Saskatchewan Opposition Leader Carla Beck, centre, Municipal Affairs Critic Erika Ritchie, left, and Meadow Lake City Councillor Clay Debray, right, at the Meadow Lake Stampede gala this week. (Submitted photo/Saskatchewan NDP)

By Angela Brown

Gathering feedback

Sask NDP leader Carla Beck visits Meadow Lake area

Jun 9, 2023 | 3:20 PM

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck is in the northwest region this week in an effort to connect with people across the province.

Beck and Municipal Affairs Critic Erika Ritchie stopped in Meadow Lake to listen to people’s concerns in the community.

“We’re talking with the RMs, town council, the school board, the market gardens, and we’re out at Flying Dust [First Nation] sports facility,” Beck said.

She added she has family in the Meadow Lake area as well, so she had an opportunity to see them at the same time during her stop.

Beck and Ritchie also attended the 100th-anniversary fundraiser gala for the Meadow Lake Stampede.

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“[People] like to see their provincial leaders in town,” Beck said. “[We] listened to people [talk] about the things they are proud about, and also where they have some concerns.”

Ritchie met with Meadow Lake Mayor Merlin Seymour on Wednesday.

“Like everywhere in the province, I think there is a lot of opportunity here,” Beck said. “This is a thriving community, that very much wants to be building for the future. When we are talking with people, [whether] it’s in Meadow Lake or in the south, or urban or rural, those issues around affordability, people being able to pay their bills, the cost of living, healthcare, education, those concerns keep coming up time and time again. And we’ve heard that from people in Meadow Lake here as well.”

Beck said this visit is a continuation of the NDP critics tour from about a year ago when they looked at the healthcare system, as well as staffing issues at the Meadow Lake Hospital.

“Certainly, regardless of where they live in the province and in Meadow Lake as well, people want to be sure that those medical services are there when they need them,” she said. “That there is a plan for [healthcare] staffing, and a plan to properly fund and educate kids in schools here in town. Those are concerns we continue to hear, and raise in the legislature.”

A couple of years ago a woman had to give birth in a vehicle on the side of the road, as the Meadow Lake Hospital was re-directing low-risk deliveries to other facilities, due to temporary disruptions for obstetrical care as a result of understaffing. In September of 2022, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced Meadow Lake Hospital was providing full obstetrical care again.

Beck said underfunding in education is another concern in Meadow Lake and other Saskatchewan communities.

“There is a slightly smaller enrolment in the local school division here, which has made for a very difficult budget that is yet to be finalized with the school division,” she said.

Beck is also hearing that people are facing challenges dealing with the high cost of living.

On a positive note, she said it’s good to see municipalities working closer with First Nations for common goals. She was glad to see the City of Meadow Lake collaborating with Flying Dust First Nation on projects, such as developing a new home for the Meadow Lake Rodeo grounds in the future.

“I do think [it’s] a model for the province,” she said. “When that relationship works well, that’s good for all residents in those communities. That’s something I heard at the [fundraiser] gala, there’s pride in that relationship.”

Since the Meadow Lake and District Arena burned down in 2021, plans are for the Meadow Lake Stampede rodeo and bull riding event to be held at the new rodeo grounds on Flying Dust First Nation when it is developed in the future.

Beck said she and Ritchie are looking forward to continuing their tour in the region with a brief stop in the Battlefords Friday.

“We’re out here listening to people, finding those connections and building relationships, building trust, which is something we will continue to do right up until the next election and beyond,” she said.

—

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakenow