Danielle Chartier, the MLA for Saskatoon Riversdale, will run again for the NDP in the next election.
Chartier, a mother of two daughters, has been an MLA since 2009. She was appointed last year by NDP Leader Cam Broten to serve as the province’s critic for Health Care and for Seniors. In addition to being an advocate for Riversdale families, Chartier is devoted to the fight for better health care for all Saskatchewan families.
“Danielle has given voice over the last year to many patients and families who are suffering as a result of this government's neglect of the basics in health care and seniors care,” said Broten. “Hospitals are run-down, backlogged and filthy. Wait times in emergency rooms and for specialists are far too long. This government has a seniors care crisis, both in the number of spaces and in quality of care. And Danielle has been a strong advocate on all of these important issues.
“Danielle is both compassionate, and action-oriented,” said Broten. “She’s been making life better for a lot of families already, and I know she’s just getting started.”
Chartier is also the critic for Women, as well as for Early Learning and Childcare. As an MLA, her work has included introducing the Residents in Care Bill of Rights, a law that would have restored minimum quality of care standards in care facilities. Minimum standards were secretly removed by the government in 2011 and the government voted to defeat Chartier's legislation in May 2014.
Chartier worked as a reporter in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon before earning a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Regina. She worked for the Saskatchewan Department of Labour’s Work and Family Unit before she was elected as an MLA.
She has worked on projects for a number of community organizations including the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living, Catholic Family Services of Saskatoon and the Children’s Discovery Museum on the Saskatchewan.