Legislative Report

New Ministers Must Perform Better

There has been a dramatic switch around of Ministerial posts and still it is not clear where the leadership in the government is going to come from. John Nilson, who has been relieved of his Health portfolio, gave us the longest waiting lists in Canada. Under his leadership the NDP had the largest percentage of people on a waiting list. The NDP created the longest wait time for a CT scan in the country. And we still have patients waiting more than 25 weeks for some treatments. In Saskatoon, the city’s last endocrinologist is retiring and the two remaining in Regina have year-long waiting lists. Plans for 43 new beds in Regina were cancelled in December because there was not enough staff. That was something the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses was able to predict.

With Harry Van Mulligen in charge of Finance, the Saskatchewan economy was shedding jobs in the middle of an oil boom. Van Mulligen low-balled estimates for oil revenues in his last budget so that money could be put in an NDP election slush fund. Then Van Mulligen ridiculed the Saskatchewan Party for coming up with estimates that were actually more accurate than the government’s. And why precisely do we need three different ministers responsible for the economy and employment? Shouldn’t the emphasis be on creating jobs for young people in Saskatchewan instead of creating jobs for NDP MLA’s? In the final analysis, it may not really matter who is at the head of each department. It may not really matter who is in the NDP cabinet. With an economy losing jobs and real hurt in rural Saskatchewan, it’s time for some new ideas and some new approaches. And we haven’t seen much of that from the NDP in a number of years.

Past Legislative Reports