REGINA - With the provincial election only a few days away, NDP Leader Carla Beck said she is not taking anything for granted when it comes to the New Democrats potentially beating the Saskatchewan Party.
Beck was outside the Co-Op Refinery in Regina Friday with members of the Saskatchewan Building Trades and Unifor. Sask Building Trades represents 7,000 members, while Unifor has 8,500 members. The two unions stood beside Beck, showing their full support and agreeing it was time for a change in the province.
Union members have been frustrated with Scott Moe and the Sask Party for bringing out-of-province workers to tackle big projects that workers in Saskatchewan can handle.
The members also pointed out Moe shrunk the provincial economy and attacked workers while Beck stood beside them.
Beck has previously stated if elected. The NDP would retool the province's existing procurement crown, SaskBuilds. The retooling would see Saskatchewan workers and businesses put first regarding public contacts. The plan would also break apart larger contracts to speed up the request for proposals (RFP) process to ensure a local business can compete in their respective market.
With the support of union members and a poll done by Insightrix Research suggesting Beck and the NDP are ahead in the race, the NDP leader would not say those numbers are accurate. However, Beck believes her party can win the election. Beck also stated her party is focused on the entire province, not just the big cities of Regina and Saskatoon.
During the media scrum, she also re-emphasized the healthcare crisis occurring in the province where 40,000 nurses have left the sector, and women have given birth to children on the side of roads because there are not enough rural doctors in Saskatchewan.
Reporters asked Beck about Moe's repeated comments regarding how Beck would make drugs easier to access in Saskatchewan and that her party is in favour of the carbon tax.
Beck shook off those comments, stating her party would not give away free drugs. She also said her party is against the carbon tax, despite Moe insisting the Saskatchewan NDP will bring back the carbon tax since the federal NDP supported the Liberals who introduced the federal carbon tax.
As the battle between the Sask Party and NDP draws to its conclusion, Beck said she cannot help but feel excited and optimistic about the future of Saskatchewan.
