CONTENTS
FIRST
SESSION — THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE
of
the
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
DEBATES
AND PROCEEDINGS
(HANSARD)
N.S. Vol. 66 No. 6B Tuesday, December
3, 2024, 19:00
[The
Assembly resumed at 19:00.]
EVENING SITTING
Deputy
Speaker B. McLeod: — It now being 7 o’clock, it is time
to resume debate.
SPECIAL
ORDER
ADJOURNED DEBATES
ADDRESS IN REPLY
[The Assembly
resumed the adjourned debate on the address in reply which was moved by Kim
Gartner, seconded by the Hon. Eric Schmalz, and the proposed amendment to the
main motion moved by Jared Clarke.]
Deputy
Speaker B. McLeod: — I recognize the member from Regina
Douglas Park.
Nicole Sarauer: — Thank you, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. So happy to be back here again this evening to finish off the
remarks that I got started this afternoon. Would you believe it? It’s only been
two hours, just over two hours since I started my speech and I’ve already
received negative feedback about the speech I was giving.
And no, it wasn’t from any members
within the Chamber. My own husband texted me to let me know that he happened to
apparently be listening and told me that he felt that I was not emphatic enough
in my expression of my love and thanks to him, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So I will
take this opportunity to tell him again how much I love him and how much I’m
thankful for him of course.
He’s watching our kids this evening.
They’re always excited when I’m here for night sitting, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
because then they get the opportunity to enjoy his great cooking. He can make a
very mean McDonald’s Happy Meal, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So I know my kids and him
are having a lot of fun this evening. But all jokes aside, he’s an amazing dad
and an amazing litigator, and I’m always grateful to him, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And normally, as I think some members
may know, I’m not always the greatest at writing out my remarks, and having, I
think it was about 13 minutes on the clock before 5 o’clock before I probably
would have, as sometimes we say on this side, landed the plane before we hit
the clock expiry. But I did have some things I wanted to say about the Throne
Speech, in particular some of the things it said at the end around respect in
the Assembly, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So please know that when I get on my . . .
a bit of a high horse, I’m really punishing myself because I could have just
avoided this conversation and gone home after supper.
But there were a few things that I did
want to talk about, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As I said, I gave my thanks this
afternoon in my remarks, thanks for all of those that were involved in the
election.
And I wanted to talk a little bit about
the Throne Speech. As I had said this afternoon, there was a strong message we
were hearing on the doorstep from folks who were feeling frustrated with the
government, who were feeling ignored, frankly, and who wanted to send a
message. And while of course the governing side did come back with more members
than we did, we did have the opportunity to over double the size of our caucus,
Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And I think that is a strong message
that the people of Saskatchewan are sending to the government, that not only
was there frustration, but they definitely want there to be a very strong and
effective opposition in this Chamber. And to those people, know that from our
side we say, message received, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And we have every intent on
providing that strong opposition for the next four years, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I like to think that we very much
punched above our weight when we were a smaller caucus. This is my third time
being elected, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Every time has been an honour.
[Applause]
Nicole Sarauer: — Thanks. And every
time has been an honour, but I will admit it’s very tough being a part of a
small opposition. I wasn’t around for the nine-member caucus, but there was 11
of us in 2016, 51 . . . or 50 on the other side. I’m a lawyer so math
is not my strong suit, Mr. Deputy Speaker. 2020, I think there were 12 or 13 of
us when we were first elected and many more on the other side, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. It’s a lot different when you’re a part of a small opposition with a
very large government caucus, Mr. Speaker. I’m very happy that the members on
my side who are new don’t have to experience what it was like because it was
raucous to say the least. There wasn’t a lot of conversation about the need for
more decorum, that’s for sure, from government’s side.
And let’s make very sure that we’re all
on the same page about what we’re talking about when we’re talking about
decorum, that we’re all talking about the exact same thing, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
That disagreeing without being disagreeable means we treat each other with
respect, absolutely, or professionally, absolutely. But it does not mean that
the opposition shies away from asking hard questions, questions that the
government may not like. Is that to be disagreeable? No, that’s to do our job.
The process is adversarial. This is an
adversarial process. It is a feature of the Westminster system. It’s not a bug,
Mr. Speaker. That is why the Chamber is set up the way it is, why we’re facing
each other. It’s adversarial by its nature. We’re not in a circle for a very
specific reason, Mr. Speaker.
Now I have a quote that I want to read.
This was specifically for the member from Eastview who was very excited when he
saw me walking around with an old British constitutional book, and he was quite
excited to hear what this book had to say. But it talks a bit about the history
of the opposition, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And it says:
The British Constitution not only does
not expect conformity, it demands the opposite. The Government has its majority
and so can govern; but it must do so under a constant fire of criticism from
the Opposition. Opinion outside is assumed to be divided; therefore it is
desirable that inside the House ministers may be reminded of Cromwell’s
injunction: “I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you
may be mistaken.” Nor can ministers forget that politically they are mortal.
Frequently, too,
debate embarrasses the Government. How easy it would . . . [be] for
the . . . Government to . . . [ride] off after . . .
[a blunder] if it had not to meet the criticism which inevitably followed.
Negotiations with foreign powers are difficult to conduct when a lynx-eyed
Opposition sits suspiciously on the watch. We might have a better foreign
policy if we had no Parliament: but we might have a worse; and what is better
and what worse is generally a matter of opinion. We are a free people because
we can criticise freely and, if our criticisms prove persuasive, compel the
Government to withdraw. Public opinion has destroyed a good many Bills and has
reversed a good many policies. The spear-head of the attack is the Opposition.
To find out whether a people is [politically] free it is necessary only to ask
if there is an Opposition and, if there is, to ask where it is.
Mr. Speaker, and for the purposes of Hansard,
this comes from The British Constitution by W. Ivor Jennings.
Mr. Speaker, this is the basic function
of an opposition. If members don’t believe it is our job, I encourage them to
look at their own party’s history back when they were in opposition. Back in
early days of 2007, Mr. Speaker, I think what you’ll see is a very raucous
debate and a very raucous question period.
In this Chamber I can commit that we
will be ruthless. We will not shy away from asking the hard questions because,
again, that is our job as an opposition. That is what the people of the
province expect from us, and that is what allows for the maintenance of a
strong democracy.
We have a duty to ask questions about
how government money is being spent and whether it is being spent
appropriately. We will not stop doing that. And we have a duty to ask hard
questions about government policy. We will not stop doing that. And if the issue
is the person, we will not shy away from those hard questions as well — not,
again, to be disagreeable, but because it is our job, because the people of the
province expect a lot from their government, and it is our job as an official
opposition to hold the government to that standard. And we take that role very
seriously.
Now I have had the privilege of forming
friendships with many people across the aisle. And as I said at the beginning
of my speech, I think it’s really important for us to get to know each other at
a human level. There are many members still present, many members who have left
who I truly call friends and I truly do miss. There were a few folks I
mentioned in particular — the now retired two former ministers of Justice, Don
Morgan and Gord Wyant — who I always told them were my unwilling mentors, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. That I didn’t always agree with them, of course, but very much
looked up to them and respected their professionalism and am happy to say that
I’ve gotten to know them very well.
And there were lots of opportunities
where those friendships have filled my cup, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I’ll speak to a
couple instances where they’ve filled my belly, literally, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
The old member from Carrot River, of course Fred Bradshaw — well-known baker in
this Chamber, Mr. Deputy Speaker — for both of my pregnancies would, when we
were in session, bring me two butter tarts every week when he’d bring baking
for the other side, one for me and one for my baby, which was very much
appreciated because I was starving all the time.
And I know you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
he is an absolute incredible baker. And I will say, because I know that there
was every Thursday on the government side a very wonderful spread of food that
government side got to enjoy, because I did have a member — and I’m not going
to name names — but a member on the other side who would send me a photo to
tease me a little bit and let me know about what sort of menu was on offer for
government MLAs [Member of the Legislative Assembly] that day, because they knew
full well that we didn’t have a whole lot of snacks on our side.
And I will say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I
was able to sweet-talk occasionally the odd cookie, home baked by the wonderful
member for Lloydminster who, she probably didn’t know that. But I want her to
know that her baking was amazing, and I’m sorry and I really appreciated it,
but was able to get a couple of those cookies snuck over to me on the other
side. Now I’m in the market for a new person to sneak over cookies to me if
anybody’s interested in the future, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because I do like
having my cup filled, but I very much appreciate having my belly filled even
more, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I tell these stories because I think
they’re important to understand the roles we have in the Chamber and the roles
we have outside the Chamber, outside of the work that we do. I know in the
practice of law we learn to be zealous advocates for our clients’ causes and
positions. We fight like hell in the courtroom, and at the end of the day we
put down our swords and we forge friendships with opposing counsel despite what
we might have said about them or about their ideas in the courtroom.
This place to me is no different. We
have a job to do. The people expect us to do that job, and we will do it. We
will fight like hell for the people of this province, and while it may not be
easy, at the end of the day we will put down our swords. But there is a time
and place for both, and both are very important. While it isn’t always easy to
do, the members, I think, who do the best in this Chamber are those who learned
to fight like hell in the Chamber and then put their swords outside.
Mr. Speaker, take that for what it’s
worth, but I do believe that those who . . . And this is advice —
take it or leave it — to the new members, unsolicited. I feel like those who do
the best in this work and the best in this Chamber are those who take their
work seriously but don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s okay to have fun
in here, and it’s okay to have a laugh every once in a while.
