REGINA, Sask. — Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck says voters are looking for a change in direction, telling delegates at the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour’s convention that her party is preparing to offer a different vision for the province as the legislature resumes next week.
Beck joined MLAs Meara Conway, Nathaniel Teed and Trent Wotherspoon for a question-and-answer session with delegates Friday, the final day of the SFL’s biennial convention in Regina. Afterward, Beck, Teed and Conway faced questions from reporters about health care, minimum wage, labour legislation and what the party intends to bring forward before the next provincial election.
“There is a clear choice in Saskatchewan right now,” Beck said. “People are looking for change, and we are going to continue to build the trust and build the plan out to show Saskatchewan people exactly what’s on offer with the Saskatchewan NDP.”
Beck said the questions from delegates reflected frustration over the pressures facing workers, particularly those in schools, health care and child care. She singled out concerns about school employees performing medical procedures while earning low wages, as well as the challenges surrounding child care.
“There’s a lot of frustration in that room, and I think it’s understandable why,” she said.
The NDP leader said her party is approaching the next legislative session on two fronts: challenging the Saskatchewan Party government and developing its own policy proposals. Cost of living and health care will remain central, she said, while the party also intends to address child poverty.
Beck pointed to a recent report showing Saskatchewan has the highest rate of child poverty among the provinces, calling that unacceptable in a province with substantial resources. In the legislature, she said, the NDP will press the government for answers while continuing to outline what it would do if elected.
“More importantly, the people of this province have been waiting for some accountability from this government,” Beck said. “And we’re going to certainly do our best to ask the questions that are needed and hold this government to account.”
Health-care plan faces questions
Health care was a major focus of the media scrum, following the NDP’s release this week of the first phase of its proposed health-care plan. The party says it would guarantee residents access to a primary-care team and prevent people from being left without care when a family doctor retires, leaves or closes a clinic.
Conway, the NDP’s Health shadow minister, described that commitment as a “no abandonment guarantee.” Under the proposal, she said, the system would take responsibility for connecting patients with primary care if their existing provider became unavailable.
“Just because you have access to a family doctor today doesn’t mean that tomorrow, you know, if your doctor retires or leaves or the clinic closes, you’re starting from scratch,” Conway said.
She cited the closure of the Gardens Community Health Clinic in Regina as an example of patients losing access to care, saying about 5,000 people were left to find another provider after the clinic shut down. Conway said the NDP’s plan would add options for patients rather than force those who are satisfied with their current doctor to switch.
“This is about adding options,” she said.
The plan, which the party says was developed through extensive consultation with health-care providers and residents, is intended to improve how primary care is organized and delivered. Conway said it cannot replace the need to recruit and retain more health-care workers, but argued that making better use of existing capacity could help keep providers in the system.
Beck said improving access to primary care could also ease pressure on emergency rooms and other expensive parts of the health system, where patients may end up when they cannot get timely treatment elsewhere.
She said the party has heard from doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who are experiencing burnout and considering leaving the profession.
“The people of this province are really, in a large part, the architects of this plan,” Beck said, crediting the consultations and research behind the proposal.
The NDP is in opposition, and the plan remains a proposal. Conway said a more detailed explanation is available in a 42-page document published on the party’s website.
Beck leaves minimum-wage figure open
On wages, Beck promised the NDP would work to raise Saskatchewan’s minimum wage, but did not offer a target amount ahead of the next election.
“I don’t have a number on that today,” she said, adding that the party is still developing its platform.
Saskatchewan’s minimum wage rose to $15.70 an hour on Oct. 1, under the province’s existing indexation formula. Beck argued that low-wage workers continue to face serious affordability pressures, pointing to people juggling multiple jobs and still relying on food banks.
“We are not going to have the lowest minimum wage in the country,” she said. “We are going to work to bring that number up and, you know, ensure that people can, when they do a full day’s work, still be able to pay their bills.”
The issue ties into the NDP’s wider argument about the cost of living, with Beck saying the province’s child-poverty figures underline the gap between Saskatchewan’s resources and the circumstances faced by some families.
Essential-services law in the spotlight
Beck also said a future NDP government would change Saskatchewan’s essential-services legislation, which affects the ability of public-sector workers to take strike action.
She argued that before the Saskatchewan Party introduced the law, unions and employers could work together to determine how public safety would be protected during a strike.
“I trust Saskatchewan people, I trust those in this room, I trust those at the tables to be able to come up with a plan without the need for heavy-handed legislation,” Beck said.
The issue is especially significant for health-care workers. Beck said some have gone nearly five years without a collective agreement or wage increase and argued that essential-services rules have made it harder for them to secure a deal. She also pointed to what she described as a lack of a mandate and political will from the government in negotiations.
The legislation has a long and contentious history in Saskatchewan. The province introduced its original essential-services law in 2008. After a Supreme Court of Canada ruling found that the law at the time infringed the constitutional right to strike, the province amended the legislation in 2015 to include an independent tribunal and other dispute-resolution measures.
Beck did not lay out a detailed legislative replacement during Friday’s media scrum, but said she believes workers and employers can develop agreements that protect the public without what she called heavy-handed rules.
NDP says convention showed appetite for change
Beck said the energy at the convention reflected a willingness among workers to push for improvements rather than accept current conditions. She described conversations with delegates as encouraging, even as she acknowledged the frustration they raised.
“I worry when people think that it doesn’t matter,” Beck said of the political process. “It does matter.”
Conway took a sharper tone, accusing the Saskatchewan Party government of losing touch with the people who keep public services running.
“These are the folks that work in our hospitals, our classrooms and childcare facilities,” Conway said. “They hold up our economy and they’re struggling more than they ever have.”
Teed, who said he had attended the convention since Wednesday, described the NDP’s presence as part of its relationship with organized labour.
“The Saskatchewan NDP and the labour movement have always had a really strong relationship,” he said, adding that delegates were looking for solutions to everyday concerns and that the party intended to take their feedback into the legislature.
The SFL represents more than 100,000 workers across Saskatchewan, according to the federation, making its convention an important gathering for unions to debate policy and set priorities.
With the legislature set to resume next week, Beck said the party is ready to challenge the government while continuing to develop its own plans. The next provincial election is still about two years away, she acknowledged, but said she does not believe the NDP should wait until an election campaign to put forward its ideas.
“We’re going to continue to focus on solutions and the people of this province and holding this government to account,” Beck said.
