The next session of the Saskatchewan Legislature is set to begin soon and the Official Opposition NDP was in Prince Albert on Saturday to plan for it.
NDP MLAs met at the Ches Leach Lounge in the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday ahead of the next session of the Legislature, which begins on Wednesday.
Leader Carla Beck told reporters the party has been anxious to return to the Legislature. Beck said they discussed several matters they hope to address in the new session.
“The tariffs and the impact to people here, folks locally in in Prince Albert, but right across the province, that’s incredibly important,” Beck said.
“It’s top of mind, I think, for most people right now.”
In the upcoming session Beck said the NPD hopes to address issues that iexisted before the tariffs. She said the list includes healthcare, and the reduction in hours at City Hospital in Saskatoon and the virtual Code Orange in Regina.
“We continue to see closures and under staffing right across this province,” Beck said. “(There are) concerns about accessing the health care that Saskatchewan people need, when and where they need it.”
She also noted concerns about childcare and Saskatchewan being one of two provinces, along with Alberta, to not sign on to an extension of the $10 a day Federal Childcare plan. On Friday Shadow Minister for Early Learning and Childcare Joan Prachtler was in Prince Albert discussing the issue with local providers.
“The fact that Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces right now that hasn’t signed on it to a $10 a day childcare plan at a time when families are struggling to put food on the table doesn’t make any sense,” Beck said.
The Government did however sign on to the National School Food Program recently and Beck said that the NDP had been putting pressure on the government to do so.
“(That is) something we advocated for during the election,” she said. “Absolutely, it’s a program that makes sense, that kids need, (and) that families need right now.”
Beck said people are concerned because they have not heard from the government at the Legislature. MLAs have not returned to session since last November’s election.
“They’re frustrated that they haven’t been able to really hear from the government and that they’re going to have to wait until budget day before they see the session at a time when this is really an all-hands-on-deck moment. We’ve heard precious little from Scott Moe’s Sask Party. We’ll see what they bring forward in in this budget.”
With Budget Day on Wednesday Beck hoped to see a budget that addresses those issues, along with homelessness, housing, and support for people who are struggling. She said there are also concerns from people across the province about crime.
Beck added that she hopes to see Premier Scott Moe stand up and say he is going to do everything he can to defend and protect people in the province from the threat of tariffs.
Beck said that in the face of tariff threats, it is time for the government to think big when faced with economic threats.
“We need to see some indication that they’re willing to start putting plans and investment forward to start building those types of projects that we’ve been talking about, whether that’s rail lines, including short line expansion, pressuring for better port access, building… power lines right across this country, (or) getting to work building a pipeline east. This is a time that Saskatchewan and Canadian people are faced with huge threats,” Beck said.
Moe has made multiple trips to the United States in an effort to head off the tariffs and taken steps to strengthen border security curb the trafficking of fentanyl in response to concerns raised by U.S. President Donald Trump to justify his tariffs.
Moe said the province is developing a plan to support steelworkers whose livelihoods may be at risk from a possible 25 per cent steel tariff.
Beck says that she has not heard the government talking about the issues the NDP is talking about.
“This is a government that’s been in power for 17 years. This is this is not a change of position for the Saskatchewan NDP,” Beck said.
Beck said there is a huge alternative and difference between the two parties and the government has failed to address concerns about tariffs in a tangible way. She said that the government has failed on healthcare and education, and watched a mental health addictions crisis take hold.
“This province has failed to even bring in a broadband strategy across this province, something that we’ve heard from municipal leaders, First Nations, school boards.
That we need for years and years,” Beck said.
“This is a province that has for so much of our history (has) been leaders when it comes to moments like this, I think this is a time for Saskatchewan to unite, to work within that Team Canada approach and to think big. We need to take back that place as the heart of the country as leaders in this country,” Beck added.
New Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Mark Carney was sworn in on Friday and one of his first acts was to end consumer carbon pricing with an order in council ending the “carbon tax” on April 1. Beck celebrated the end of the “Carbon Tax” by saying “great, finally’ on X formerly known as Twitter.
“This is this is something that has been called for for a very long time,” Beck said.
Beck said the “Carbon Tax” was incredibly unpopular and often put increased costs on those who could not afford to pay. She did not address the rebates that were returned to consumers that will also end.
She also said that consumer carbon pricing made Canada more dependent on the United States.
“This is about looking at the kind of nation building that we used to see from leaders in this country,” Beck said. “This is about calling on any of those federal leaders who would seek to be our Prime Minister to come forward, to show some bold vision, to work with the provinces to get some things done. We’ve seen too much division and shouting and not enough being done. It’s time that we saw that from all of our leaders.”
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
