REGINA, Sask. — Health care was a major focus for NDP leader Carla Beck as she took her turn at holding a Leader’s Dinner.
The NDP’s Leader’s Dinner, held just four days after Premier Scott Moe held his Premier’s Dinner at that same venue in the REAL District, was the first such Leader’s Dinner the party had held in 15 years.
Like the Sask Party event days earlier, it once again put on display the differences in approach between the two parties.
Beck told the audience, “When it comes to provincial politics, for the first time in a very long time, you do have a choice. And that choice, it matters.”
She said the night was about “sending a message.”
“Our opponents, they might be cashed up, staffed up, they might think that they can never lose. Bring it on. We're ready. The Saskatchewan NDP is once again a brilliant force to be reckoned with in this province.”
On the issues, Beck laid out the differences with the Sask Party on such issues as accountability and consulting the public.
“I happen to think that when we're making decisions about something as important as whether or not we're going to burn coal in this province forever, or we're making plans for mega infrastructure, that it's going to consume loads of power, that Saskatchewan people should have a say in that, especially before an election.”
She also pointed to the NDP's four-pillar plan on health care. The four pillars announced last week included a “health care home” guaranteeing access to a primary care physician close to home, a health care hub to connect those teams to services, a “bridge” to bring health care closer to rural and remote areas, and a single integrated health record to serve as the backbone of the system.
At the Regina event Monday, Beck announced one more part of that health care plan — a pledge for local voices to be heard in the health care system.
Beck pointed to a promise made years earlier by the Sask Party government when the Saskatchewan Health Authority was established to “bring in community advisory networks to keep a role for local voices in those big health care decisions.”
Beck said that promise was not kept. She pledged that “should we have the honour of forming government, I'm going to commit tonight to bringing in those health advisory networks within the first hundred days.”
“You know, I believe that promises should be kept. And I also believe that decisions in healthcare can only be made better with those frontline voices. All it takes is a little political will, a little bit of courage, but mostly it takes an unwavering belief that when faced with challenges, that Saskatchewan people, that Saskatchewan is still a place where people can dig in and find solutions.”
