Photo Credit: NDP

The provincial Opposition is up in arms over the minister of advance’s education’s recent nine-day trip to Asia.

The NDP say the Minister spent $42,000 on flights alone, accusing Ken Cheveldayoff of “living a first-class life.”

The Province has since responded to the accusation, stating that the cost covered the travel of the Minister and three officials, as well as one support staff member required to assist the Deputy Minister of Advanced Education at the time, who is visually impaired. However, the delegation did, in fact, admit to flying business class.

The response adds that the NDP is not immune to costly travel, stating that “Carla Beck accepted a gift of hotels and flights from Unifor to an undisclosed location. Unifor has donated over $400,000 to the NDP in the past 10 years.”

The Saskatchewan NDP is also urging the government to invest in additional long term care homes for seniors.

NDP Associate Health Critic Keith Jorgenson says a freedom of information request revealed that in 2007, there were 181 long term care facilities with 8,944 beds in them. Today there are 161 facilities, with 8,823 beds in them.

He says this has a human and monetary cost, as seniors waiting for long-term care often end up making trips to the doctor or hospital far more often.

He adds that beds can’t be kept open if the personnel aren’t available to staff them, so that should be a focus for the current government.