NDP vows $50M more for pandemic costs
Meili also calls for province to make masks mandatory in polling stations
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili says if he is elected premier on Monday he will provide an immediate $50-million injection to address the spread of COVID-19.
Meili made the announcement Thursday in the backyard of a home in the Saskatoon Westview riding a day after active pandemic cases in the province hit a new high of 469.
Meili said he would spend $50 million of the funds already accounted for in the NDP platform to try to limit the spread of the virus.
The proposed spending would be split three ways: $20 million to help the schools with the largest class sizes shrink them, $20 million for front line health care workers and $10 million for organizations that help vulnerable people.
“This is urgent,” Meili told reporters at a chilly news conference. “There's a pressing need for these investments now to make sure the second (pandemic) wave doesn't get any worse.”
Meili also said he believes masks should be mandatory at all polling stations in the province. Advance polls opened Tuesday and run until Saturday at 232 locations throughout Saskatchewan.
Although Elections Saskatchewan has encouraged people to wear masks while voting and provides disposable masks, they are not mandatory at all locations. As of Thursday morning, the number of locations where a mask is required had increased to 30.
On Tuesday, Meili said he would establish a threshold along with public health officials that would trigger a mandatory mask rule for indoor public spaces. He again criticized Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe for mixed messages on mask use.
Reducing class sizes and increasing testing with the bridge funding announced on Thursday would help reduce COVID-19 transmission, Meili said.
“Nearly half of the cases yesterday were among children,” he said. “We're very concerned about the fact that this is out there. This isn't just in one spot or another.”
Of the 57 new infections announced on Wednesday, the third-highest daily increase so far during the pandemic, 17 were people under 19.
Meili, who appeared with Saskatoon Westview candidate Malik Draz, repeated criticism the Saskatchewan government stands as an outlier for a lack of support for organizations that provide necessities to vulnerable populations.
An NDP government would look at what other provinces are doing as cases rise throughout the country, Meili added.
The NDP'S election platform includes $150 million for health care to hire hundreds of doctors and nurses and $150 million for education aimed at hiring 1,000 more teachers and reducing class sizes.
In Regina on Thursday, Regina Lakeview candidate Carla Beck made the argument for bringing back the film tax credit the Saskatchewan Party scrapped in 2012 — a long-standing NDP promise.
Speaking in front of the Regina Soundstage, she said the Saskatchewan Party's decision has driven jobs and talent out of the province, while costing millions in potential economic activity. She lamented that the film Percy, about a Saskatchewan farmer, was filmed in Manitoba.
The Saskatchewan Party has defended its switch from a tax credit to a grant through Creative Saskatchewan. It also argues that the NDP is underestimating the cost of reviving the tax credit, which the Saskatchewan Party says could run up to $60 million over four years if the industry grows.
Beck questioned that math, but said it would be a sign the program is working.