Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Tyler Marr

HOUSING AND HEALTH

Meili talks housing, health concerns in Battlefords visit

Jul 16, 2019 | 12:04 PM

Government mismanagement has contributed to the problems at ValleyView Towers 2, the leader of Saskatchewan’s official opposition said during a visit to North Battleford.

The NDP’s Ryan Meili and Saskatoon-Fairview MLA Vikki Mowat toured the constituency Monday, and during the stop in the Battlefords, spoke on housing, health and other concerns voiced by residents.

By making affordable housing for seniors less accessible, then filling the vacancies with hard-to-house individuals and those who need specialized supports at ValleyView Tower 2, Meili said the government has manufactured a crisis “that erodes trust in the services we provide to those in need.”

“Some of the policy changes have kept those units less full than they should be and the decision to put younger people in there and people who are harder to house doesn’t necessarily fit with the retiree lifestyle and has really made it difficult for those residents,” he said.

He said the government has sold off social housing and cut the rental housing supplement, which added “significant stress” to people in the province who struggle to pay rent.

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“The Sask. Party government is letting these seniors down when they deserve a government that puts them first,” he said.

In mid-June, residents at Valleyview Towers 2 said management had not made people follow the rules and they have not enforced disciplinary action when they don’t.

Residents who spoke to battlefordsNOW, alleged rising tension among tenants and deteriorating living conditions in one of North Battleford’s largest housing complexes.

Residents at Valleyview Towers 2 allege rising tension and deteriorating living conditions as a wave of new and younger residents move in. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

On June 14, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) declared an HIV outbreak in the city and a syphilis outbreak for the Battlefords and Lloydminster area due to a rising number of cases in recent months.

Both Mowat and Meili pointed to the absence of a provincial strategy to address the spike in cases and “dire situation” unfolding.

“We need immediate action,” Mowat said, adding there is a need for better harm reduction tools, education and treatment. “This is a direct example of where there aren’t provincial government interventions and it is failing the community.”

Beyond treatment and prevention, Meili said a greater response to the root cause is required, saying poverty is a key contributor behind most people who find themselves in high-risk positions.

The levels of poverty around the region, he said, are quite high, and when poverty is combined with addictions, HIV and STIs emerge in higher numbers.

“We need to be looking at things like sex education and harm reduction. Those are key elements,” he added. “Without a serious effort to deal with poverty, everything else we do is just trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. We need to address the upstream root causes of all of our troubles.”

Part of addressing poverty, Meili said, is working to keep more of Saskatchewan’s money in the province, especially when it comes to building major infrastructure projects like schools and health care facilities.

“The SHNB was built largely by out of province companies with our money,” he said.

He also stressed the need to raise the province’s minimum wage, which is the lowest in the country.

“When you have low wages, you have poverty, so you have a drain on your economy and you don’t have people with spending money,” he said. “Let’s raise the minimum wage and get more money flowing locally. That is key to lifting the economy from the bottom up.”

Further, Meili said this coupled with a strong investment in people can help pull individuals out of poverty and, in turn, reduce crime rates and improve the health of the population.

“All of that is tied to a common root cause, which is an insufficient investment in people,” Meili said. “We have seen a decade of record revenues for this province and yet we have seen poverty rise and inequality get worse. Crime, illness and more and more poverty. It is a vicious cycle.”

With an election on the horizon, Meili said the North Battleford region is a target for seats in 2020. He said as MLAs tour the riding, they hear lots of frustration from residents who he said have an appetite for change.

“We are here a lot and listening and coming up over the next few months full hear more and more of the ideas we have to spur local economic growth,” he said.

An example of this is the NDP’s Renew Saskatchewan plan, which involves retrofitting homes and buildings in the province with solar panels or shared wind co-ops. This would reduce power bills and pay for itself over a short period.

“Let’s work with SaskPower, load that money out off the bat and you keep paying the bills you already pay and once it is paid off, those bills are gone or maybe you are making money as you are feeding power back into the grid,” he said. “You can put a lot of people to work doing those retrofits, installations, assessments and manufacturing and at the same time do a positive thing for the environment.”

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr