Battlefords provincial NDP candidate Amber Stewart. (File photo/battlefordsNOW staff) 

By Angela Brown

Reopening Legislature

Local NDP candidate hopes to see more accountability from province

May 29, 2020 | 4:32 PM

While the province will be resuming the legislature next month, the Battlefords NDP candidate says the Saskatchewan Party government delayed too long before reopening after the COVID-19 closure.

Amber Stewart related the province needs to be more accountable and transparent to residents.

The province recently announced the legislative session would resume on June 15 for 14 days. Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meili asked for it to reopen since around mid-April.

“Ryan Meili has been really aware that COVID-19 has put a glitch in some things,” Stewart said, adding that he hopes to see everyone sit down, to have some oversight over decisions being made at this point.

She said a reopening date for the session should have been included in the re-open Saskatchewan phases.

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Stewart is also concerned about the province’s spending plan released in March for the 2020-21 budget, asking for more details.

“It wasn’t really a budget,” she said. “All the while [the premier] was still thinking of holding a snap election, right until March 12 when he finally pulled the plug; I think that was due to COVID-19.”

Stewart questions why the Sask. Party authorized $4.6 billion in spending this year through a special warrant, without opening the legislature.

“The people of the province need to be concerned about that: where is that money coming from and where is it going?” she said.

“It’s good to have everyone come together. It’s good for everyone to have eyes on the spending that is going on,” she stressed of the importance of resuming the legislative sitting.

Stewart said she is glad there is some financial relief for people and businesses impacted by COVID-19 but wants more information.

“Ryan Meili has been asking since the beginning of this to have all voices at the table – the government, the opposition and Indigenous leaders, so that everyone could get together and really address the needs of the people in our province,” she said.

Stewart also mentioned the importance of more oversight in the decision to temporarily close a number of rural Saskatchewan emergency rooms, and wants to know when they are all reopening.

The province previously announced acute-care admissions and emergency services were being temporarily suspended at 12 community hospitals to ensure there was enough capacity if COVID-19 needs increased.

Battlefords MLA Herb Cox commented it was in everyone’s best interest to temporarily close the legislature as a COVID-19 precaution.

“With COVID-19 going on we wanted to make sure we were looking after that first,” he said. “Of course we know we need to debate our budget, so that is what we want to do. I think it was a very appropriate compromise between the opposition and the government party. We have agreed to go back from the 15th to the third of July, which is 14 days we are going to be sitting. And we are going to be sitting in a safe fashion being aware of our space between each person.”

Cox commented all the province’s decisions were made with an eye on the COVID-19 situation.

“We have taken the precautions we took in order to keep the people of Saskatchewan safe,” he said. “I am happy to say for the most part it has worked. Unfortunately, we have had some deaths and that is a terrible thing. But for the most part our numbers have been lower than a lot of other provinces. That’s due to the good work that has been done. I’m not going to second guess that we didn’t do the right thing.”

– with files from The Canadian Press

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW