It was a busy Thursday in the Legislature, as three new acts were introduced regarding emergency room closures, libraries, and football.
The Sask. Party introduced both the Public Libraries Amendment Act 2025 and the Tailgating Act. The latter will allow tailgating events at Mosaic Stadium for Saskatchewan Roughriders home games.
To follow, NDP Rural and Remote Health Critic Jared Clarke introduced the ER Closure Right to Know Amendment Act, noting that it could save lives.
“Between February of 2018 and July of 2019, the Saskatchewan Health Authority reported 86 hospital closures. Then, between November 24 and May of 2025, that number shot up to 643 hospital closures. That’s nearly an 800 per cent increase.”
During Question Period, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill drew Clarke’s attention to the recent SHA announcement from just 40 minutes prior, which commits to implementing an updated emergency service disruption process, exactly what Clarke was calling for.
“I have heard directly from community members and leaders across the province this summer that there were frustrations around the notifications for disruptions. This is why I tasked the Saskatchewan Health Authority with coming up with a new process. That process has now been announced today. I invite the member opposite to take a look.”
Once activated in early November, the new SHA reporting process will provide rural patients with an alphabetical listing of all facilities experiencing service disruptions which will be updated daily at 4pm.
Also during Question Period, the Saskatchewan NDP called out the inefficiencies of the provincial government’s Administrative Information Management System, more commonly referred to as AIMS.
Party Leader Carla Beck says the program was a waste of over $250 million, as healthcare workers are still feeling the effects of buggy scheduling and payment software.
“Not only do healthcare workers not get paid a fare wage, sometimes they don’t get paid at all. That’s because of this government’s AIMS fiasco. Will the Premier admit that this program’s rollout has been an absolute disaster since day one, and will he either fix it immediately or scrap it?”
In response, the Health Minister reiterated the province’s decision on Wednesday to stop using the scheduling aspect of AIMS. The SHA will revert to using its previous scheduling system, a switch that is expected to be completed by November 30.
