Swift Current MLA feels upbeat about government actions during fall legislative session
The fall session of the Saskatchewan legislature was shorter than usual due to the provincial election, but Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley felt the Saskatchewan Party government had a good start to a new four-year term.
He spoke to the Prairie Post on Dec. 11 about the two-week session of the provincial legislature, which took place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 10.
“Typically, what we'll see after a fall provincial election is a much shorter session just to in order to pass some of the more pressing pieces of legislation that need to get passed,” he said. “The focus this session was specifically on a number of items that we campaigned on as a party, and of course being fortunate to become government and being reelected we wanted to make sure we follow through on those promises.”
He highlighted some of the legislation that were introduced to implement campaign promises. The new home renovation tax credit will make the cost of home renovations more affordable and help to support the local economy. There will be a temporary reduction of the small business tax rate for three years. It will drop from two per cent to zero until July 2022, when the tax rate will increase to one per cent and in July 2023 it will return to the two per cent rate.
The government’s subsidy for the Senior Citizens’ Ambulance Assistance Program has increased to make ambulance fees more affordable for seniors. The cost of an ambulance trip will change from $275 to $135 per trip.
The government also introduced a 10 per cent economic recovery rebate on power bills for all SaskPower customers. This one-year program runs from Dec. 1, 2020 to Nov. 30, 2021, and customers of the City of Swift Current’s Light and Power utility also qualify for this rebate.
There were just eight sitting days of the legislature during this fall session, but Hindley said it was enough time to allow the government to pass priority legislation.
“There were some other things, for example there had to be some supplementary estimate spending approved for the Ministry of Health as a result of some pressures on that ministry related to COVID-19 expenditures,” he noted. “But by and large, for a short session it allowed us to implement some of these things that we campaigned on. There was a handful of other pieces of legislation that were introduced and given first reading, and they will work their way through the spring session.”
Additional COVID-19 public health measures were in place at the legislature during this session. The desks of MLAs were spaced out and plexiglass shields were installed between desks as an additional form of protection.
“So that was a different look, something that we didn't even have in June, because at that point of the pandemic the restrictions weren't quite as tight in that respect,” he said. “The other thing that was different too was wearing masks in the chamber at all times, even while speaking, which presented some challenges. It took some getting used to, but everybody in every sector in the economy has to make concessions and change things up a little bit and that included MLAs as well.”
A few more MLAs were actually able to participate in proceedings than during the three-week spring session earlier this year, but it still was not a full house of 61 members.
“There was a rotation happening on both the government and opposition sides, having certain MLAs from each party in the chamber on certain days so that everyone had an opportunity to sit in the chamber to deliver their response to the Throne Speech,” he said. “For the first time in a long time we had some of our members sitting on the opposition side, simply because of the spacing requirements as a result of the restrictions. They couldn't fit them all on the government side of the house. So there was a number of government members actually sitting on the opposition side of the chamber.”
The pandemic did not only impact procedures within the legislature. It was also the main topic of debate on the chamber floor.
“It simply affects every single part of the provincial government's operations, no matter which part you're involved in,” he said. “That was probably the biggest overarching theme, just in terms of the government response to the pandemic, in terms of some of the measures that were implemented as per the direction of Dr. Shahab and his team of experts, and in addition to that some of the relief measures that we put in place to try and help businesses and individuals and groups and organizations to try to weather the storm for a bit while longer.”
The opposition continued to criticize the government’s pandemic response as inadequate, but Hindley said the government is trying to strike a delicate balance between restrictions to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and still allowing a sense of normalcy for people.
“We're really trying our hardest to make sure that we're striking that balance of allowing the economy to function, but also protecting those that are most vulnerable and keeping an eye on people's mental health as well,” he mentioned. “These restrictions and measures are not what the government wants to do and we recognize the impact it has on people, not just financially, but also psychologically and in terms of their mental health.”
The government announced pandemic support measures for businesses during the fall session. It renewed the small business emergency payment program, which is open for applications until Jan. 31, 2021. Small businesses that need to close or limit their operations due to public health measures can apply for provincial support.
