Spring session has begun, and the acting leader of the NDP John Nilson says that his party is going to work to keep the ruling Saskatchewan Party accountable.
Nilson says the nine members of his party currently in the legislature have gained confidence after the first winter session, and have been preparing to get back to work over the past several months to do their job.
The interim leader believes that Premier Brad Wall is "talking out of both sides of his mouth," as the Saskatchewan Party has stated that the budget for 2012 will likely see some belt tightening on the provincial side, and also that the economy is going strong.
"I think a real theme over the next session from our perspective is to see if this is a government of words or a government of actions, and what we're intending to do is ask simple questions about how they said they were going to do this, and what happened?" Nilson says.
One of the primary concerns for the NDP will be healthcare. He says that the number of calls for problem solving complaints in health regions have gone up 40 per cent, and he says his party intends to find out why. He believes it's due to the health budgets being flat.
"We're also watching closely to see if there are any incidents like what happened in Humboldt, where people have been living for ten years in a residence are told to move in three or four weeks, totally disrupting a community that has been built there. Last week we had a similar situation in Moose Jaw, where at Valley View, where developmentally disabled people have been, some of them for 40 years, they're told their community is going to be torn apart. When asked if there was a plan, we were told there is a plan to make a plan. That's not good management, that's not what the public expects. In Saskatchewan, they expect common-sense solutions, balanced solutions," Nilson says.
He also says the priority for the government is to listen to health regions and respond to requests for resources. He maintains there needs to be more effort to recruit doctors, especially from within the local universities. He points to the number of vacancies increasing from 86 to 136 in four years as showing how much work needs to be done in physician recruitment. He says it's clear that what is being done right now "isn't working."
"In every part of the province we have communities that are very frustrated, especially since most of these communities have taken a lot of town or RM revenue to support a doctor, and they're not getting the appropriate help from the government." He says that there needs to be aggressive recruitment at prairie universities to fill those vacancies, and work with the medical profession to recruit.
Nilson also says that there needs to be support for capital projects in municipalities, and he says there is not enough support for these projects at any level of government. He believes without more support for capital projects, we'll see problems with housing and new facilities.
"If you want to run for mayor or as a new councilor, you usually have some hopes and dreams for your community. If you've gotten the word from both the province and the federal government that the money isn't there, the revenues at the municipal level are basically taxes, which you have to increase, or the GST money that has been committed."
Another area where Nilson sees a problem is policing, as the premier has said the RCMP budget will shift more to the cities which use it. He says there will be little choice for municipalities that use the RCMP other than increasing property taxes.
"We know that the economy is doing well, but it appears that there is a management problem with finances." Nilson would also like to thank the party's supporters, who have been writing them with advice and questions to assist in the coming session. He would specifically like to thank Yorkton for the support surrounding Jimmy's Law, the legislation surrounding the safety of overnight workers in the province.