Walter Lippmann was a Pulitzer
Prize-winning American journalist who, in the early 1900s, wrote extensively
about politics and society. I’m going to read a brief quote from an article he
wrote back in 1939, during a very dark time in history of course, called “The
indispensable opposition.” He said:
If we are to
preserve democracy we must understand its principles. And the principle which
distinguishes it from all other forms of government is that in a democracy the
opposition not only is tolerated as constitutional but must be maintained
because it is in fact indispensable. The democratic system cannot be operated
without effective opposition, for in making the great experiment of governing
people by consent rather than coercion, it is not sufficient that the party in
power should have a majority. It is just as necessary that the party in power
should never outrage the minority.
That means that it
must listen to the minority and be moved by the criticisms of the minority.
That means that its measures must take account of the minority’s objections and
that, in administering measures, it must remember that the minority may become the
majority.
The opposition is
indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always
learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters, for his
supporters would push him where the dangers are. So if he is wise, he will
often pray to be delivered from his friends because they will ruin him. But
though it hurts, he ought to pray never to be left without opponents, for they
keep him on the path of reason and good sense.
Saskatchewan people expect a lot from
their government and rightly so. Our job is to hold the government to that
standard. And as a government-in-waiting, we will spend these next few years
showing the people of the province what we are truly made of. Like I said, I
always felt like we punched above our weight before and I can’t wait to see
what we do in a caucus of 27.
Mr. Speaker, I will not be supporting
the motion and I will be supporting the amendment moved by my good friend, the member
from Regina Walsh Acres. Thank you.
[19:15]
Deputy
Speaker B. McLeod: — I recognize the member from
Cannington.
Hon. Daryl Harrison: — Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. I first want to start off by congratulating — Mr. Deputy Speaker —
congratulate you on your new role, very much deserved. You’ll do a bang-up job;
very proud of you. Also very proud of the member from Melfort becoming our
Speaker as well. He’s very much a good listener and a good referee, if I can
call it that, and I very much have respect for both of you. So thank you very
much for doing what you do. I appreciate that very much.
It’s often said that we don’t serve here
alone and that can’t be more than true for myself, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My
family means a lot to me and not just doing the work at home on the ranch but
also being there with their unconditional love and support. I really do cherish
that. To my wife, Cheryl, who is at home doing chores and tending things, I
really must say, Cheryl, I love you very much and can’t wait to see you soon.
Thank you.
Starting from youngest to oldest, my son
Thomas, first-year university student excited to step out into the world.
Enjoying his classes and the world is his drawing board. He’s going to do good
things, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I’ll just leave that there. He’s a great support
and doing well in life.
Daughter Sarah and her husband, Jeremy —
she decided to return to school, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and is going to school as
a registered psych nurse here in Regina at SIAST [Saskatchewan Institute of
Applied Science and Technology], so thank you very much and congratulations for
her for doing that and also for the love and support.
Claire and Christian, although they
don’t live in Saskatchewan, she’s got a good career of her own. They both have
very good careers, both homeowners. All the kids are homeowners except for the
youngest one of course, and in due time. But Claire is doing quite well in her
chosen field and very proud of them both.
Next up is Jill and Chris. Jill’s a
registered nurse and works at the children’s hospital in Saskatoon. Very proud
of her and Chris as well because they’ve blessed us with two granddaughters,
Blake and Madison. And they were able to convince dad to take two farm kitties
back home, and there’s nothing more enjoyable than having pets, especially at
that young age. And I don’t know who had more fun, the kitties or the kids, but
they were both enjoying their time together. So thank you to them.
Next up is Carla and Mark, also in
Saskatoon. Carla is a pharmacist and works at St. Paul’s Hospital and couldn’t
be more proud of her, and Mark as well, and very proud of their chosen careers.
Very admirable. They have also blessed us with three grandchildren. We have
Ava, who’s starting out an extended hockey career here, I think. I’m pretty
excited for her. She’s a natural skater, can hit the ice just on the fly. I’ve
never seen somebody take to that so easily. And then there’s James. He’s the
next in line there and he’s also choosing the hockey career path, enjoys soccer
and all the other amenities that they can find. And then there’s Owen. He’s the
baby of the family, and I know he’ll probably get spoiled and his older brother
and sister will ensure that. But also they’ll be sure to put him in his place
when he needs it as well. So I’m very proud of them as well.
And then Miles and Kayla. They live
outside the borders here, but Miles does work in Saskatchewan quite often,
works in the oil and gas sector on the environmental side. And Kayla is a
schoolteacher, and very proud of both their careers and their family as well.
They have a son and a daughter, Ty and Hallie, and excited first-time parents
and Grandpa and Grandma are very, very proud of all that.
My mom, Eleanor, who’s on the home
place, very satisfied to remain there. No plans to go anywhere; she wants to
remain there for a long time. And she has her chores done, keeps an eye on
things, and I truly appreciate that. I love you, Mom. Have a good evening.
Campaign-wise I want to thank my
campaign team, as many of you have. I truly appreciate everyone’s hard work,
signs, mail drops, door knocking, having coffee, community events — kind of
what we do at home all the time. As you probably well know, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
it’s meeting your friends and neighbours and having a social event more than
door knocking, so I appreciate all those visits and those heart-to-heart talks
from my constituents.
And also I want to thank the Sask Party
office staff. You know, throughout the campaign they put in some tremendous
hours, helped guide the campaigns all around the province. But I want to signal
out Dylan and Deanne for their direct support to my campaign and probably
several other campaigns here on this side of the House.
And I also want to thank our campaign
Co-Chairs, Patrick Bundrock and our former Finance minister and deputy premier,
Donna Harpauer, for their direction at the helm of this campaign ship. Somebody
had mentioned earlier Donna was the longest serving female cabinet minister in
the history of Canada. And that’s something. I’m proud to call her a colleague
because of that accomplishment but I’m thinking both sides of the House can
acknowledge that that is a tremendous accomplishment for anyone. So thank you,
Donna.
Closer to home here in the building I
want to thank the caucus staff. Being first elected in 2020, the support you
get from the caucus staff — and there’s a few that are no longer in the caucus
and I say thank you to them as well — but Ang Currie, our chief of staff, I
can’t thank you enough for the guidance you provided me and all the members and
especially the new members that are first elected here in 2024.
But there’s also Kim, Troy. There’s Mat
One and Matt Two — not to be confused with Thing One and Thing Two, but it’s
Mat One and Matt Two — and we really appreciate their research and advice.
Shelby, Cien, Marita, and Aliya in comms, appreciate all the work they do.
They know their business and do it very well, so thank you for all that.
I also want to thank the people of
Cannington. I can’t be more proud to represent them and thank them for their
support, their honour, for giving me the honour to serve them here in the
Saskatchewan legislature for a second term. I am very humbled and honoured that
they showed me that great support and I wish to thank them.
I want to say, you know, specifically
thanks for the ones that voted for me, voting for a strong economy and a bright
future. I’ll work every day to ensure our province is growing and thriving,
bringing new investment and more jobs, ensuring life is more affordable and
that I never lose sight of why you put your trust in me.
To the people that did not vote for me,
thank you for exercising your democratic duty to ensure your voice is heard. I
have heard that voice and I will work to represent you and act on your concerns
just as much as those who chose to support me. But I do thank you for taking
the time and going out and voting on election day. It’s something that in
Canada we can all too easily take for granted. I appreciate everybody that went
out to the polls immensely. It’s your democratic right and responsibility. Thank
you to them.
I also want to take time to thank my
staff both here in Regina and back home in my constituency office. I’ll start
here first, and I can say the hon. minister of Highways was kind enough to
leave all his staff behind for me to learn from. I do appreciate that.
My chief of staff, James Cherewyk.
Appreciate his guidance and support and encouragement throughout my tenure here
as the Minister of Ag. My communications assistant, Derek Griffin. Appreciate
his enthusiasm, and anyone that knows Derek knows he has an abundance of
enthusiasm. My senior admin, Renee Klein, always bubbly, bright. If you started
off with a bad morning, her smile just brightens the day. So thank you to
Renee. My caseworker, Jacob Sawatzky. Always there, reliable, being there to
support any casework that comes through the door from the MLA offices on both
sides of the . . . well this side of the House probably, in Ag.
My constituency assistants. My
full-time, Trisha, is there, very reliable. I couldn’t do it without her, so
thanks to Trisha for all her hard work and support as we navigate myself being
a minister and not being around as much as I have been in the past in the
constituency office. Mr. Deputy Speaker, I also have two casual CAs
[constituency assistant], April and Merilyn, and I thank them for their time
and their ability to fill in when needed. And I can’t say how thankful I am for
their ability to drop in and work at a moment’s notice.
I also want to thank the Clerks, the
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Pages, Hansard, custodians, security, LAS [Legislative
Assembly Service], and maintenance staff — all the staff in the building. And
to all the elected colleagues, both the returning veterans and the newly
elected, congratulations. Enjoy it. Four years goes by quickly.
And
the member from Wood River, our Minister of Highways and SaskBuilds, you have
led our industry through some challenging times, and I couldn’t think of a
better person that was able to take on that task. Thank you. I might add, the
hard work of growing Sask ag exports for four consecutive years of record
growth is a tremendous accomplishment to be very, very proud of. You have done
amazing work for the agriculture sector in this province — advancing research,
improving our business risk management, advancing irrigation development in
this province, and much, much more. I share your vision, and I want to say
thank you.
