The NDP is calling on the Saskatchewan Party to change the way it’s dealing with the opioid crisis.
NDP Mental Health and Addictions Critic Danielle Chartier says it’s heartbreaking what families have to go through when a loved one can’t get treatment.
In response, Health Minister Jim Reiter said last week he and MP Ralph Goodale signed an agreement to access an emergency opioids treatment fund which the federal government has agreed to in Saskatchewan and the health minister expects the federal government will do the same elsewhere and to also include crystal meth.
Reiter says crystal meth is an issue not only in Saskatchewan but across Canada.
Chartier says more and more families are being let down while the provincial government sits on the sidelines.
The NDP also questioned the government on their plans for increasing supports for sexual assault centres in the province during Thursday’s Question Period.
NDP Justice, Corrections and Policing Critic Nicole Sarauer says it’s not just a lack of funding and supports for survivors that’s holding the province back, it’s the total lack for a plan to address sexual assault.
In response, Minister of Advanced Education, Tina Beaudry-Mellor says the province is building a coordinated sexual assault strategy with the Status of Women office and that Sask. Party acknowledges that there is still work to be done on the issue.
The number of police reported sexual assaults increased by 30 per cent in Saskatoon between 2013-2017, in Regina the increase was 26 per cent.