The Official Opposition’s Critic for Seniors says today’s announcement that the province is taking over the operation of Extendicare’s long term care facilities in Saskatchewan was long overdue. Matt Love says moving away from what he calls “the deadly for-profit care” is welcomed, but he questions why it took so long for the for the province to act. Love suggests the living conditions at Extendicare facilities in Saskatchewan have been known to be dangerous and deadly.

He notes the NDP has been highlighting issues with this private care provider for nearly a decade, saying going back to 2012, families, independent officers of the legislature and the Official Opposition have spoken up about the inadequate standards within Extendicare facilities and have called for minimum care standards to be implemented.

The Saskatchewan NDP’s Leader spoke about a comment the Health Minister made on Thursday. Ryan Meili says Paul Merriman admitted he ignored advice from Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab, and instead took other factors into account in his decision making around COVID-19. Merriman told reporters he took into consideration vaccination rates, ICU status, hospitalizations and the number of new cases of the virus, but Meili says none of these factors were in good shape and Saskatchewan has the worst death rates and vaccination rates in the country. Meili believes Merriman put the health of the Sask Party and politics ahead of Saskatchewan people.