Saskatchewan NDP wants resource dollars to go to health care

While measures to help with affordability are all well and good — Carla Beck said her NDP has been pushing for that since the spring — the official Opposition thinks the Saskatchewan government is missing a big need by not putting any of the resource revenue windfall announced this week into the health-care sector.

“With the wealth that Saskatchewan has, particularly now with resource royalties, there is simply no reason — no reason at all — that our health-care system should be on its knees,” Beck said Thursday.

In the plan the finance minister revealed Tuesday, $450 million will go to tax credit cheques for all adults in the province, the PST expansion will be reined in slightly, the small business tax will be kept at zero per cent for longer, and the $1-billion surplus will be used to retire operational debt.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer explained that money wasn’t put into things like health care or education because resource prices won’t always be this high and when they drop, something else will have to fill the gap in those budgets. She called it unsustainable.

“The only thing that is unsustainable is letting our health-care system burn while you top up your coffers. The people of this province can no longer afford to pay for the Sask. Party’s mistakes and inaction,” Beck shot back Thursday.

Beck said the Sask. Party government, by not investing in the struggling health-care system, is putting its own legacy and need to balance a budget ahead of regular people.

Beck has been touring the province since she was elected the NDP’s leader in June and said everywhere she’s gone, people have been telling her that the health-care system is broken.

“Every community that we’ve been in, people are wanting to be part of the solution. They are sending letters, they’re phoning in, they’re coming up with solutions, but they have a government that is not responding to calls, they’re holding closed-door meetings (and) they’re not being accountable on this,” said Beck.

NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat rattled off a list of problems: Workers are leaving their positions in droves, there are shortages for things like epidural catheters, and services are being stopped or slowed down in places.

“The Sask. Party might lack the vision to fix our health-care system but solutions do exist,” said Mowat. “The options are plentiful if they would just get creative.”

Mowat said the NDP doesn’t want to get prescriptive about how it’s done, but did say the government could offer signing bonuses for new workers in underserved regions with the money, offer recruitment incentives, open up one-time paid training seats, and give more support to community clinic-style initiatives.

“These are solutions that we can afford that would help to get our health system back on track and save us money in the long run,” said Mowat.

Mowat said anything is better than nothing and is calling on the government to invest in the health-care system and get it back on track.

The provincial government did unveil money for a plan to bring more health-care workers to the province in the spring budget in March. On Tuesday this week, Harpauer hinted at an announcement on recruitment initiatives coming soon from the health ministers.