Saskatchewan's new Minister of Eduation is looking forward to the challenges ahead on his new portfolio.
Premier Scott Moe named Swift Current MLA Evertt Hindley to the role yesterday moving, shifting him from Minister of Health.
"I'm looking forward to the oppourtunity and challenge," Hindley said. "I want to make sure that we're re-establishing and building the relationship that this government has with school divisions, parents, teachers, others, and most importantly kids right across this province."
The biggest task that was slated to be on the desk of the Minister of Education should the Sask Party be re-elected was to create a policy for all schools in the province restricting students' change rooms usage to their sex assigned at birth.
Moe walked his party's election platform promise back yesterday stating he misspoke and would leave the issue with the Minister of Education.
"He expects me to be engaging with school divisions on this issue," Hindley said. "To try and find a path forward on it, in a colloborative fashion."
Hindley since being elected in 2018 has been working alongside two (Chinook School Division and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division) of the 27 school boards in the province. The third-term MLA will now be tasked with colloborating with all of them as roughly 11 per cent of the province's budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year is earmarked for school divisions.
"I have continued to engage on local education issues meeting with parents, teachers, staff, administration, and board members... to look at some of the good things happening in the city of Swift Current and some of the challenges we face," he said.
His goal is to meet with all 27 school divisions shortly once municipal elections wrap up next week to begin formulating plans to help students immediately and long-term.
"It is a pretty narrow window there where kids are going though school," he said. "It goes by faster than you think as a kid. That's why it's important to be ahead of some of these things. We saw it around Swift Current as the contract thing was going on this spring. We had local demonstations and protests too in front of my MLA office and it impacts people. Everybody is impacted in one way or another whether they have kids in the school system or not."
Hindley spent four years with health portfolios - he was the province's first Minister of Mental Health and Addictions (2020-2023) while also serving as the Minister of Seniors and Rural and Remote Health. He took over as Minister of Health on Aug. 23, 2023.
"I'm really grateful to have that oppourtunity in one of the biggest files in the provincial government in health care," he said. "Grateful for all the people I got to work with."