REGINA -— The opposition New Democrats have outlined their plans for the return of the Legislature on Oct. 22.
NDP House Leader Nicole Sarauer spoke to reporters Tuesday about what the priorities will be for her party in the new session. The leading one, she indicated, will be on affordability.
“The Saskatchewan NDP has heard overwhelmingly from people that the cost of living is a priority for them, and so it will be a priority for us once the House sits tomorrow,” Sarauer said.
As part of their focus, Sarauer said they will bring forward legislation “to bring long-awaited rent control to Saskatchewan.”
Sarauer also confirmed the NDP will be bringing forward legislation to improve the flow of trade among Canadian provinces, something previously announced by their Trade and Export Development critic Kim Breckner earlier this year.
Sarauer also pointed to the government having “failed post-secondary schools, and we see a record number of people fleeing this province.” She confirmed the NDP would be launching a consultation focused on keeping young people here in Saskatchewan, something the party had announced late last week.
Sarauer repeated their previous announcement that the NDP will bring forward private members’ legislation to require public reporting of emergency room closures, and she also pointed to their consultations happening at the same time that will be “focused on delivering bankable change in health care.”
Sarauer also pledged the NDP would address “rampant crime in Saskatchewan streets.” She pointed to the party’s release the previous day of the first steps of a comprehensive plan to address the drug crisis.
“But it’s not everything. We need more police, more protection for small businesses, more targeted initiatives to stop the flow of dangerous drugs onto our streets, and so much more. We’re going to make public safety a major priority.”
It is anyone’s guess whether the NDP private member’s bills will get any traction, with the Sask Party having a recent history of either defeating or blocking NDP-backed bills, or totally rewriting them.
“This is a government that historically hasn’t always listened to proposals put forward by the Opposition, or anybody really, no matter how practical or reasonable they are,” Sarauer said.
She did note there was success with an Opposition private members’ bill passing on Sikh Heritage Month last term, and Sarauer said she has had success on some domestic violence private members’ bills a few terms ago.
“So there are examples of governments listening to proposals put forward by the Opposition and passing them. We think that they should be working with us more to have reasonable legislation passed. But this is, although there have been instances of success, there is historically a lot of examples of government not listening to anybody, really, except for their select few insiders. So, again, as I’ve said, we hope that the Premier listens to Saskatchewan people, hears what we’re putting forward, understands how important it is for Saskatchewan to have these pieces of legislation passed, and pass them.”
Beyond the private members’ bills, Sarauer expects the issue of China’s canola tariffs will again be a major one in the Legislature.
“The canola tariffs are a huge problem for producers in Saskatchewan,” said Sarauer.
“They’re the backbone of our economy, and so far we’ve seen the Premier really flip-flop on whether or not EV tariffs should be removed. That’s a huge problem for Saskatchewan, and it’s a huge problem for this Premier, so I think you can expect that Carla (Beck) will be laser-focused on the economy in particular and on the canola tariffs.”
It is also widely anticipated there will be legislation coming from the government side to bring in the “compassionate care” model of addictions treatment. That model would allow for involuntary treatment of individuals for addictions issues without their consent.
Sarauer said their critic Betty Nippi-Albright had put forward a comprehensive plan to deal with the addictions crisis in Saskatchewan, and “one piece of that is support for involuntary treatment as a last resort and with individuals’ human rights in mind. So ensuring that human rights are protected, ensuring that it’s a last resort.”
“We also want to ensure that it’s done on a non-profit basis. No corporation should be capitalizing on the facts of suffering of Saskatchewan people. We’ll see what the Sask Party government put forward. We’ve set down where our values and our minds are, and we’ll act accordingly.”
