The provincial opposition agrees with recommendations from the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce for a new approach to northern Saskatchewan.
A recent report from the chamber’s Northern Business Task Force called on the provincial government to invest more in northern roads, do more to connect people to career and training opportunities, and improve education for northern children.
The chamber also urged Premier Brad Wall and his cabinet ministers to visit the far north, which it says Wall hasn’t done since being elected in 2007.
“This government entirely dismisses the North – its economic potential, its industry contributions and the major challenges northern families are facing,” said Doyle Vermette, NDP critic for northern Saskatchewan and MLA for Creighton and Denare Beach.
“There is huge economic potential in our natural resources in the North, but the lack of commitment from this government into infrastructure like roads and broadband networks is choking off potential growth.
“Even greater potential comes from the people of the North. But people are not connected to training opportunities and the basic education children are receiving is not on par with education students receive in other parts of the province. That’s unacceptable, and it has to change.”
Vermette said his main concern for the North is the cost of living, and he was pleased to see that issue also identified by the chamber.
“From milk to housing to power bills, northern families are paying so much more, and being forced to make difficult decisions as a result,” he said. “Instead of making it harder to make ends meet, this government should be taking steps to help families get themselves ahead instead of
just asking them to
pay extra.”
The NDP agrees with the chamber’s recommendation to charge the same rates for northern power that urban southern residents pay, as well as a recommendation to encourage energy conservation.
Vermette said he also echoes the chamber’s call for increases to the budget for northern highways.
Vermette further concurs with the recommendation that the premier and cabinet visit the far north – and says the fact the premier hasn’t been to the region speaks volumes.
He agrees that seeing the communities firsthand could, as the chamber put it, “offset the lack of awareness about the realities of living or operating businesses in those places.”
Added Vermette: “This government doesn’t understand the entrepreneurial spirit of the North. It doesn’t understand the unique challenges and opportunities of the North. It doesn’t understand the reality for people coping with the lack of housing, high cost of living and lack of services like roads and schools.”
But the Wall government has defended its record and touted a strong economy as key to improving life for all Saskatchewan residents.
Saskatchewanians by and large agree with the direction Wall is taking the province. A poll released last week suggested he remains Canada’s most popular premier.
