The NDP says if they form government this fall, they will make investments to ensure children’s mental health is a priority. Leader Ryan Meili says he has heard from parents and teacher who are worried about how the pandemic is impacting kids. According to Meili, “Young people have been through so much in the past months, and supports were already inadequate.” He says his government would invest $5 million to hire 50 mental health nurses for schools and an additional $5 million to work with school divisions to reverse cuts and hire child educational psychologists, counselors, speech language pathologists, and other mental health supports.

Meili says the Saskatchewan Party government has cut per-student funding by $300 since 2015-16. He says there are fewer councillors, psychologists and speech language pathologists than there were in 2015-16.