not gone up in the past few years, and that housing has become a major problem as a result.
Lingenfelter says that the NDP's solution is their rent control plan, which was unveiled earlier in the year. The plan would see rent control on existing properties with an exemption on new builds to encourage construction. There would also be a major building project to encourage new construction and affordable housing.
"Saskatchewan is way behind in this, on protecting our citizens against high rent."
Driving around the province, Lingenfelter says that highways have become a major issue throughout the province. He also says that the highways have never been worse than they are right now, and he says some roads, such as Highway 47, are dangerous. He believes that the royalty structure for resources needs a review, with extra revenue being dedicated to highways along with other segments such as healthcare.
"You have to have a direct stream of money from resources to highways, because if you don't have good highways how can you keep expanding?" he concludes.
