The Saskatchewan NDP is asking the provincial government to call a special meeting of the Human Services Committee to examine the province’s pandemic response.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili says the fact that the Committee has only met once during the pandemic is concerning, adding the government needs to be held accountable for what it has done during the pandemic.

“Saskatchewan people have real and serious questions about the Sask. Party’s dismal response to the pandemic, about their confusing vaccine rollout,” said Meili. “Scott Moe, and this government, every chance they get, they avoid scrutiny, they avoid accountability, they avoid answering those straight-forward questions.”

Meili says he wants to know how COVID-19 got so bad in the province if the government took all the right steps.

“We lead the nation in number of cases, daily new cases, death rates, things we should not be leading in,” said Meili. “We should be leading in economic recovery, we should be leading in keeping people safe, and healthy.”

Meili says through the committee, the NDP would ask several important questions like why there is constant testing lag, and what steps were taken to prevent the second wave.

He adds the Provincial Ombudsman’s review into long-term care homes is a step in the right direction, but there’s more information needed.

“There are a number of other things that are going on, and have gone on with COVID-19, and there are questions to answer when it comes to long-term care in general, the people who have died, and why they died,” said Meili. “But also, the decisions this government has made, the information they’ve chosen to share, the information they’ve chosen to hide up until this point.”

The Human Services Committee oversees health care in Saskatchewan.

(CKRM)