Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili speaks to reporters outside the Saskatoon cabinet office on Sept. 2, 2021. (Keenan Sorokan/650 CKOM)

By Keenan Sorokan, CKOM News

NDP calls for legislature return to debate COVID-19 surge

Sep 4, 2021 | 12:35 PM

Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili is calling on the provincial government to reconvene the legislature and debate the government’s handling of a COVID-19 surge.

The Leader of the Opposition made the demand at a news conference outside the Saskatoon cabinet office with health critic Vicki Mowat.

“Scott Moe gave up. In the middle of July, he decided the pandemic was over and that he didn’t have to deal with it anymore,” Meili said.

On Monday, Premier Scott Moe ruled out reintroducing indoor masking mandates or any other forms of public health measures like requiring proof of vaccination to attend certain events, a move many other provinces have already imposed.

Meili pointed the blame directly at Moe for his inaction on the pandemic, on a day the province registered 418 cases — its third highest single-day total — and a day after the Sask. Party hosted its annual golf tournament in Saskatoon.

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Thirty-seven people have died with COVID-19 since the province removed all health restrictions on July 11. Saskatchewan’s death toll now stands at 610.

“He gave up on accountability. The Premier has hosted more golf tournaments this summer than press conferences,” Meili said.

“The blood on that man’s hands is incredible,” Meili said.

Meili wants the government to be accountable. Not only would he bring back masks at all indoor places if he were premier, Meili said he would incentivize vaccines to get more people vaccinated and curb the damaging effects of the Delta variant.

Meili said Moe’s only effort to get people to line up for a jab so far is to continue saying vaccines work.

“There’s been nothing for incentives, nothing for mandates — he hasn’t tried,” Meili said. “If you haven’t got your vaccine, you should be getting a phone call from Saskatchewan Health saying, ‘we have an appointment for you, do you have any questions?’ Because a lot of it is still hesitancy,” Meili said.

Where hesitancy doesn’t exist, Meili suggested the hurdle to reach herd immunity vaccination target lies in the “hardline anti-vaxxer, anti-maskers from Scott Moe’s Buffalo Wing.”

“Frankly, the Sask. Party’s in government, but the Buffalo Party’s in power. Scott Moe is making these decisions to appease the far-right, the worst elements of his party,” Meili said.

Of the 418 new cases Friday, only 55 — roughly 13 per cent, were in fully vaccinated people.

According to data available from Health Canada as of Aug. 28, the cumulative percentage of people who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Saskatchewan was 65.19 per cent, the lowest vaccination rate among any province in Canada.

“As a health critic, I have deep concerns with the fact that we have a government that is missing in action right now,” Mowat said.

The legislature isn’t scheduled to return until Oct. 27.