Latest news with #SaskatchewanParty
Global News
31 minutes ago
- Politics
- Global News
'A gross, disgusting feeling': Denare Beach wildfire survivor slams Sask. gov't response
A Denare Beach man who lost his home to a wildfire is calling out Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan government for abandoning northern communities when they needed help most. 'It's a gross, disgusting feeling that nobody's there for us at the Sask. Party. I'm ashamed to even be part of Saskatchewan some days,' said Dustin Trumbley. Trumbley and his fiancée were left homeless after flames tore through Denare Beach. He says his faith in leadership has been shattered. 'We need answers, we want some accountability from the Premier,' Trumbley said. 'That's his job, he's a leader. I voted for him. I wish I didn't, but I did. And I thought he would give some accountability by now. But he hasn't.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy NDP northern affairs critic Jordan McPhail, speaking alongside Trumbley, criticized the provincial government for failing to support evacuees, overlooking critical resources, delaying federal assistance, and not visiting hard-hit northern communities. Story continues below advertisement 'The same Scott Moe, who has yet to tour the northern communities devastated by wildfires, Denare Beach, East Trout Lake and Sucker River, and hear firsthand from residents,' McPhail said. Premier Scott Moe visited the northern communities of La Loche and Beauval on Monday, ahead of a Saskatchewan Party golf fundraiser at Elk Ridge Resort on Tuesday. Critics say this move shows misplaced priorities. 'Scott Moe's actions in all of this remind me a lot of how his buddy Donald Trump acts. He plays golf while everything around him burns,' said Brittney Senger, the NDP's ethics and democracy critic. The NDP is demanding that Moe cancel the fundraiser for his party's political campaigns and instead meet directly with evacuees. 'The Saskatchewan Party caucus has certainly abandoned northern Saskatchewan this wildfire season,' McPhail said. 'They need to cancel this political golf fundraiser and get their asses up into northern Saskatchewan and start talking to people that have lost so much.' Trumbley said that he isn't seeking government funds or any handouts for evacuees, but instead wants to action, true leadership and accountability. 'I don't want financial assistance. I said this right from the start. I just don't want it to happen to anybody else.' Global News reached out to the Saskatchewan government for comment but did not hear back before deadline.
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Court to rule on appeal of challenge to Saskatchewan pronoun law
REGINA – The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is expected to rule today on the province's appeal of a decision to allow a challenge of its school pronoun law. A judge ruled last year that the court challenge could continue, despite the government's use of the notwithstanding clause. The law, which came into force in 2023, requires parental consent if children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school. Lawyers for the LGBTQ+ group UR Pride brought forward the challenge, arguing the law causes irreparable harm to gender diverse youth and its case should move ahead. The government has argued its use of the notwithstanding clause to bring the law into force should end the court challenge. Nearly a dozen groups intervened in the appeal, including the government of Alberta, which argued in favour of Saskatchewan. Alberta passed a law last year requiring students 15 and younger have parental consent to change their names or pronouns. Students 16 and 17 don't need consent but their parents have to be notified. New Brunswick also had a pronoun policy but Premier Susan Holt revised it after she was elected in 2024. UR Pride amended its challenge and argues Saskatchewan's law violates Section 12 of the Charter, which is the right to be free from cruel and unusual treatment. The province cited other sections when it invoked the notwithstanding clause. Former Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre said last year the Saskatchewan Party government wouldn't hesitate to use the notwithstanding clause again. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2025.
