Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Wage top ups for caregivers a good first step

- MURRAY MANDRYK

One should be careful about assuming there is going to be a lasting impact, but the COVID-19 pandemic does seem to be creating awareness in Saskatchew­an Party government ranks when it comes to a few long-standing social problems.

But it’s never a bad thing when sometimes philosophi­cally entrenched governing parties are forced outside their comfort zones.

And as we enter Week 8 since Saskatchew­an’s first COVID-19 case and the ensuing social/economic lockdown, a bit of good news and a bit of hope is certainly welcome.

Premier Scott Moe and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer announced Thursday that care home, group home and licensed child care workers would receive a $400-a-month wage top up for those making less than $2,500 a month.

These measures were accompanie­d by a second announceme­nt assuring parents returning to work in

Phases 1 and 2 of the Reopen Saskatchew­an Plan would get daycare spaces.

Admittedly, both of these good news announceme­nts are fraught with problems ... and a bit of politics.

How government can assure “anyone working now or returning to work” can get daycare space is more than a little curious, given there were shortages before the current situation that’s been massively complicate­d by school-age children being at home. Really, the daycare measures did sound a bit like government announcing something without actually doing much.

The same might be said for the wage top-up announceme­nt that will benefit “an estimated 35,000 lower income, essential workers at senior-care, group homes, child-care facilities, and emergency and transition shelters” that is scheduled to last 16 weeks from March 15 to July 4.

While $56 million is being set aside, $53 million of it is coming from the federal Liberal government, meaning that the Sask. Party is largely taking credit for Ottawa’s largesse. That said, one might be inclined to give the Sask. Party government credit for keeping a lid on additional spending at a time when the 2020-21 Saskatchew­an budget revenue is taking a severe hit.

But it is refreshing to see such a co-operative approach with the federal government, rather than fighting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the carbon tax. Credit Moe for not so much as mentioning it the past seven weeks.

Potentiall­y an even better change is that the novel coronaviru­s seems to have created a recognitio­n that care workers are among the most underpaid workers in our society.

Harpauer’s explanatio­n that the top up is compensati­on for the extra work those in nursing homes are doing because families are no longer allowed to visit and help was a bit bizarre in that not all nursing home residents benefit from the comfort of nearby family and have always relied on staff for the 24-hour care.

That the wage supplement is extended not only to other low-paid nursing home employees like cooks and cleaners (who surely offer help and kind words to nursing home residents whenever their other duties permit) but also those in group homes run by community-based organizati­ons and emergency shelters and transition shelters suggests an awareness of long-standing problems.

New Democratic Opposition Leader Ryan Meili rightly argues that Sask.

Party doesn’t get current need in emergency shelters, noting government help for the homeless is among the smallest in the country.

And while the Saskatchew­an Federation of Labour has offered support for the government’s measures, SFL President Lori Johb noted it’s long overdue recognitio­n.

It all leads to the question of what happens to nursing home, daycare and group home and emergency shelters work after July or whenever this pandemic is behind us.

It will quickly become a question of what we can afford to do. Government­s plagued with added debt being run up by COVID-19 will struggle to continue to provide such subsidies.

But it can’t hurt future arguments that those who care for those who can’t care for themselves deserve proper compensati­on for what they do.

Maybe some good things can emerge out of this mess, after all.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-post and Saskatoon Starphoeni­x.

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