“That was an initiative that was originally launched back in the spring when we first had our initial shutdown,” he said. “It was designed to help bridge the gap there, and we've always tried to take a look at what the federal government has offered in terms of financial assistance and then see where we as a provincial government can try and address any gaps that might exist.”
The provincial governmental also announced a new business support measure, the Strong Recovery Adaptation Rebate. It will provide assistance up to a maximum of $5,000 to businesses that had to incur expenses to adjust their operations between April 2020 and February 2021 due to the pandemic. The government will continue to evaluate the need for support to businesses during the pandemic.
“We're going to be keeping a very close eye on it through our business response team,” he said. “We have regular conversations with our stakeholders, with the business community through the BRT and through us as MLAs and we would always take a look at if we need to do more.”
This legislative session was the first one for Hindley in his new role as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health in Premier Scott Moe’s cabinet.
“I was asked a number of questions during question period specific to the long-term care situation and the impact of COVID-19 on it,” Hindley said. “I was asked some questions as well about investments into mental health and addictions. We've got a fairly significant challenge with respect to overdoses and opioids in Saskatchewan right now, some very troubling numbers, particularly in the city of Regina, but province wide with respect to drug overdoses.”
He added that opioid use and drug overdoses were already serious issues before the pandemic, but COVID-19 just made the situation more challenging due to the stress it has caused on people’s lives.
“Mental health and addiction services are still available throughout Saskatchewan, but because of COVID sometimes it's difficult for people to access those services in a timely fashion,” he said.
The provincial government has been distributing take-home naloxone kits to those at risk of an opioid overdose for several years, and he noted that nearly half of those 11,600 kits were distributed this year.
“We've been proud of our record on mental health and addictions, but know that there's more work to do,” he said. “We've got $435 million invested into mental health and addictions in this budget year. We opened some new crystal meth treatment beds in Estevan just this past fall and they are admitting patients.”
The government was criticized by the opposition during this fall sitting of the legislature for not taking stronger measures to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Hindley said the growing number of cases in long-term care facilities is a great concern to the government.
“There's been screening of staff and trying to eliminate as much as possible and greatly reducing the risk of exposure into these long-term care facilities,” he mentioned. “We've cohorted staff so that, if they used to be working in two facilities, they're only working in one.”
He noted that there were COVID-19 outbreaks in 14 long-term care facilities across the province on Dec. 10, the final day of the fall legislative session. It is a matter he is taking very seriously in his role as minister. He will have regular conversations and daily briefings, sometimes multiple times a day, with his ministry staff and Saskatchewan Health Authority officials, as well as with Minister of Health Paul Merriman.
“This is one that we watch, because it's a rapidly evolving situation and we need to make sure that
we're doing as much as we can to protect our senior citizens,” Hindley said.
He is excited about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the province over coming months. It will include a significant public relations campaign by the government to provide accurate and timely information, and will hopefully help to increase public awareness about the vaccine.
“We're hopeful that the vast majority of people will get the vaccine,” he said. “I know I personally will be taking the vaccine and I know many that will be, because vaccination is the key to us being able to return to normal, to attend concerts at the Lyric Theatre, and to be able to go to a Swift Current Broncos game and to any number of public events.”
He will continue to focus on his ministerial duties and tasks as MLA in the months ahead until the spring session of the provincial legislature.
“It's a good opportunity for me to be back in Swift Current in the riding, just focusing on some of the issues here,” he said. “That's what's important about all of this. My first job is to be the MLA for Swift Current and I just happen to have some additional duties, which make for some longer days and sometimes affect my availability.”
He will continue to become familiar with al the details of his ministerial portfolio, and he will be meeting with several stakeholder groups from across the province that have reached out to him.
“I do have some meetings coming up with stakeholders on the mental health and addictions file in the days and weeks ahead, and I'm looking forward to having those conversations to see what we can do to help address some of those challenges we face,” he said. “And as we get set for 2021, there will be no shortage of work, that's for sure, but it's something that I'm really looking forward to and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to do it.”