Protesters outside legislature keep heat on province over cutbacks
In what has become a familiar scene over the past few months, hundreds of people protested at the Legislative Building on Wednesday, calling on the government to “stop the cuts” and protect the province’s Crown corporations.
Wednesday’s gathering was a bit different, in that it was the first day of the legislative session and protesters were on hand as Saskatchewan’s lieutenant-governor arrived to mark the occasion.
“I hope they have a heart for us, for everyone one of us here, working very hard for the government and the country,” said Fine Gonzaga, who works in the food service department at Wascana Rehabilitation Centre and is concerned her salary will be rolled back.
Premier Brad Wall’s government has not backed away from plans to reduce its payroll by 3.5 per cent — the savings anticipated from that cut were built into March’s budget.
Darlene Gurniak Esterhazy works at a long-term care home in Esterhazy.
“They want us to roll back to probably wages and benefits that were eight or nine years ago,” she said. “Cost of living isn’t rolling back. So with rollbacks, my wage, paying the utility pays, buying groceries is going to be more difficult.”
The budget sparked complaints about spending reductions from the education, health and social services sectors, as well as uproar over the shutdown of Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC).
“I’m here to just voice on behalf of those that can’t make it that we just want to stop the cuts that are going on. We provide services to people across the province here, and we just want to make sure everybody has it and the cuts are actually impacting on the front line, and those are the front service people,” said Perry Turton, a CUPE member who works as a health region electrician. “Saskatchewan’s a strong province and we’ll get through all this, but we have to do it collectively.”
Dale Smith, president of the CUPE union local in Moose Jaw, said the education cuts are creating concerns over cleanliness in schools, as well as health and safety issues.
“It’s really important for the people to show they aren’t happy with things that are happening,” Smith said.
Stacey Strykowski jokes that not long ago, she was “just a regular mom” but in the last year has become an advocate for her community of Preeceville, where the hospital had a temporary suspension put in place on acute care and emergency response services.
She said the community is still “fighting for our acute beds” that are currently being used for longterm care.
“The community is just in chaos. They’re so worried that if they need to be admitted they will have to go to Canora or Yorkton,” she said. “The entire community is in turmoil over it, because we still don’t have ER after 8 p.m., either.”