Every November Canadians have the opportunity to remember all those who have served our nation and reflect upon the sacrifices they have made. As we observe Remembrance Day on November 11, let us remember and honour the sacrifices made by those who have served, and continue to serve, our country to defend our freedom.
Earlier this month, our government passed Bill 139, The Saskatchewan Remembrance Observance Act to ensure employees have the right to wear a poppy in the workplace. Protecting this right is a way to honour sacrifices made by veterans and their families.
Saskatchewan continues to receive good news on its strong and growing labour force. From October 2022 to October 2023, 19,300 jobs were added in the province. The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 per cent as of October 2023, the lowest among the provinces, and well below the national average of 5.7 per cent.
We also saw all-time highs for overall employment at 605,300 and female employment at 280,900. A growing labour force allows our province’s economy to continue to grow, creating more opportunities and a better quality of life for everyone.
Our province’s strong and growing economy allows our government to continue to invest in programs and services for Saskatchewan people. Our government is launching the new Saskatchewan Employment Incentive program to make life more affordable for working families with low incomes.
The new program will provide a financial benefit, supplementary health benefits, connections to employment, and housing supports. By helping parents to enter and stay in the workforce, this program will have lasting, positive impacts on the quality of life of Saskatchewan families.
We continue to invest in Saskatchewan’s health care system to ensure everyone can get the care they need, when and where they need it. Work continues under the Health Human Resources Action Plan, our government’s four-point plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain health care workers, and we are seeing strong progress across several areas.
Forty-three Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) from the Philippines have now arrived in Saskatchewan and are completing on-site clinical training. Upon completion of this training, they will be eligible for licensure and ready to begin work in our health care system before the end of December.
The 58 paramedic training bursaries announced in July were all awarded to support paramedic training for EMS providers. Due to the high rate of application uptake, our government has invested another $290,000 to expand the program and award another 35 bursaries.
Our government also continues to invest in the protection of persons and property. The province’s new Warrant Intelligence Team officially began operations on November 1, 2023. This team will work to suspend government benefits to prolific violent offenders with outstanding warrants and share information to aid police in their apprehension.
We recently introduced important legislation to lay the foundation for the Saskatchewan Marshals Service, an independent, made-in-Saskatchewan police service. The Marshals will provide an additional law enforcement presence across Saskatchewan and support the RCMP, municipal and First Nations police when needed. Their duties will include responding to areas with high crime rates, combating gangs and illegal weapons, apprehending prolific offenders and individuals with outstanding arrest warrants, and investigating farming-related offences like cattle theft and trespassing.
To protect landowners, our government has passed expanded legislation to ensure landowners who are owed compensation by companies drilling for oil or gas on their property can collect what they are owed. Amendments will give the Ministry of Energy and Resources and the Surface Rights Board of Arbitration more powers to protect landowners. These changes will enable the board and the ministry to enforce delinquent surface rights payments from oil and gas licensees and ensure landowners are properly compensated for property damage.
As we continue to move through the fall session of the Legislature, I look forward to hearing from you. These conversations with constituents help me represent your best interests in the Legislature. You can reach my constituency office at 306-692-8884 or mjnorthmla@sasktel.net.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