As
a producer all my life, I understand the issues our industry faces but also the
potential that also exists for agriculture in Saskatchewan. When they say our
industry and producers are world-class, to me it’s not just a slogan or a
political talking point. It’s the truth. There are no producers anywhere in the
world that are more advanced, more dedicated, more innovative, or more proud
than our producers right here in Saskatchewan. They deserve a government that
stands up for them in every room, that acts on their concerns, and promotes
them not just here but around the world.
Mr.
Speaker, our agri-food products, our agri-food exports reached $20.2 billion
in 2023. We beat our growth plan target by seven years in the midst of a
drought. If that’s not resiliency, I don’t know what is. Mr. Speaker, we
doubled meat processing and the animal feed value revenue to more than a
billion dollars, exceeding that growth plan by seven years.
These
are just two of the many agriculture growth plans we have achieved or are on
track to achieve in the coming years. It is an exciting time to be in
agriculture, and I can assure industry today that you have a government that
will always fight for your interests and your way of life.
Mr.
Speaker, we have so much to be proud of in this province — great people who
live in great communities from corner to corner. To quote my friend and former
colleague, the member from Saskatoon Riversdale, “It’s a great day in
Saskatchewan.”
[19:30]
With
these great communities, challenges do arise, and we need a government that is
there to roll up its sleeves and get the job done for the Saskatchewan people.
That’s what we have seen in the latest Throne Speech, a government committing
to improve access to health care, ensuring people get quality health care when
and where they need it. Improving our children’s education so that they can
have a good foundation and the education necessary to prepare them for the
challenges of adulthood. Addressing our public safety by adding 500 more police
officers and adding 500 more addictions recovery spaces. All three of these
pillars are important for safe and thriving communities. These are the kinds of
issues talked about during the campaign. I believe we, as a government, are
able to deliver that change while also focusing on a strong economy and the
sectors that pay for these important services.
In
closing, I want to say that yes, we can always do better, and we have lots of
work to do; that’s no secret. But I would also like to say that we live in the
greatest place in the world. Our people are tough and resilient. Team
Saskatchewan has never had a brighter future ahead. The latest Throne Speech is
a great stepping stone in achieving that brighter future — leaving more money
in people’s pockets, growing our economy, and investing our important services
that Saskatchewan rely on.
Mr.
Speaker, I just want to mention before I close that earlier today the member
from Regina Mount Royal brought up the former minister of Agriculture saying
that he couldn’t find the time or effort to stand up for producers. Mr.
Speaker, I’ve had the honour of serving as the new Agriculture minister of the
province for less than a month. I can say that producers and stakeholders have
nothing but positive things to say about the former minister and his tireless
commitment to the agriculture sector — everything from record agriculture
budget investment, record irrigation expansion, record funding and research,
and a record agriculture exports for four straight years, Mr. Speaker.
This
list goes on, Mr. Speaker, but I challenge the member opposite to go to any
agriculture stakeholder group and ask about the former Agriculture minister’s
commitments to the producers of this province and see what they have to say.
Under this Premier, the former minister, myself, and all the members of this
government, we always have and always will stand up for the producers of this
province.
Mr.
Speaker, we talk about respect in this House, and I feel that the member from
Regina Mount Royal was disrespectful to our former minister. I will not be
supporting the amendment made by the members . . .
Speaker Goudy: — I appreciate your perspective, but
again, we can’t assume what people are meaning by their words, so I ask you to
withdraw the comments.
Hon. Daryl
Harrison: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I withdraw and apologize.
I
will not be supporting the amendment made by the member opposite. I will be
voting in favour of the Throne Speech, moved by the member for
Kindersley-Biggar, and seconded by the member of Saskatchewan Rivers. God bless
Saskatchewan. God bless Canada. God save the King. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the member from Regina Elphinstone-Centre.
Meara Conway: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to enter
into debate this Tuesday evening here on Treaty 4. I want to begin by
congratulating you, Mr. Speaker, on your new role, as well as the new Deputy
Speaker on his new role, and the 31 new members. It was remarked upon today
that we actually have more new members than returning members, which I hadn’t
actually realized until it was pointed out today, which is really tremendous.
It is an honour to weigh in on the Speech from the
Throne, as it always is. It’s an opportunity to speak to the strengths and the
opportunities and the hopes of Saskatchewan people, but also all of the ways
that we feel that this government is letting people down and is out of touch
and has become out of touch with their struggles and their realities, Mr.
Speaker.
We do find ourselves entering into this particular
Speech from the Throne right after an election. So while I usually like to keep
my comments more geared towards the Speech from the Throne, I do have some
thank yous that I really feel compelled to get to. And I want to, of course,
start with my family.
I don’t want to be getting any texts from my husband
saying that I didn’t pay him good dues like the House Leader did, Mr. Speaker,
so I’m going to start there. I want to thank my partner, Nick. We know the toll
that an election campaign can take. As much as it’s joyful and it’s exciting,
it really does take a toll on our families. They do a lot of the heavy lifting.
And
of course I have two young kiddos at home: Éamon who’s two, turning three next
month, which is hard to believe, and then my eldest, Lew, who’s five, who just
started kindergarten. So I want to thank them for their support and
particularly my partner, Nick, who did untold hours of solo child care and
supported me during this campaign.
I
also want to give a shout-out to my parents, John and Sally, particularly my
mom who is always ready to hit the campaign trail. She’s just been away for a
few weeks, Mr. Speaker, and boy, did I feel that, like when she wasn’t around
to kind of call at the last minute to help out. So I want to just give them a
shout-out and say that I love them very much.
And
then my three older brothers are dear to me: Liam, Aidan, and Kieran and their
partners and my nieces and nephew, all of whom I’m lucky to have living right
here in Regina. And I can’t tell you the pride of place that my family has for
me. And all of this is temporary, Mr. Speaker, but family is everything. So I
want to thank them and the patience that they have for this role and the
sacrifices they make for me so that I can have this great honour of
representing the people of Regina Elphinstone-Centre.
And
so my next thank you is of course to them for sending me back for a second
term. The people of Cathedral, the Warehouse District, downtown, North Central,
Rosemont — these are incredible communities, Mr. Speaker, with people and
volunteers and health care workers and education workers and private sector,
human services sector workers. They punch above their weight. The
community-based organizations in this area are incredible.
I
am in awe of my constituents and I never grow tired of meeting them and hearing
their stories. So I want to next thank them for this honour, including those
that maybe didn’t put an X beside my name. I will fight just as hard for those
individuals as the ones who did support me in this election, Mr. Speaker.
I
look forward to serving along a new city council. I believe that my boundary
includes Wards 8, 3, and 7. That’s Shobna Radons, David Froh, and Shanon
Zachidniak, all incredible community leaders in their own right. And I look
forward to working with them together with Cindy Anderson and Sarah Cummings
Truszkowski, the public school trustees that cover Regina Elphinstone-Centre,
and of course the Catholic trustees that don’t have a subdivision per se, but
I’m thankful for their contribution.
I
want to thank my executive. I’m going to name some of them. I hope I don’t
leave anyone out: Amanda, Marissa, Avery, Dan, Kendra, Mason — there are
others. They are incredible fun and good support and really put us in a good
position at the end of every four years to run a good, strong campaign. So
thank you to them.
Avery
Beaudin, my constituency assistant, and I have to thank her particularly today
of all days, Mr. Speaker. The rewards of course of working in that office, but
also there are challenges. We see the needs increase in that community like
nowhere else, and people come to us often when systems have failed them and
services are not available to them. And we see more and more people come to us.
And
Avery puts up with a lot. She puts up with me. But today she actually had some
folks come in to use the phone, and someone took the keys out of her jacket and
stole her car from our parking lot. So more of that happening in our
neighbourhood, we know. We’ve been trying to raise these issues at a political
level. But just want to give a big shout-out to Avery today and, you know, send
her my love and thanks for all that she does both for myself and for the people
of Regina Elphinstone-Centre.
My
campaign team. Rick, our campaign manager, a Saskatchewan expat, really cool,
chill guy. He brought a lot of calm to this election which is usually in short
supply. Tanner Wilhelm, gifted musician, thoughtful guy, talented. Election
staff are so talented. In fact, I don’t think he lasted a few days on my
campaign. He was quickly moved over to one of the other campaigns which I was
okay with. His skills were needed.
I
had an opportunity to provide some opportunities to people that have not worked
campaigns before like Alex Lipp. I want to thank her for her kindness and hard
work. She’s an extraordinary baker, and she has a dry wit that’s always
perfectly delivered, Mr. Speaker. Carlie Mohrbutter, she was a practicum
student from social work in our office, and she got interested in the political
aspect. She was our volunteer coordinator. She was incredible, and I wish her
all the best in this new job that she’s just taken on.
Daisy
Bowman, just a lovely recent connection in my life, Mr. Speaker, was my
handler, so to speak. A former professional in the agricultural area, she was
former councillor for Mortlach and just an incredible person. Lucky to have
gotten to know her.
To the many volunteers: Nate Polsfut,
teacher over at Balfour in Indigenous studies; Megan Willis, a busy nurse who
would come to us between shifts — just incredible. Destiny Goforth, who’s
facing a lot of the challenges raising her own kids and others in North
Central, made time for our campaign. Was really touched by that, Mr. Speaker.
Michael Wabagan, who came to us from the UN [United Nations].
And the street team: Adawale, who had a
certain passion in his heart for newcomers; Casey Peart, operating room nurse,
just incredible, lovely volunteer and incredible door knocker; Joshua, new
recruit; Crystal Palmer, who joined us here last week; Shirley Dixon, a retired
postie, who came out whenever she could; Marissa Kakakaway, a very strong and
gentle person, Mr. Speaker; Amanda Freistadt; my brother Kieran, a busy
physician who still found time to knock doors and works as a physician here in
Regina and on Cowessess; my mom, Sally, the hardest-working door knocker
around.
