NDP opposition calls for health minister's resignation
REGINA -
Saskatchewan’s NDP opposition has renewed calls for Health Minister Paul Merriman to resign.
At a press conference on Monday, the NDP cited rising delta variant case numbers and the province’s low vaccination rates as reasons Merriman should resign from his portfolio.
“It’s a year and a half in to COVID-19 and we would sure like COVID to be over,” said Vicki Mowat, NDP health critic.
She mentioned that Saskatchewan’s new case numbers are among the highest in the country.
The NDP said the government has been “missing in action,” and the health minister has not been listening to calls from the public and the medical community to prevent more deaths from happening.
“[Merriman] has not been putting in the work to make sure that our vaccination rates are able to increase at the rate that we need them to be able to be safe as we move in to fall,” said Mowat.
NDP leader Ryan Meili said the province is in a are in a “rough situation” because of Merriman’s record.
“The second wave, he ignored the voices of doctors, did nothing, hundreds of people died. The third wave, he and Scott Moe saw the variants on the rise, saw the model, and chose to relax restrictions giving those variants a head start, and hundreds of people died. And now we’re facing a very similar situation,” Meili said.
In addition to the resignation of the health minister, Meili said the NDP would also like to see more power handed over to the chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab.
CTV News reached out to the health minister’s office for a response, and this story will be updated once a response is provided.
“I actually won't dignify that with the response,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said when asked about the resignation call. “The health minister has been working very hard throughout this pandemic and most certainly is. He continues to work hard with Dr. Shahab, Scott Livingstone and the Ministry of Health in providing the best advice that we can to the people in the province.”
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