REGINA - It was another day of frustration Thursday for opposition New Democrats as they again failed to get anywhere with two new emergency motions.
This time, Regina Elphinstone-Centre MLA Meara Conway stood in the Assembly to propose an emergency motion calling former Regina Northeast MLA Gary Grewal to appear before the Committee of the Whole Assembly for cross-examination, after the Conflict of Interest Commissioner had found Grewal had violated conflict of interest rules over Social Services contracts with two hotels he had a financial interest in.
But that failed to reach the Assembly floor after the Sask Party majority voiced their refusal of unanimous consent to the Speaker.
Also not making it to the floor was Cumberland MLA’s Jordan McPhail’s motion calling for an all-party investigation into food prices in the North, in light of the scurvy issues seen there affecting residents. Once again, the Sask Party majority voiced their disapproval, stopping his attempted motion in its tracks in the Assembly.
The two attempted emergency motions came on the heels of what transpired at the Human Services Committee the previous morning, when the NDP's planned emergency motions on both Grewal and northern food prices also failed to make it into debate there. Instead, the Sask Party majority on the committee passed a motion to adjourn the meeting before either motion could be presented, over the objections of the three NDP MLAs who voted against the adjournment.
These latest attempted motions follow on the heels of other recent NDP attempts to bring emergency motions to suspend the gas tax and remove the PST on groceries. Those met a similar fate when they failed to get the required unanimous consent.
Following the latest failures on Thursday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck stood beside both Conway and McPhail and made known what she thought of the government’s ‘new approach’ to the legislature.
“Yeah, we very clearly saw the government members block attempts to bring emergency motions forward today. I think Saskatchewan people see right through that, certainly,” Beck said.
“Members on our side of the house see right through it. Again, this is a government that continues to say, oh, we've heard that Saskatchewan people wanted change. We've heard that Saskatchewan people demand better of their elected officials, but we see them going back to playing these games, frankly.”
With these two latest emergency motions having gone nowhere, Beck was asked what their next steps are.
“Well, I have a very talented team and a very talented house leader. I am not sure exactly what the next route will be, but I'll tell you this, and I said it today, and I look at these two MLAs beside me, I know they're not going to stop. There are many avenues we have to continue to raise these issues, but these are serious and important issues,” Beck said.
“I've put the Premier on notice that we are not going to stop. We are going to continue to fight and bring forth the issues that Saskatchewan people expect us to deliver on. I don't want to reveal all of my secrets out here today, but Saskatchewan people can continue to expect us to fight hard for the things that are important to them.”
Premier Moe under pressure on Grewal issue
Meanwhile the pressure has been on Premier Scott Moe and the government, from both the NDP and the media, on why the government was not holding Grewal accountable for conflict of interest. Moe was grilled by reporters Thursday on why there seemed to be little interest in reprimanding him.
“I ask, when was the last time that a private citizen was summoned or subpoenaed to the legislature? I don't know that that's ever happened,” Moe responded.
Moe told reporters that “in this case, this individual… didn't run for our party, he's not running for our party. He's a private citizen now. And I don't know the last time under any government that a private citizen has been summoned to appear… whether it be a committee or the legislature itself.”
Moe also reiterated the focus of the government would be on improving the social services that were there.
“And so, you know, I've indicated what the government is focused on is ensuring that the service is there and it's accountable to the people that are investing in the service, which is Saskatchewan people. “
Beck made known what she thought of what Moe had to say about Grewal.
“Well, let's talk about precedent, or what message this sends to the people of this province, when essentially the message we heard from the government today was that an MLA can break the law, and as long as they don't run again, there is no penalty. I do not think that Saskatchewan people think that that is good enough,” Beck said.
Beck pointed out that the Conflict of Interest Commissioner had left it to the MLAs to determine an appropriate penalty for Grewal’s conflict of interest violations. As for what an appropriate penalty would be, Beck said that was something they were still seeking legal advice around.
“But I can tell you that people of this province expect that there will be some penalty, and we'll have more to say about that in future days.”
On food prices in the North
On the food prices motion, Beck saw that failure as more evidence that the Sask Party government wasn’t serious about changing its ways.
“You know, the Premier has told us that he understands that people are looking for change. People are looking for more than just words,” Beck said.
“But then again today, he voted down an opportunity to put that into action, to show that he actually wants to find solutions to food prices in the North… Again, you know, the responsibility here, at least some of the responsibility has to fall on the provincial government. They have to at least be willing to acknowledge the problem and at least be willing to do something as reasonable as meet in a committee to figure out what we can do to ensure that people have access to good food in the north, reasonable food prices. And I think we can all agree that scurvy in 2024 is simply not a reasonable outcome.”
In speaking to reporters, Premier Moe made it known he thought the food price situation in the North pointed to larger issues at play.
“I think what we need to do is actually have a discussion about solutions, not just solutions in Saskatchewan but across Canada as well as what is, you know, how are we addressing the really significant inflation and cost of living pressures that all Canadian families are experiencing, and I would say largely they are due to a few reasons. One is policy development at the federal level. Two is, you know, there's been significant supply chain shifts around the world with, you know, in a post- pandemic environment…,” Moe said.
“…But we need to work on controlling what we can control, and in the nation of Canada I would say that there's policy development, whether it be, you know, the tax that we're seeing on the gas that we drive, the carbon tax that's going to be increasing this spring. Is that really the right time for that? We see the potential of tariffs coming from a U.S. administration. You know, is that really the right time for us to be increasing the costs on Canadian families?”
Moe added that he had been up in a number of northern communities in the past year, and said he was “very pleased to have just these discussions” on what to do to address some of the food security challenges.
“And so we'll work with the communities to look for solutions as opposed to looking for problems.”
