More questions than answers for Sask. unions as they prepare for life without restrictions

Some unions in the province have been outspoken over the last month when it comes to pleading with the Saskatchewan government to stick with current public health measures surrounding COVID-19.

Now, with news of all measures being dropped soon, some unions have more questions than answers in a time of uncertainty.

“I think there are a lot of outstanding questions that I’m not sure that the Ministry of Health or Saskatchewan Health Services or the government has considered,” SEIU-West president Barbara Cape said Wednesday.

“Most of the members that we represent work in some pretty vulnerable situations, such as home care, long-term care facilities, community-based organizations, the education sector, and obviously, acute care. So within working with those vulnerable populations, what does this look like going forward for them, but also for the patients, clients and residents?”

Cape is worried that with public health orders being dropped so soon while also reducing the delivery of COVID case and monitoring information to people only once per week, at-risk people will continue to be put in a dangerous situation.

Cape and the rest of the union weren’t surprised by the government’s announcement Tuesday.

But that didn’t change the frustration faced by the union as it asks for more information in order to protect the nearly 13,000 who part of it, along with thousands and thousands of people that the members support.

OSHA let vital #COVID protections expire. Nurses are still on the frontlines. @SecMartyWalsh, we deserve better. #ProtectAllWorkers pic.twitter.com/f9rWytPu6I

— SEIU (@SEIU) February 9, 2022

“We need to be working quite closely together in order to make sure that people’s questions are answered, that we’re communicating clearly, and that everybody knows what work looks like when they go to work on Monday morning,” Cape said.

“Re-evaluating (the government’s) decision to not publish the daily numbers, I think that sort of communication and information gives us all the ability to really make those self-assessments that the premier talked about.

“We encourage them to re-evaluate and start shifting out that information back to a daily basis so we can react and behave accordingly.”

Tracy Zambory and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) are worried about the weeks and months ahead.

“We know that we are still very much in a pandemic. Our fifth wave is still hitting us hard,” Zambory said. “There have been deaths announced at a steady rate.

“(The announcement Tuesday) was really troubling and very disappointing.”

Zambory believes the pandemic will end eventually, but she is worried the government’s decision will bring the health-care system back to a situation it found itself in months ago — or worse.

“It is extremely important that we understand that we have a system that’s in crisis,” she said. “We have a health human resource crisis. Our capacity both with workers and the space is stretched to the limit.

“When we think about things coming off on Monday, and then even further again on Feb. 28, it really causes us to be fearful because we know that our system is going to get hit.”

She says her members have never truly felt heard throughout the pandemic, adding the recent decisions by the provincial government reinforce that idea.

“A huge gamble is being played by the leadership of this province with the people’s lives of Saskatchewan, and with a health-care system that’s already fragile,” Zambory said.

“This has turned into a political issue, where a smaller group of people have got more influence over the leadership of this province than the people that are actually on the frontlines doing the work.

“As registered nurses and other health-care professionals, we have an ethical responsibility to make sure that the patients of this province are safe, that the people that we care for are safe, and we also have an ethical responsibility to make it known when we see that things aren’t going as they should. We don’t intend on being quiet anytime soon.”

Changes coming soon for the Regina Police Service

Chief Evan Bray joined Gormley on Wednesday to talk about the changes coming for the Regina Police Service.

During a media conference Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said the proof of vaccination/proof of negative test to gain access to Saskatchewan businesses, provincially regulated workplaces and other public venues will end Monday at 12:01 a.m.

As of October, more than 90 per cent of RPS employees were fully vaccinated.

Bray anticipates the RPS making some adjustments to the mandate soon.

“Our intent is that we will be likely making some changes to our mandate,” he said. “We haven’t finalized that yet, but I’m going to suggest that early next week, you’ll see those changes within our organization.”

Some things won’t be getting much of a tweak, though.

Self-isolating after a positive COVID test won’t necessarily be mandatory by March 1, but Bray says RPS employees will still be expected to abide by it.

“We want you to rapid test on your own. You don’t need to show us, but we do want you if you test positive to respect the fact that we want you to utilize the ability to stay home with your sick time and not come into work,” he said. “This is so we can do what we can to prevent the spread within the organization.”

Bray did not say if officers would still be wearing masks at the end of the month.