Moe must refocus on vaccine distribution
For two and a half months now, Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government has been floundering when it comes to delivering on what should be the province's priorities during this COVID-19 pandemic.
It's been a problem of distraction, albeit one of Moe's own making. The government focus we saw this spring during the initial lockdown has been lost.
While it likely started during the summer when case numbers were low and October election planning became the priority, this loss of focus became a critical issue about the time when it became obvious the Sask. Party would cruise to an easy fourth-term majority government.
With the Oct. 26 vote in the bag, Moe declared with a week left in the campaign that there would be no more lockdowns in Saskatchewan — a popular thing to tell voters, but unwise both in hindsight and at the time.
Since then, it turned into one bad choice after another:
Of the mere 40 per cent who didn't vote for the Sask. Party in October, Moe's near exclusive focus on election night was the 2.6 per cent who voted for the Buffalo Party. Offering credence to the complaints of those also subscribing to the anti-mask, anti-lockdown, yellow vest “anti-globalist” agenda proved to be an ugly distraction when it came to implementing a provincewide mask order in a more timely fashion.
Instead of listening to the pleas of 400 doctors who signed letters in November warning of a major increase in cases and deaths in COVID-19'S second wave, Moe opted to listen to business lobbyists who now bear at least some responsibility for the mess they and province now find themselves in.
Instead of rededicating scarce resources in the 202021 budget with a $2.1-billion deficit, Moe plowed ahead in the short fall sitting with implementing costly Sask. Party campaign election promises.
Really, is anyone more worried about a few dollars saved on their electric bill or vehicle insurance than they are about the costs of this pandemic?
Imposing serious restrictions did not come soon enough to avoid skyrocketing case numbers and triple-digit COVID-19 related deaths in December. But by following Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's lead in not clamping down on his own ministers who now chose to flaunt the government's messaging aimed at everyone else, Moe has been left to deal with the situation of former highways minster Joe Hargrave, who volunteered his resignation on Monday.
The problem here goes well beyond the political ones of conflicting or inconsistent messaging from perceived rule-breaking elitists politicians.
Except for Moe and a handful of advisers who have his ear, everyone else seems to get that the government's priorities have gone wrong.
For the sake of his own political well-being and the safety of those of us who live in this province, Moe must refocus government efforts on getting vaccine needles in the arms of Saskatchewan and addressing the ongoing crisis situation in nursing homes.
As observed by Dr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Saskatchewan vaccinated 147 people on Sunday. After all the photo ops, the government has now reduced its Phase One immunization goal of 10,725 shots of a two-dose Pfizer vaccine each week.
That Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman need to to take hold of this problem goes well beyond the reality that any return to normalcy completely depends on a successful vaccine rollout as quickly as possible.
Why we're not seeing a premier making concerted efforts every day — even if it's just demanding more support from the federal Liberal government — is puzzling. We need to see tracking of the vaccine, but mostly, we need answers as to why we are not seeing vaccination happen faster.
Arguably more critical is getting a handle on the long-festering crisis in longterm care homes, where the majority of Saskatchewan's Covid-19-related deaths have occurred.
The problem is acute in private care homes, which, suspiciously, may be why this government hasn't been demanding answers.
It is time for Moe to refocus. It is time for his government to do better.