A year in review and a look ahead with MLA Jeremy Cockrill

Another accomplishment that Cockrill spoke to from this past year was the opening of the Poundmaker’s Lodge Addiction Treatment Centre.

“The addictions treatment facility that we have now out by Sask. Hospital in the old Drumming Hill Facility (Youth Centre)…I think when we look at the new addiction treatment facility that we have in our community, that was a key thing for me over the last four years, getting that up and running,” Cockrill said.

Minister Cockrill also talked about the improved expansion to rapid counseling, making it easier for people to access services.

“The fact that I can sit here right now, and we could be on the rapid access counseling website and get an appointment, whether virtual or in person, for later or even to go see someone, that’s a pretty incredible service,” he said.

Challenges

In terms of challenges over this past year, one of the most prominent ones Cockrill talked about was the negotations with the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation.

“I think many people, especially for those who are parents and grandparents and certainly for our students, the interruptions that we had in the school year in the last year.” said Cockrill.

He went on to say that he hopes a contract will be signed soon as it has affected the teachers and students.

“When school’s interrupted, that has a significant impact on those who work and teach in our school, but also those students and for students to miss school days, you don’t get those back. I think that’s been a significant challenge, I think we are coming to a place though where we’re going to have a contract hopefully soon signed after arbitration,” Cockrill said.

Criticisms

Throughout this past year, Cockrill also faced his fair share of criticism for varying reasons, from certain policies to the handling of the teacher’s negations. However, he said that he is happy to have these discussions.

“There has been criticism of me over the last year for multiple things. I don’t shy away from that criticism and I’m happy to take meetings, happy to sit down and discuss with people and the reality is that there is lots of little disagreements that we may have as individuals, but I think there’s far more that we agree on than what we disagree on.” Cockrill said

He added that these criticisms have also provided the opportunity for him to learn from his mistakes and communicate better.

“In terms of the policy positions that I’ve taken over the last several years, I truly believe they’ve been the right policy position, but you know, it’s so much about how you communicate things…over time you become a better communicator, you learn kind of how to choose your words best and listen first and speak second.” said Cockrill.

Priorities for 2025

Now looking at the year ahead, with his new position as the minister of health, Cockrill stressed the importance of working together with unions and health care workers to improve the province’s health care.

“We have expired contracts with Saskatchewan nurses, our health care provider unions. So, we’ve got another round of negotiations coming up with our care workers…I think there’s really an opportunity for the government and unions to work together to improve the patient experience” he said.

“My goal at the end of the day is to improve the healthcare experience for Saskatchewan people.” Cockrill added.

Another important issue that Cockrill stressed was the importance of community safety.

“Dealing with some of these larger crime issues that we have as a province, but also in our region specifically and so that people feel safe living here and people feel safe going to the park, going to a hockey game and going for dinner downtown. We continue to have a good relationship with F division…continuing to discuss ways that we can improve the services available here.” he said.

Cockrill also spoke on the want to fill RCMP vacancies to keep the local detachment fully staffed and proactive.

“The provincial money is there to fund those positions, fill those positions out of the Depot (Division) and we will continue to advocate for the federal government to make sure that Saskatchewan positions get filled.” he said.

Upcoming Challenges

When looking forward to some for the new challenges the province might face in 2025, Cockrill mentioned the economic impact that United States President Elect Donald Trump may have.

“We are going to have potentially, I think some concerning economic headwinds in this province and specifically in relation to our trade with the US and incoming President Trump.” he said

The concerns come from the tariffs that Trump said he intends to put on Canadian good entering the United States.

“We need to make sure that our provincial government, which we’re committed to doing and our federal government are doing everything we can to protect Canadian jobs and Canadian workers…I just think all the more important that our provinces and our federal government are on the same page on.” said Cockrill.

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austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes

by Austin Mattes

A year in review and a look ahead with MLA Jeremy Cockrill

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