Cheantelle Fisher and Melissa Patterson, the provincial NDP candidates for Moose Jaw North and Moose Jaw Wakamow respectively, were joined by MLA Nicole Sarauer and Moose Javian Brayden Dutchak on Thursday for a press conference at the NDP’s Athabasca Street campaign office.
Sarauer has been the MLA for Regina Douglas Park since 2016, and currently serves as the NDP House Leader in the Legislative Assembly.
The political candidates were joined by Brayden Dutchak, who has been making public appearances since 2020 to urge the province to permanently staff Moose Jaw’s hyperbaric chamber. Dutchak’s mother, Tamara Heppner, would benefit greatly from hyperbaric chamber treatment following radiation treatments for cervical cancer — but the hyperbaric chamber at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital has been short-staffed for years.
“All of us are here today because the people of Moose Jaw are ready for change, and your Saskatchewan New Democrats are ready to deliver,” Fisher said.
“We’ve been knocking doors across this city for months, talking to people day after day, and they’re telling us the same thing — they want change,” Patterson agreed. “They’re tired of the ridiculous wait times. They’re tired of seeing our ER closed over and over again. And too often, they’re having a hard time getting the care that they need.
“I know every community across Saskatchewan has a story that is similar to ours.”
The Saskatchewan NDP have focused healthcare and education as key issues in preparation for the Oct. 28 election date. The press conference in Moose Jaw was timed in solidarity with an appearance by NDP leader Carla Beck at a rally for healthcare workers outside the legislature in Regina on Thursday.
The rally followed the annual Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) convention. Speakers also included SUN president Tracy Zambory, Samantha Becotte, president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, several nurses and physicians from rural and urban areas, Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, and Lori Johb, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour.
The NDP and its supporters are hanging blame for the province’s healthcare crisis squarely around Premier Scott Moe’s neck.
“After 17 years under Scott Moe and the Sask Party, we are in last place in healthcare compared to the rest of Canada,” Sarauer claimed in her remarks. “We used to be the place that the rest of the country looked to — after all, we were the ones who brought universal healthcare to the rest of the country.”
Sarauer accused Moe and his party of creating a culture of fear and disrespect in the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), and of punishing healthcare workers who try to speak out about problems in the system.
“They pushed healthcare workers in this province to the brink, and it’s pushed a lot of them out of this province altogether,” Sarauer added. “Carla Beck and the NDP have a plan to staff up the system, to change the culture of healthcare and keep our healthcare workers, and hire new ones. With our plan, we will keep the services you need open.”
Dutchak told the story of his mother’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, and once again expressed his frustration at what he characterized as an apathetic response from the SHA. He said that it seems to take media attention and public outrage to stimulate action.
“Her journey highlighted not just personal struggles, but systemic issues that affect countless families. She suffered immensely from the delayed side effects of her treatment, and the specialized care she needed wasn’t available,” Dutchak said. “I spent hundreds of hours navigating the healthcare system, reaching out to anyone who might listen. Time and time again, I was met with sympathetic voices saying, ‘I’m sorry, but there’s nothing much that can be done.’
“Now people are spending their own money on uncovered medical trips, traveling great distances to access the treatment they need. When access to medical treatment or essential medical care depends on one’s ability to advocate or pay, we face a systemic failure.
“Patients shouldn’t need to make headlines to get lifelines.”
The writ for the provincial election dropped on October 1st. At the time the legislature was dissolved, the Saskatchewan Party had 44 seats, the NDP 13, and the Sask United Party 1. There were also two independents sitting in the house — both former Sask Party members who were booted for, respectively, soliciting prostitutes (Ryan Domotor) and being charged with assault (Greg Lawrence).
In the last provincial election, more than 97 per cent of eligible voters were registered to vote. However, only 54 per cent of those registered actually went to the polls.
Information on how to vote in the 2024 provincial election is at www.elections.sk.ca.