And then thanks to the two other
campaigns, the member from Regina Northeast and the member from Coronation
Park. We really managed to work together, our teams. We had a lot of fun. And I
want to thank Bre, Dylan, the lovely Tonita brothers who kept the mood in the
office light but focused, and we saw that in the results.
I want to take a moment to thank Cheryl
and Jannet from our office. Jannet maybe I’ll start with. She’s moved on to
Trent’s office as a CA, but she was the first person that greeted us every
morning. And she just, she . . . Whatever you needed from Jannet, it
was always yes, and she always got it done. And we all felt deeply supported by
her. And it’s going to be exciting to see her take on this new role as CA.
She’ll be incredible.
And of course Cheryl, who’s retiring
after a long career that spanned from Blakeney to Beck. She was den mother to
us all. I’ve probably sent her hundreds of text messages, probably asking the
same questions over and over. She was always patient and helpful with us, and
you know, she did everything from the budgets. She kept us out of jail. She
kept us fed and everything in between, Mr. Speaker.
Two individuals certainly who shaped me
in this work I want to thank. Ron Styles, I really valued our rich exchange of
ideas. I valued the insight he brought to government. Happy to see he’s
actually going to try to retire, enjoy his grandkids, his wife, travel, all
those things he wants to do. But you know, when he says he’s going to stay out
of the fray, I will believe it when I see it.
[19:45]
And of course to dear Warren McCall, for
all the advice, all the connections he extended to me, his generosity, the
laughs as exemplified I hope earlier, but also the space he gave me to be
myself in this role. I took over after he’d served here for many terms, and he
let me find my footing to be myself and bring myself to this role. I appreciate
our chats that sometimes went very deep and our mutual respect, even though we
didn’t always agree on everything.
I will miss seeing him around the
building. Excited to see his next move — more time with the brilliant and kind
Theresa; his dad, The Big McCallski, over on Robinson Street. And Doug, I don’t
know if you’re tuning in but if you are listening, I know I made a promise to
you and I haven’t forgotten, and I will deliver on that promise.
Some new faces in our office: Jocelyn
Adema who comes from the loveliest, most salt-of-the-earth family perhaps in
Saskatchewan, certainly in Regina Elphinstone-Centre; Jan, who’s really been a
wonderful resource and she’s hit the ground running; Jeremy Nolais, our new
chief of staff. And then the usual faces: Zoé, Kelsey, Mitch, Brock, Landen,
Chris, holding down the fort doing excellent work. I want to thank them for
everything. Okay, that brings me to the end of my thank yous. I’m sorry, Mr.
Speaker.
Change inevitably brings some reflection
on the past as well as it allows us to look to the future. Reflecting on the
past, as I have after this election, there were some very dark moments I feel
in this Chamber, Bill 137 being one of them. It was a low point, not just in
terms of the skewed priorities. I feel by targeting kids with this legislation
— by targeting I just want to say I mean specifically passing legislation that
only applies to kids, queer kids, pre-emptively using the notwithstanding clause
to take away their rights, such as their security of person; just want to be
very clear what I mean by targeting kids — but also democracy in bringing
forward that bill, the way that the rules of this House were upended for what I
feel was a self-serving political stunt.
This ridiculous bathroom announcement we
saw during the campaign is just a reminder that this government is not going to
stop at Bill 137. This is part of an overall strategy of division and of
punching down on the most vulnerable. And I believe that this is all about
distracting from their actual record.
We saw education strife. Historic unrest
in that area, Mr. Speaker, made worse by a minister that alienated many of the
stakeholders, not just teachers and educators but parents and, most
importantly, kids. Let’s not forget the nation within the nation — the summer
separation tour, the closed-door meetings, the white paper. The whitest paper
in the history of Saskatchewan, we joked on this side. But of course stripping
Indigenous communities of their rights is no laughing matter. It’s hard to
believe that it was only two years ago that a convicted wife-murderer was
invited to a Throne Speech — another international headline for Saskatchewan,
Mr. Speake. The shame of it.
A pandemic response that saw far too
many left behind, far too much needless suffering, and we still see a health
care system limping along due to many of the effects of that. And more
recently, guns, racist slurs, allegations of bullying in the legislature,
criminal convictions, several conflict-of-interest allegations, one borne out
. . .
Speaker
Goudy: — I’m
going to caution the member. I was a little distracted for a moment just on
some of the terms that I had mentioned earlier, targeting, and I didn’t hear
your explanation of it, but the list of offences of the government. I would
just ask you to be cautious with the accusations that you’re throwing out
please.
Meara Conway: — Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. A dizzying array of disturbing events and allegations, each day
seeming to bring some fresh doubt about the ability of this government to lead
us into the future that Saskatchewan deserves.
Then there’s the looking forward, Mr.
Speaker. And I have to say that this has felt quite lovely, getting to know all
of these new colleagues, each of them wonderful in their own right. These two
northern gentlemen, Mr. Speaker. Every time the member from Athabasca speaks,
he is wise. He is thoughtful. He is interesting. And then there’s the member
from Cumberland. Just kidding.
But truly I am inspired by those two. I
really am. I’m proud to serve alongside them and I am excited to see what they
accomplish for the people of the North. And the burden that they carry in here,
I want them to know that in whatever way, we will help to share that burden
with them. We do not want them to hit a wall. We want them to serve for many,
many years and continue to bring their talents to the people of the North.
Watching my friend, the member for Walsh
Acres, speak to his experience. And I suppose that most of us won’t necessarily
forget . . . I suppose many of us won’t forget where we were when we
learned about what was happening to his family. I will say, Mr. Speaker, that
that experience, it changed the way, how I see myself in this work somehow and
this team in this work. And I look forward to serving alongside the member for
Walsh Acres.
Serving alongside the yin to my yang,
the House Leader, the member for Douglas Park, I value our friendship. I value
her steady guidance and, you know, the balance she brings to my crazy, Mr.
Speaker. A leader that offers respect to each one of her team members. These
are some of the lovely moments and the reasons that I have to have lots of
hopes about the work that we’ll do on this side.
I want to take a moment to touch on the
comments of both the government around decorum but also, you know, some of that
was echoed by you, Mr. Speaker. And I think that a new era would be welcomed by
the people of this province in terms of having a healthier environment in this
place. Certainly I think we welcome that idea on this side.
And I am trying to be open to this idea.
And I’m just going to be honest: I am a bit cynical. And perhaps it is partly
due to what we witnessed with what happened to the family of the member for
Regina Walsh Acres. I’m not going to mince words about that. And I don’t know
if it’s just, like my training as a lawyer, but I used to find it okay to spar
in here and then ask about people’s kids out there. But after what happened
there, I find it difficult to meet the eyes of my colleagues opposite in the
hall.
And I know, Mr. Speaker, that you will
work very hard to deliver on your oath, that the Deputy Speaker will work hard
to deliver on his oath, that you — as the book that you know so much about and
I know less about says — that you will not go in for false scales or carry in
your bag two kinds of weights. And I’ve gotten to know you a little bit and I
know that you take that oath to heart, and I thank you for that.
But I would urge all of us, like many of
my colleagues have touched on, not to confuse decorum with a tough-as-nails,
steadfast pursuit of accountability and transparency. We will be an
unapologetic opposition, Mr. Speaker, in this place every single day. That is,
in my shadow ministerial role as ethics and democracy shadow minister, I will
lead that charge wherever, whenever, whoever, however it is required of me
because democracy requires that of us. The people of Saskatchewan require that
of us, and that is what we will deliver to them.
I want to take a moment to just put a
few comments on the record regarding the critic portfolio that I’m moving away
from, and that’s Social Services. Working on the Social Services file for the
last four years, it was a slog, Mr. Speaker, but it was truly an honour. I
cherish the friendships that I made in this area. I cherish the people I met,
the work I had the privilege of bearing witness to, the families I met, often
struggling, often suffering, often not getting access to the supports and helps
that they needed. The knowledge of those who work in the ministry, who are
working so hard . . . I know that. They’re working so hard, often
without the tools that they need.
Getting to know this area better has
been a true honour, and in every way if I’m honest, it demonstrated to me the
ways that this government has lost touch, is squandering opportunities in so
many places, Mr. Speaker. And I did try my best not only to criticize this
government but to point to solutions. I penned reports offering short-term and
long-term solutions. They did not take me up on a single one.
Like, where are those
worst-in-the-nation rates, the outbreak of ancient diseases caused by poverty
and overcrowding and lack of housing, where does the growing food insecurity
that we see right here in our capital city and across the province, where does
that factor into strong economy, bright future? You want to collaborate? All I
have to say as the proud MLA for Regina Elphinstone-Centre, where the suffering
is even worse today than it was when I was elected in 2020, is show us.
My experience on the Social Services
file, the neglect of social housing. No plan around housing at all, Mr.
Speaker. The gobsmacking level of intransigence we saw on the SIS [Saskatchewan
income support] program when it was causing real harm. They’re wondering why
they’re losing relevance in the cities, Mr. Speaker. They didn’t even mention
housing in the Throne Speech. We have municipal elections that just saw
councillors rise or fall on whether they had a homelessness plan, and we don’t
see housing mentioned in this Speech from the Throne.