CBC
03-08-2025
- Politics
- CBC
5 Sask. politicians break down misconceptions of the job. First up: there's no summer break
Social Sharing While many people head to the lake or disconnect from the world over the summer months, Saskatchewan politicians say that's not quite so easy for them. While it's great to have a phone to always stay connected, "the bad side of it is you're also connected and anybody and everybody forgets that you're on vacation," said former Saskatchewan Party MLA Paul Merriman, who served in cabinet positions under premiers Brad Wall and Scott Moe. "They just assume you're in your office and you're working." Merriman joined CBC's podcast This is Saskatchewan for its latest episode, which took a closer look at the life of politicians during summer. Recent summers with devastating wildfires have meant politicians having to shorten vacations or time away. Merriman and Liberal MP Buckley Belanger both said it's a struggle to balance time in their constituencies, and in committee meetings, with being at local events and spending time in affected communities. "Between trying to manage that travel schedule, we want to make sure that we're back home and people see us," Belanger said, speaking of himself and his fellow MPs. "We've been making every effort to be at both places. And that does take some time, but it's something that we were expecting and that we're committed to." Local events are important too, whether they are flipping pancakes in the rural areas of their constituency, or the recent — and much larger — Midwest Legislative Conference in Saskatoon. The reason? It gives them real face time with the people who elected them. For Lloydminster Sask. Party MLA Colleen Young, the current minister of energy and resources, summer means meeting with industry representatives, touring resource facilities and talking about developing the province's economy. "There hasn't been a break at this point in time for me," Young said. "But you know what? That doesn't bother me. I've always been a hard worker and I've always put in the time that is necessary to learn, to listen and to try to understand what our province is all about and the people that we have living here in the challenges that they face." Check out more from CBC's This is Saskatchewan 'We don't hate each other' Across the political spectrum, elected officials say one of the biggest misconceptions is that people on opposing sides of the aisle are sworn enemies. "We don't hate each other," Regina-Wascana Conservative MP Michael Kram said, adding that politicians are actually quite collegial outside of question period. "When we were coming back [to Ottawa] after the election, I had the opportunity to meet Liberal and Bloc MPs, and their families, and we congratulated each other for getting re-elected. And it's almost like coming back for the first day of school after a long summer vacation." As they sling hot dogs or paddle in Regina's Dragon Boat Festival, these politicians not only get a chance to meet with their constituents, but also a chance to see each other as people first and politicians second, according to Regina-University NDP MLA Sally Housser. "Summertime is a really good time in that respect, to get to see the folks on the other side of the aisle, and just being out serving their communities and getting along."
CTV News
03-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Criticism over provincial government's budget update
Regina Watch WATCH: The NDP is unhappy with the Saskatchewan Party's budget update, which shows a $250 million deficit. Wayne Mantyka has the details.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NDP slams fiscal update after Sask. posts $249M deficit to end 2024-25 fiscal year
Saskatchewan's Official Opposition is slamming the government's latest fiscal update, which shows the province posted a $249-million operating deficit to close out the 2024-25 fiscal year. "They failed to balance the budget and failed to properly address the real big challenges that Saskatchewan people face," NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said Wednesday. The Saskatchewan Party government's 2024-25 public accounts show that after starting the fiscal year with a projected deficit of $273 million, the province closed out the period with a $24-million improvement from the budget. The province released its public accounts on Monday, a day ahead of Canada Day — a decision that drew criticism from Wotherspoon, who accused the government of trying to hide the fiscal update from public scrutiny. "We see a government here, in the way they're releasing information, that's really trying to avoid any level of scrutiny and not being accountable for their failures," said Wotherspoon. He also railed against the province's failure to take advantage of a windfall it received as part of the $32.5-billion national tobacco settlement. Saskatchewan recorded $400 million of the $700 million it's due to get from the settlement in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to public accounts. "Even with that, [the province] failed to balance the budget. They still ran a deficit of $249 million," said Wotherspoon. He also took issue with the provincial government's decision to increase its net debt by $1.3 billion. The Saskatchewan Party government said it used debt to help finance large infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads. In a statement accompanying the release of the public accounts, Finance Minister Jim Reiter said the province's revenue increased by $994 million, to $20.9 billion, from the figures in the 2024-25 budget. At the same time, expenses grew by $970 million, to $21.1 billion, primarily due to a higher than projected number of crop insurance claims and natural resource-related expenses, he said. "We are continuing to make investments that deliver on what the people of Saskatchewan have said is important to them — affordability, health care, education, community safety and fiscal responsibility," said Reiter. A statement from the province provided to CBC after the NDP's news conference on Wednesday again pointed to spending on the Saskatchewan Party government's priorities, and said Saskatchewan maintains the second-lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in Canada.
