Ahead of the federal election, the Saskatchewan NDP is calling on all three major party leaders to commit to addressing critical issues facing the province.

Party Leader Carla Beck sent Pierre Poilievre, Mark Carney and Jagmeet Singh a letter in late March. It includes her ideal federal agenda which outlines the need to expand access to global markets for Saskatchewan products via ports, rail, pipelines, and power lines.

It also calls on the future federal government leader to scrap the federal carbon tax, maintain tariffs on Chinese steel, work to remove Chinese tariffs on Saskatchewan’s agricultural products, twin the Trans-Canada Highway, increase federal healthcare transfers, and expand school nutrition funding. The full list of asks is below.

In a written release, Beck states that “These are not red, blue or orange priorities — these are Saskatchewan priorities. We need a federal government that is focused on the future and delivers on what matters most to the people of Saskatchewan.”

Provincial NDP asks include:

· Expanding access to global markets for Saskatchewan products, including investments in trade-enabling infrastructure like ports, rail, pipelines, and power lines.

· Scrapping the federal carbon tax.

· Protecting jobs at Evraz in Regina by maintaining tariffs on Chinese steel, while fighting for the removal of Chinese tariffs on Saskatchewan’s agricultural products.

· Twinning the Trans-Canada Highway from coast to coast to improve transportation safety and efficiency.

· Increasing federal healthcare transfers to reduce wait times and improve access, while maintaining and expanding dental, contraceptive, and insulin coverage.

· Reforming the equalization formula to treat natural resource revenues fairly and recognize rural realities.

· Urgently signing a new childcare funding agreement to protect access to $10/day childcare and ensure new childcare spaces are delivered.

· Expanding school nutrition funding.

· Investing in the future of Saskatchewan’s power generation with realistic timelines for reaching net zero.

· Hiring more RCMP officers to serve Saskatchewan communities and preserving jobs at Depot Division in Regina.

· Honouring federal commitments to First Nations and Métis people and ensuring equitable on-reserve services.

· Delivering real progress on broadband and connectivity for rural and remote communities.