This is a government that actually
blocked the Privacy Commissioner from coming in and giving advice on whether
and in what situations they should release residential school records. They
introduced legislation that turned the clock back on truth and reconciliation.
Betty Reid. Look her up, her beautiful story, her advocacy. That is just one
example of the way that this government looks opportunities in the eye and then
just sails right past, Mr. Speaker. And I saw it so many times on this file,
and it hardened me. It hardened me to this government. It’s true.
And I’m not going to lie; I kind of
welcome the break from Social Services. I am in awe of the people that carry
that burden every day, that work in that area. It is relentless, Mr. Speaker,
and I’m so excited to see this file divided between three of my able
colleagues. We now have a housing critic, a community-based organization and
disability critic, and a Social Services critic. And I want them to know that I
will assist them and support them in any way that I can, because I believe this
to be one of the most important files.
[20:00]
And that goes for early learning and
child care as well, Mr. Speaker. This is an area where if we’re talking about
breaking cycles, giving kids a good start in life, addressing like some of the
worst-in-the-nation child poverty rates, there’s so much opportunity in that
policy area, early learning and child care, to break those cycles. And I do
believe that we saw a historical opportunity with the federal government’s
bilateral agreement somewhat squandered by this government. And I know that
civil servants were working hard to create a universal system, finally, for the
zero-to-five age category, but there just wasn’t the political will for it from
this government from the beginning. That was my experience on that file.
I find myself now as shadow minister in
Rural and Remote Health. What does a city girl like me have any business on
this file, you may ask, and I ask myself that as well. And, Mr. Speaker, I just
want to say a few things on this topic. I was moving offices this week and I
noticed in my office, I don’t have a picture of my family on my desk or my kids
or my partner or my girlfriends or my parents. I have a picture of my
grandparents Margaret and Ed.
Ed was born on a farm in Grenfell. He
was a rural teacher, then a principal. That’s where he met my Grandma Margaret,
who is the daughter of a postmaster in Alameda. Eventually they met. He
eventually supported her dream of going to medical school, and she became one
of the early women psychiatrists in Canada and found her footing in the medical
field during the heady days of the doctors’ strike to medicare. They were
striking against attempts to bring in medicare, and of course she was one of
the only doctors in the province who refused to go on strike. Instead she opted
to work with my grandfather and others establishing community clinics, filling
those gaps that were being created by the work stoppage.
My grandparents devoted countless hours
to the fight for medicare, criss-crossing the province really. And they taught
me a lot, not just about sticking to your guns but the value of public health
care. And I believe that nowhere was the battle and the will for health care
more important, more crucial than to the people of rural Saskatchewan. And that
remains as true today as it was then because private, market-based health care
cannot provide what we need in health care, but it has especially nothing to offer
rural communities, Mr. Speaker. And today we must fight to protect a
well-funded public system that conservatives, including the Sask Party
government, I believe will seek to dismantle. I believe that we’ve seen that
from their actions, where every opportunity there is to opt for a private
option, they have taken it.
And so I always listen with interest to
my colleagues opposite, especially those who speak about their home
communities, their rural communities that they clearly love so much, the need
for vibrant communities. You know, I think of the member from Sask Rivers, and
I’m sure that he would agree that the key to keeping those communities vibrant
is good housing and good public services and good health care, access to health
care where and when you need it.
So that is something we can certainly
agree on, on both sides of this House. I am honoured to take on this portfolio.
I will work closely with stakeholders to champion the solutions because we know
that there are no shortage of challenges. But I don’t think we’re seeing action
from this government. I don’t think they’re doing as much as they can.
On health care a few things stuck out to
me in the Speech from the Throne. The lack of additional funding, and we know
with inflation, with population growth, that will only lead to cuts. So this is
a government that actually campaigned on cuts to health care. If in fact we
grow the province according to their own goals, this will mean cuts to health
care. The health task force. Nurses have been asking for this for two years,
Mr. Speaker — two years. And the way that it was announced, I feel, was underhanded.
It didn’t build trust in the sector, Mr. Speaker.
The salve of building more urgent care
centres, this was a fall-off-my-chair moment, Mr. Speaker. We have an urgent
care centre that isn’t open 24‑7 here. We have a staffing crisis. We
cannot staff it. We’re paying overtime ER [emergency room] rates just to get it
staffed. This government’s solution is build more buildings and that’s just not
. . . instead of asking why we have some of worst-in-the-nation
emergency delays, what are the root causes that are feeding those crises.
You know, I think of interventionist
radiology and the disruptions we’ve seen which we brought up today. This is the
individual that, if you’re in a car crash and the surgeon needs to figure out
where the internal bleeding is, Mr. Speaker, we actually don’t have that person
in Regina to figure out where that is so the surgeon knows where to go. That
person has to be shipped to Saskatoon when they may not have, you know, that
time available to them. We’re the trauma centre for southern Saskatchewan and we
don’t have an interventional radiologist. It’s shocking. It should shock
people.
I hear some of the same old talking
points — the most ambitious human resources health care plan in the country. We
have the worst health care retention in Canada. We lost 4,000 health care
workers just last year, so I challenge the new Minister of Health to get to
know his file.
He is touting the rural physician
incentive program. I’m sorry, Mr. Speaker, but we can and we must do better.
Let’s look at that program, for example, because their solution is just to
throw more money at these doctors. Most doctors — and there are some exceptions
in specialist fields where our lack of competitive remuneration for sure is
driving some of the issues there — but most of these people don’t need more
money.
They’re not actually looking for a bunch
more money. They’re looking for better working conditions, Mr. Speaker.
Especially the physicians we’re targeting in primary care and in rural health
care. They want better working conditions. They want more meaningful jobs. They
want team-based care, which is preciously rare in rural Saskatchewan. They want
group practices where there’s coverage so they can take time away, they can
have time for their family, they can travel, they can have a life, they can
have balance, Mr. Speaker.
They want quicker access to basic care
like physio, occupational therapy, home care, all immensely short in rural
Saskatchewan. They want reasonable access to specialist care, Mr. Speaker.
These are the things that will make those jobs attractive, not just throwing
more money at the problem without meaningfully addressing the causes. And
that’s what we see again and again from this government. And it not only
impoverishes the system, but it doesn’t make anything better.
And I think of the ways in which we
throw money at our current health care crisis. The travel nurses, Mr. Speaker.
The overtime rates we’re paying, emergency overtime rates just to staff the
urgent care centre because we didn’t plan and we can’t recruit and retain
health care workers.
Fifteen per cent, Mr. Speaker — that’s
how many rural SIPPA [Saskatchewan international physician practice assessment]
doctors stay a day past their two years of mandatory service. Fifteen per cent.
That is a failing grade on any metric. And I don’t know, but I would expect
that the return of service agreements for residents from abroad is not better.
SIPPA doctors . . . Here’s an
example of something that’s just happened this week, Mr. Speaker. SIPPA doctors
routinely work 60 hours a week, and this government has just announced, just
days ago, they’re arbitrarily removing post-call pay for these doctors. They’re
changing the rules of the game mid-game. A dictum from on high, no
consultation. So the contracted doctors in rural Saskatchewan who are on call
for 24 hours are now expected to work the next day in clinic. It’s demoralizing
and it’s dangerous, Mr. Speaker.
So to the new Health minister, I do hope
we’ll see something other than this government patting themselves on the back
for the current state of what we . . . We saw that movie before in
education, Mr. Speaker, and I would suggest that it doesn’t end well.
And I hope . . . You know, the
one thing I will say is, it was refreshing not to see any mention of 42
hospitals closed by the NDP [New Democratic Party] in this Throne Speech, as
they mentioned last year. Because as shadow minister for Rural and Remote
Health, I will be ready to dispel that myth which is rooted in distraction
politics, because that government knows full well that all but one of those
communities has a health centre, that acute care services were transitioned to
health centres in the wake of Grant Devine nearly bankrupting this province.
And after 17 years and now a fifth term,
this government can’t stand in their place and mention a single one of those
places that have been transitioned back to acute care services because the only
one, the only government that is currently presiding over service disruptions
and hospital closures is that government.
And just to give you some statistics
before I take my place, Mr. Speaker, between August 2019 and May 2027 — that’s
a 1,744‑day period — there were 1,306 service disruptions. There were
8,613 days of service disruptions. For some context, that’s 23 years, 7 months,
and 8 days of service disruptions. And many of these service disruptions
weren’t even acknowledged or publicized at the time, Mr. Speaker. So we have a
lot of work to do in this area, Mr. Speaker, today, to say the least.
And what this really comes down to is
solutions. People want and deserve solutions in their rural communities to the
health care crisis. They don’t want talking points. They don’t want gimmicks.
They want good, dependable primary care. They want acute care when they need
it. They want a functioning ambulatory system. That is what we need to keep
rural communities vibrant, and that is what we need for people to be able to
stay in the communities that they want to stay in, Mr. Speaker. And there’s no
reason that we can’t work to give them just that, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker Goudy: — I appreciate the way that you
shifted, really I do. But I think debate in this House is . . . I
love debate. Like debate is so important. We have all sorts of policies and
actions and just, I think we’re getting so used possibly to throwing in words
like underhanded — that means a little deceitful — that sometimes we don’t even
notice maybe what we’re doing. And so I just appreciate the change. But I think
we really need to, all of us, think about the terms we use. There is so much to
debate in this House. I love watching it. I love debate. So thanks again.
But
who’s up? I recognize the Minister of CIC [Crown Investments Corporation of
Saskatchewan].
