Sask. NDP leader discusses northern tour, COVID modelling

He also heard from community leaders and members on challenges caring for elders and the need for mental health and addictions supports.

Many of the communities Meili visited are in the constituency of Athabasca where a byelection will soon be held to fill the seat vacated by Buckley Belanger, who left the legislature to run for the federal Liberals in the 2021 election.

Meili also took time to respond to the province releasing its COVID modelling data Wednesday afternoon, something his party has been calling on for weeks.

According to modelling numbers from the province, Dr. Saqib Shahab said even if cases decline, we won’t be back to “normal” until at least the beginning of 2022.

That means there could be up to 20,000 cancelled surgeries along the way.

Through tears, Dr. Shahab described the road ahead for Saskatchewan and pleaded for cooperation.

“In the past, there has been mention that ‘Dr. Shahab just pleads to the public and he doesn’t direct an order.’ But I have no shame in pleading to the public. We’ve come so far, and we just have to pull along for the next few weeks and months.

“It is distressing to see what is happening in our ICUs and hospitals. I’m sorry, but it’s a very challenging time.”

Saskatchewan continues to have the highest weekly death rate among the provinces and has started transferring patients to Ontario as hospitals run out of beds and staff.

Modelling based on current data shows hospitalizations continuing to increase until December unless restrictions like a limit on gathering sizes are reintroduced.

Saskatchewan could have more than 225 intensive care admissions by January and health care might not return to sustainable levels until next March, Shahab said. That would mean surgeries, the province’s organ donation program, and therapies for children wouldn’t be available until then.

As of Wednesday, there were 82 COVID patients in Saskatchewan intensive care units and 117 people in the province’s ICUs overall.

Meili said it was hard to see the province’s top doctor show emotion in that update and continues to stand firm on his belief that the situation in Saskatchewan hospitals could have been avoided.

“It really was a stark revelation of how bad things have gotten,” Meili said. “I think his (Shahab’s) emotion really revealed some of the frustration and challenges that health care workers have been facing.”

“I’m worried about the days forward and I’m extremely disappointed that Scott Moe is looking at that same modelling, which is black and white, we need restrictions on gatherings. It’s very clear that if we don’t do that, our health care system will continue to be overwhelmed and it will get much worse.”

When asked what he would do if he was in the Premier’s position, Meili said he would have asked for help from the federal government sooner and introduced vaccine and masking mandates over the summer instead of mid-September as the province did.

On the vaccine front, the province reported 770,792 people have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated as of Wednesday. The provincial total of vaccinations so far is 1,630,649.

–With files from CKOM and The Canadian Press

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Derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @PA_Craddock

by Derek Craddock

Sask. NDP leader discusses northern tour, COVID modelling

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