Hon. Jeremy Harrison: — I want to start off, Mr. Speaker, by
saying thank you to colleagues — positive, optimistic, forward-looking — who
come to work every day to make a difference in the lives of the people of this
province and who are grateful to have that opportunity, Mr. Speaker. And I want
to say thank you to you, my friend, for being prepared to put your name forward
to serve in the position that you’re in. Thank you so much for doing it. And we
very much do look forward to working with you and your deputy and those others
who are serving in Chair capacities.
What
I want to start off with, Mr. Speaker, very rarely . . . I actually
have not given a lot of speeches in this place over the past number of years.
Actually probably over the past decade and a half I actually have not given a
lot of speeches in this Chamber. I’m told I’ve had actually the most
interventions in this Chamber in the past 17 years, but those have been in the
context of QP [question period] or in the context of moving bills or in the
context of committee interventions or things of that nature. So I actually have
not gotten the opportunity to make many speeches here in this Chamber. So I
really do appreciate that opportunity.
And
what I want to start off with, Mr. Speaker, is thanking my constituents in
Meadow Lake with incredible gratitude who have been so good to me over 20 years
now. They’ve sent me to the seven campaigns. I’ve had the opportunity to serve
since 2004 in public office, a term in the federal parliament, now in my fifth
term here in this Assembly. And it’s all due to them, Mr. Speaker. They are the
ones who have made all of that possible, and I am deeply grateful to them for
that opportunity.
You
know, in the last election . . . I would go back actually. I’ve been
through a number of very close elections, and I know members who are on both
sides of the House who have been in a position to have close elections. These
are not easy things. These are incredibly challenging.
[20:15]
And
my first federal election was a very close election. Was fortunate to be
elected in that campaign. My first provincial election, I was actually declared
lost on election night. A number of members probably remember this at the time,
running at that point against a very long-term minister — who was a great guy,
by the way — I want to say, Mr. Speaker, who I’ve developed a friendship with
post-politics, Maynard Sonntag, who did an incredible job representing Meadow
Lake over a 16‑year period of time and for whom I have incredible respect
and admiration, knowing now over that same period of time what it takes to
actually serve for 16 years, the vast majority of that in a cabinet role. I
have great respect for those on any side who would have been prepared to do
that.
But
37 votes in that election, after a recount, after a poll that was miscounted on
election night, a couple of calls from returning officers saying, well I think
you lost by 10 votes, not 100 votes — which would have made it even worse,
probably — and then another call coming later saying, no, you won by 15. And
then there was a mail-in ballot process, and it ended up being 37.
But
from then, have been incredibly fortunate to have, you know, significant and
broad support in the constituency, between 60 and 70 per cent in subsequent
elections. And I’m just deeply grateful to the people of Meadow Lake and deeply
grateful to our campaign team back home. And I’m not going to go through all of
the names. They know who they are. But we’ve had a remarkable consistency in
Meadow Lake for a couple of decades, the folks who are working on campaigns who
show up day in and day out and are out knocking on doors and at the coffee
shops and all of those things that have really made an incredible difference
over that period of time. So I want to say thank you to them.
And
I want to say thank you to my family, who I really haven’t had much of an
opportunity to do. I’m going to start with my kids, actually. My children are
now 15 and 13. My son was four months old when I first entered the cabinet. So
they’ve really grown up in this life, such as it is, driving, you know, back
and forth to Meadow Lake every weekend. For those that know it’s, you know, a
near six-hour drive every weekend. And we go home.
You
know, that kind of adds up on kids over time. But they have been, you know,
really troopers about it. But they also know the other side of the equation.
And I’m not going to get too much into it, but you know, there is a really
tough element for families with young children that are doing this job. And I
take my hat off to those on both sides of the aisle that are doing that.
Because your kids go to school and they hear things. Regardless of party, they
hear stuff, and not all of it’s good. I can tell you actually, a lot of it
isn’t good. And you know, you have to have some challenging discussions,
difficult discussions, and you know, they have to grow up probably a lot
quicker than they should have to. So you know, I wish it wasn’t that way, and
social media has probably accelerated that two or three times from where it had
been when we first started out. I hope people think about that. I hope they do.
But
they’re great kids, doing incredibly well. Actually my daughter’s going to be
here on Thursday with a class — actually I think, Mr. Speaker, your daughter
may be her teacher even — and they will be attending the legislature. She’s
been here many times before. But do great in school. They actually just won the
provincial tae kwon do championships. Both of them won golds in Melville just a
couple of weeks ago, so we’re going to be going to the national championships
in Montreal. But that really is their passion, Mr. Speaker, is tae kwon do, and
they do just some incredible stuff. I think my son is teaching right now,
working. Fifteen, so he’s not quite getting paid, but he’s volunteering anyway
and helping teach, so that is good.
I
want to thank my wife as well. Alaina, who is a teacher, works here in Regina.
My partner now of 27 years — 27 years? — who by dint of that partnership for 27
years has been involved equally as long as I have. I would say that for much of
that, much more enthusiastically than probably the last while. But that all
being said, she has been a very great partner, very supportive of my role, and
you know, very deeply understanding of how it all works, so because of that a
great source of advice. On matters that are both political, government, she
really understands how it all works. So I want to say thank you very much to
her for all of that.
I
want to say thank you to my mom and dad. It’s actually my mother’s birthday
today, so I want to say, happy birthday, Mom.
[Applause]
Hon. Jeremy Harrison: — She’ll get a kick out of that, so thank
you to all members. She turned 49 today, Mr. Speaker, 49. So happy birthday,
Mom. Thanks to Dad too who, you know, the ice just got thick enough that they
can fish up in Meadow, so call it kind of the Meadow Lake senate. They’re all
out fishing or they were out fishing today. So between that, it’s right that
. . . kind of between hunting season and fishing season, there’s a
very slim time where you might not be able to do both. They’re going to do both
at the same time this year, Mr. Speaker, so it all worked out very good for
them.
I
want to thank my brother and sister. Brother works for Netflix — I was supposed
to say that — and my sister works for Coca-Cola. Yes, really. Really. And I
want to thank my constituency staff, and there have been a number who have
served in those roles over the years and I’m very grateful to all of them who
have done so. Ryley and Lori fill those jobs right now, and have done an
amazing job in all of that.
I’ve
been very fortunate. I’ve had an interesting journey in public life over that
period of time and, you know, I wish I could tell a bunch of stories. I intend
on kind of writing about this at some point, Mr. Speaker, some of the
interesting stories that probably shouldn’t be told on the floor of the
Assembly. But I do want to thank the three folks who I’ve really had an
incredible honour of serving under as leaders over that period of time, who
have really been three of the most successful and well-respected leaders that
we have had in our movement over the last five decades.
And
it starts with Prime Minister Harper. I started out actually as his bag carrier
and driver and his town hall moderator so, you know, I kind of learned those
things — that was in my early 20s when I was doing that — and served in his
caucus thereafter. But I want to thank him.
I
want to thank Premier Wall, who obviously is one of the finest communicators
that I think any of us have ever seen. And those who were able to serve can
remember some of that, both in the Chamber here but I would say even more so as
a communicator with the people of this province who just he deeply understood
and has a remarkable connection with. So I just want to say thanks to Brad.
It’s still weird kind of saying that. But thanks to Premier Wall.
And
I want to thank our Premier who . . . Kind of interestingly, our
Premier is not only as much a friend of mine as he is the boss. We still kind
of call him that, which is a bit of a different relationship than I’d had with
the other two gentlemen mentioned. But you know, I just want to say thanks so
much to the Premier — the steadfastness, the rock that he is in leading this
operation.
You
know, I am going to write about this one day, but there were days
. . . I could think back to when we were governing through the early
days of COVID when it really seemed like it was all coming apart. And some of
the briefings that we got at that time, they were something else, I’ll tell
you. They were something else. And the person who held it together was this man
right here. Thank you.
And
I want to thank as well, Mr. Speaker, the people who I’ve really had an
incredible opportunity to work with in government. You know, I come from a
public service family. My father was a senior public servant and, you know, I
saw growing up the incredible commitment that our public service and our public
servants have to this province and to the people of this province, and how much
they go above and beyond in doing their jobs to serve the people of this
province.
I
saw it first-hand every day with my dad and the people he worked with and those
— you know, I really grew up kind of in the Ministry of Environment, as kind of
strange as it is — but the folks that I got to see do these things every single
day.
And
I then had the opportunity, you know, really at a young age to get to work with
them, and not just work with them, but work with them in an incredibly
privileged position as a minister. And you know, kind of being able to see that
from that position, you know, has been an incredible honour and privilege — one
I’m frankly probably not deserving of — to be able to work with the quality of
the people that I get to work with and to be fortunate enough to serve.
You
know, we’ve changed the name of the ministry over the years, but really to
serve in the ministry, the same department, for nearly 14 years — Enterprise,
Ministry of the Economy, of Trade and Export. I mean the core has really been
one and the same through much of that period of time. So getting to work with
the same team over that period of time and really work with them, really
getting to know them.
I
mean, frankly outside of politics, these are the people who are my friends.
They’re not just people I get to work with, and it’s because I’ve had this
incredible opportunity to serve and work with them for the betterment. And
learn from them, beyond that, learn from them. I just want to say thank you to
all of them. I’m not going to name them all. I’m not going to name any of them
frankly, because it probably ends up just putting a target on them. But I want
to say thank you to them for everything they do every single day.
So
really, Mr. Speaker, I was actually going to speak on this tomorrow. But I had
read a news story this evening which led me to then text the House Leader and
say, I need to get up right now. So that was . . . I threw together a
bit of a speech there.
But
really, there were a couple of things I want to talk about that are probably
portfolio-related and might be, you know, we’ll see whether it’s newsworthy or
not. But usually in speeches from the Throne, you’re not saying anything
particularly newsworthy.
But
I wanted to actually speak to a couple of the things that we’re working on.
Something that I’m really looking forward to working on with our senior team,
the Crown Investments Corporation, our senior teams that are leading the
Crowns, many of whom I’ve had the opportunity to work with at different points
over the last, you know, decade and a half, and really have got to know a lot
of them very well also.
But
there’s a couple of things I do have to make clear, Mr. Speaker. So I just
actually read this headline, this was about an hour and a half ago, that says,
“SaskPower lacks clear plan to address missed net-zero targets” and it
references that we won’t meet the clean electricity regulations by 2035.
Section 92A(1)(c) of the Constitution,
and there’s a story behind how we got to section 92A, which really had to do
with defending provincial jurisdiction in a number of areas, natural resources
being primarily but electricity being one that was added during that
negotiation. And this was a part of the 1982 patriation negotiation. And it
really came out of a couple of cases that the Supreme Court heard in the late
1970s. The central Canadian potash case was one of them, and the other had to
do with an oil and gas company.
And I won’t get into the details, but
what it ended up, you had a — I would say, and I think academic scholars would
agree — a very activist court at that period in the late 1970s and a court that
was very much favouring constitutional interpretations, division of power
interpretations, overly in favour of the national government that were
undermining what provincial governments felt to be their appropriate degree of
jurisdiction under the section 91, section 92 division of powers.
And so during the 1982 constitutional
patriation negotiation, the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan were the two
jurisdictions — and I give Al Blakeney credit, very much credit for pushing
this, a New Democrat premier, and Peter Lougheed, a Conservative premier — in
demanding that as a part of the patriation of the Constitution and the addition
of the Charter, that an addendum would be made to section 92 that would make
very clear that a number of things were entirely within provincial
jurisdiction, electricity explicitly being one of them.
Fast forward to the last number of
years. We have Steven Guilbeault, we have Justin Trudeau, a number of other
federal ministers who obviously are involved in this as well. But what did they
do? They said well, we are going to assert that we have the authority to
regulate and legislate in the area of electricity generation.
We’ve been very clear in saying we do
not recognize your authority to do any of those things in this area. They said,
we don’t care; we’re going to press ahead anyway. And they published the clean
electricity regulations after having undertaken, you know, in my view very
limited consultation. For sure not with us, maybe with others who have a
different view of the world. But they sure didn’t listen to even our
submissions that were made after the gazetting of the first round of the CER
[clean energy regulations], which are disastrous. I can tell you, they are
absolutely catastrophic.
[20:30]
If we were to adopt the clean
electricity regulations, literally 70 per cent of our electricity generation by
2035 would be illegal. Turn off the lights, Mr. Speaker, because 70 per cent of
our power would be gone. Gone. And this is what Justin Trudeau and Steven
Guilbeault’s and Jagmeet Singh’s plan is for how electricity should be
regulated as we go forward.
I can tell you this: as a policy of the
Government of Saskatchewan we are not . . . And these are going to be
gazetted potentially as soon as tomorrow. We don’t actually know when the
gazetted second round of the regs are coming out, but in the next couple of
weeks. I can tell you this: we are not going to be adhering to them because we
do not recognize the legitimacy of the federal government bringing them
forward.
And you know, we’re going to have some
more to say on that. When the regs are published, we will have some more
in-depth commentary. It will come from me, but also from senior officials at
CIC and SaskPower as well. And we will talk about why these regulations are so
incredibly catastrophic — and would be so incredibly catastrophic, almost
uniquely catastrophic to the province of Saskatchewan — in addition to
nationally being unattainable. We will not be adhering to these. I want to be
very, very clear.
And you know this news story, you know,
it actually quoted at one point, saying something to the effect that a
government spokesman said that, you know, they’ll comment later. I literally
wrote that and they didn’t even . . . Postmedia didn’t actually
attribute it to the minister who sent it to them. It was a government
spokesperson. So you know, it’s a little bit strange, I must say. I’m not sure
why Postmedia would have done it that way.
But the other thing I want to say and
talking about what the future of SaskPower is going to look like going forward.
And I want to be very clear about how we are going to be looking about the
future of power generation here in this province. It’s going to be through two
lenses, two lenses: affordability and reliability. Those are the two lenses
that we are going to be viewing future power generation decisions through, Mr.
Speaker, because we fully believe that the people of this province deserve to
have electricity, their bills, delivered at the lowest possible rate.
And further to that, we believe that
this is an area where we could have a genuine competitive advantage as we
transition into nuclear in the longer term. How do we get there? We need to
make sure that we have the lowest cost electricity that can possibly be
produced in this jurisdiction for individuals and for businesses going forward.
And I really do believe in a very
positive way, Mr. Speaker, that Saskatchewan can be an energy powerhouse
located in the centre of North America. I think we have tremendous advantages
that accrue to us being located where we are. I think we have advantages that
could come through our location as far as grid, grid locations, grid
connections. I endeavour, and I think this government really endeavours — and
we will be talking about this more — to make Saskatchewan a central energy
powerhouse in North America, Mr. Speaker.
And further to that, we made another
announcement today, Mr. Speaker, and that had to do with keeping the federal
carbon tax off of home heating. So we introduced a bill which was really a
continuation. The first bill that we had passed on this, the tax fairness for
residents bill had passed, you know, last year. It had a one-year provision or
time period in which it was operative for. This will extend that time period
out into the future, Mr. Speaker. And what that will do is make sure that
Saskatchewan residents are not paying carbon tax on home heating.
And in order to do this, what we
essentially did was adopt the distributor-of-natural-gas job from SaskEnergy to
the minister and, along with becoming the distributor of SaskEnergy, taking any
Justin Trudeau-Jagmeet Singh liability that would occur with that and putting
it onto the minister. So I want to thank Minister Duncan for previously
volunteering to go to carbon jail. I now am told that I could be going to
carbon jail, which my wife would be happy about it.
But you know, these are things that we,
you know, made very considered decisions to go down these paths and something
that we very much are doing because we genuinely believe that nobody in this
province, and frankly nobody in the country . . . And we’re not going
to let off the gas until this carbon tax is not being charged on any individual
in any place in any part of Canada, Mr. Speaker.
And I can tell you as well, we were
there before it was politically expedient to be there, Mr. Speaker. There was
in fact one province in Canada that objected to this path when it was
introduced by Justin Trudeau. One province in Canada — and that was here. And I
can tell you who was the Minister of Environment who was at the meeting where
it was announced by the federal government that they were going to be doing
this, and that was the Premier of Saskatchewan. And what did the Premier do? He
left. He told them that this was not something that was on for Saskatchewan, we
were in complete opposition to it, and he left.
And we were told by the folks opposite
that this was a hopeless crusade, that we needed to get on board, that anything
that we did was a waste of time. And they said it over and over and over and
stood up in their place — why won’t you get on board with Justin Trudeau? —
over and over and over again. These are demonstrable facts. These are
demonstrable facts, Mr. Speaker. We were the only jurisdiction in Canada that
opposed this all the way . . . I love how the members opposite demand
respect for their interventions, but they have no end of heckling from their
side, Mr. Speaker, which shows again positive, optimistic, forward-looking
people on this side of the House with a brilliant view of the future of this
province. And we hear every day what their view of the province is, Mr.
Speaker.
We’re going to keep working. We’re going
to keep going forward. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am to work with this
team on this side of the House with their positivity every single day of the
week.
Speaker
Goudy: — I
recognize the member from Regina Coronation Park.
Noor Burki: —
Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all of the
members of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, and fellow Saskatchewan
citizens, it is an incredible honour to stand here today as a representative of
Regina Coronation Park. I want to thank those who have trusted me with this
responsibility.
Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would
like to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 4 territory, the homeland of Métis
Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to
congratulate you on being elected Speaker of the House. I understand your role
is very hard and tough. I wish you the strength, patience, and power to run
this House fairly and smoothly. I trust that you will be the right man for the
right job. Thank you in advance for the service that you will be providing to
the people of Saskatchewan through your honourable role.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I will also
congratulate the member of Lumsden-Morse — I always call him smiley face — for
being elected as Deputy Speaker. The Deputy Speaker will be a strong support to
the Hon. Speaker of the House. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the
former Speaker, Hon. Randy, for his service.
Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to
recognize and welcome newly elected and re-elected members who earned the
responsibility to serve as MLA. Mr. Speaker, the voters of this province have
placed their trust in all of us to work hard for the prosperity and the
well-being of our beloved Saskatchewan.
I want to give a special welcome to all
brand new members of this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I want to give a particular
shout-out, an extension of love to the members elected to the New Democratic
Party as an MLA. What an inspiring and impressive group we got, Mr. Speaker.
And I have listened to the entries of
each of these members. I think every new MLA has now been on the floor, whether
they were for a member’s statement, maiden speech, or for question period. Mr.
Speaker, I will say I know that each of them recognizes why they are here, who
sent them here, and I know they each will carry that with each day to this
Assembly. Moreover I am so pleased they are here for this necessary time within
our province and our party history.
Mr. Speaker, thank you to Regina
Coronation Park. My words cannot express my gratitude to the constituents of
Regina Coronation Park for choosing me as their MLA. I am honoured and humbled
by the trust they place in me. Mr. Speaker, I was out door knocking every day
during my election campaign. Many constituents opened their doors for me,
shared their concerns, offered me and my team cold water in the hottest days of
summer, and let us into their houses to protect us from rain, from storm. Thank
you from the bottom of my heart to Regina Coronation Park constituents. I
wouldn’t be able to get into this position without your help.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my family,
especially my wife, Shamim Mahnoor Burki, for her support. A common opinion:
“Behind every successful man, there is a strong woman.” Mr. Speaker, that’s
right. Without her I wouldn’t be able to achieve this success. I am very proud
of her. She is my best friend, best life partner, and she is my rock.
My
older daughter, Saadia, she is 26 years old, graduated in health sciences from
the University of Regina. She is married and working in health care in Regina.
I
have two identical twins, Bushra and Lubna, who are 24 years old. Bushra is
graduated, has an education degree and an Honours degree in Arts from the
University of Regina. She works as a high school English teacher in a rural
area.
Lubna
has a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s in biomedical physics from
the University of Toronto. She is looking forward to a Ph.D. [Doctor of
Philosophy] in biomedical physics. She has developed a software for pediatric
MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] scanning. The scanning time for MRIs was 30
minutes per child, but she optimized that scanning process time to three
minutes. Mr. Speaker, Lubna’s work has seen great success, as it has been
implemented in seven academic hospitals across the country through the Canadian
Pediatric Imaging Platform, such as the hospitals of sick children in Toronto
and in Calgary.
Nimra
is 20 years old. She is in third year in University of Regina, pursuing social
justice.
Sara
is 18 years old, graduated from high school, and she is taking a year off to
find her passion. When I asked her, “What’s your dream?” she said, “After all,
I want to be a good person, no matter if I become a pizza lady.”
Safa
is 11 years old, in grade 6. She wants to be a poly teacher, where there is no
such word in the dictionary. And I told her, “What do you mean by that?” She
told me, “I will be teaching political science.”
Sana
is nine years old, in grade 4. She wants to be a doctor and artist.
Mr.
Speaker, I will say big thanks to my daughters for their support at every step
with me and with my wife. I understand that as MLAs our lives are hectic, and
we all have less time to spend with our families. On the other hand, it is a
pride and blessing for all of us in this Chamber to be focused and committed to
the best affordability for the developing of this community, this province.
[20:45]
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to go over my introduction quickly. I was born in
Pakistan, and completed my master degree in computer sciences from Quaid-i-Azam
University, Islamabad, one of the most reputed organizations in the country.
I
started a job with Pakistan revenue agency as a software engineer. And after
three years, I became a project manager and worked on that role for three
years. Then I worked with United Nations as an IT [information technology]
consultant in Ghana, Accra, West Africa, for almost two years. And then I moved
to Canada as a new immigrant in January 2023.
I
immigrated to Canada and resided in Toronto, in Ontario, for five years, worked
for various organizations, especially Xerox Corporation, Toronto; Aglaine TI
Communication; Rogers Telecommunication.
In
2008, I moved to Regina and established my own business as a driver educator.
Mr. Speaker, I worked with Royale Driving Academy for almost eight years. I
will recognize the owner of Royale Driving Academy, the Fryklund family, who
helped me with my new career as a driver educator in Regina. Thank you, Brian
Fryklund, Terry Fryklund, for your generous support. Brian was a retired police
officer and later he became a driver educator. Terry Fryklund was working at
that time with the Ministry of Education in charge of driver education
curriculum person, and she was working with SGI [Saskatchewan Government
Insurance] as well as a driver educator assessment coordinator.
Mr.
Speaker, both Terry Fryklund and Brian Fryklund are great people of big heart,
values, diversity, and kindness. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fryklund’s family welcomed me
and my fellow instructor Muhammad Fiaz, a former MLA from Regina Pasqua, in
2008.
Since then, the Fryklund family become
our wonderful family friend till to day. The Fryklund family is a strong
supporter of the Sask Party. Mr. Speaker, I got my reference letter from Terri
Fryklund for my nomination application in 2019 for the Sask NDP. I know they
must have written a pretty good letter, but I came to know that they wrote one
statement at the end: “a very good person in a very wrong party.” I take that
as a compliment.
Mr. Speaker, we have a difference of
opinion, colour-, faith-, and party-wise, but we are still family friends, and
I’m very proud of that. And not only that, I’m very proud of this family that
they produced, educated, and were kind to bring in a lot of people to the
driver education throughout the province. Mr. Speaker, I’m fortunate to be
serving in my constituency and surrounding area as a driver educator from 2008
to 2023. I knew most of the families in my constituency well before I took the
role of MLA.
Thank you to Regina Coronation Park
constituency for all your support, advice, and co-operation at every moment. I
will also say thank you to my opponent, Riaz Ahmad, for putting his name in the
election. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank Regina Coronation Park
association executive: Cheryl Stecyk, Alayne Dubord, Kelly Hardy, Darin Milo,
Jason Hammond, Khalid Awan, Billal Malik, Randy Ward, Corrina Ward, and Saadia
Burki. Thank you. Thank you for all your hard work, guidance, support, and
encouragement during my stressful days on campaign.
Mr. Speaker, our constituency is one of
the most diverse, densely populated constituencies. We have five high schools
in our constituency: Thom Collegiate school, Regina Huda School, Harvest City
School, Laval school, and right at the border we have O’Neill High School. I am
very proud to be connecting with all those schools from time to time.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to take a moment to recognize my leader, the Leader of the
Official Opposition, for her incredible, inspiring leadership. Her dedication
and hard work are remarkable and evident in everything she does. Whether it’s
connecting with people at the doorstep across the province or championing the
needs of the people, her commitment to serve others shines through. Mr.
Speaker, her leadership exemplifies tireless effort and deep passion for making
a difference. It’s been an honour to see her work first-hand, and I am
continually inspired by her resilience, determination, and genuine care she
shows for her party. Thank you, Leader of the Official Opposition, for your
unwavering leadership and patient drive to build a better future for all.
Mr.
Speaker, as the MLA from Regina Coronation Park, I recognize my constituency
assistant, Bre, who has done a great job in the past one year by providing
services to our constituents. Bre is very committed, hard-working, energetic,
and rolling-sleeve attitude who always willing to support those need help.
With
that, I will say thank you to ex-minister of Immigration and Ministry of
Immigration staff for all the support that you guys provided us to our office
on daily matters relating to immigration, and I will expect the same pattern
onward as well.
Mr.
Speaker, I will give a shout-out to our campaign manager especially, Rick
Pollard, who was a CA back in Kim Trew’s office in Regina Coronation Park. I
will extend my heart-lifting gratitude to Regina Mount Royal, Regina Walsh
Acres, and Regina Elphinstone, and Regina Northeast members for their
encouragement, for their support, for their guidance.
Thank
you to . . . [inaudible] . . . in charge, Kayden Tonita,
Bre Litzenberger, for your commitment and your energy.
Mr.
Speaker, I don’t remember my students. I wish I could remember. Kayden, on the
campaign trail he met with me, he said, Mr. Burki, you were my teacher. You are
a great person. I will be giving back to you. So thank you, Kayden.
Mr.
Speaker, volunteers are the main driving force in any campaign. Thank you to
all the volunteers for tirelessly hard work door knocking and leaflet dropping,
putting lawn signs, getting people out for voting, and providing ride to the
seniors. Big thank you to all volunteers, especially Imran Khan, David Kapp,
Fazil Nawab, Malik Umar Draz, Saad Faisal, Ibrar Hussain, Musir Aman, Billal
Malik, Kalid Awan, Zeeshan Akbar, Abass Akram, Tusir, Brandon Mutala, Shobna Radons, Hamza,
Ken Imhoff, Rob Deglau, Carter Antoine, and there were a lot many others as
well.
Mr.
Speaker, we heard on the doorstep from constituents about affordability; health
care; senior care; long waiting lists for surgery; lack of doctors; mental
health and addictions; cuts in education; classroom complexity; lack of EAs
[educational assistant], language pathologists, psychologists; lack of family
doctors and mental health. And the list goes on and on. I don’t want to go in
more detail on that. I think already on our side they talked a lot about that.
Mr.
Speaker, most of the people living in Regina Coronation Park are working-class
families. They are living paycheque to paycheque. The current high rates of
inflation, the skyrocketing prices of gas, groceries, rent, and utilities make
their lives very hard. Mr. Speaker, I sincerely wish and pray that the Sask
Party government takes serious action on the affordability crisis to give
relief to the hard-working people of Saskatchewan.
Mr.
Speaker, I am committed to being a strong voice for Regina Coronation Park and
ensure that every concern is heard. I pledge to be accessible, accountable, and
transparent as I carry out my duties. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will look
forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle and in all corners of
this House to move Saskatchewan forward.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to all hon. members for your attention today.
With that, I will be supporting the amendment motion moved by our member from
Regina Walsh Acres, and I will not be supporting the motion moved by the Sask
Party government. With that, I will move to adjourn the debate.
Speaker Goudy: — It’s been moved to adjourn debate.
Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt this motion?
Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.
Speaker Goudy: — Carried. I recognize the Government House Leader.
Hon. Tim McLeod: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that
this House do now adjourn.
Speaker Goudy: — It’s been moved that the Assembly do
now adjourn. Is it the pleasure of the Assembly to adopt the motion?
Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.
Speaker Goudy: — Carried. This Assembly now stands
adjourned until tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Thank you all.
[The
Assembly adjourned at 20:57.]
Published
under the authority of the Hon. Todd Goudy, Speaker
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