Dear friends,

We've been through a lot in recent months. We’re showing what Saskatchewan people are made of as we fight the COVID crisis together.

Saskatchewan people are hardworking, friendly and strong, and I am so grateful and proud of the work we have all done to keep each other safe.

But now, we have a new challenge to face together: how to protect our families and our neighbours against the possibility of a second wave, how to make our schools safer and better, how to strengthen healthcare, how to stop the Sask. Party’s plans for deep cuts and build an economy that works for all of us.

Saskatchewan has a very clear choice. A choice between Scott Moe’s plan for austerity, for cuts that will hurt families; or our plan for the investments that will get our economy moving and help people through this challenging time.

Even before COVID-19 hit, life here was getting harder. Families were stretched to the breaking point, worried about how to pay their bills.

And when I asked Scott Moe about that – about the fact that our economy was slowing down and families were hurting – he said, “that’s news to me.”

Well, it isn’t news to me, and I’m sure it isn’t news to you, the families feeling that stress every day.

Scott Moe and the Sask. Party are stuck in neutral – acting like nothing’s changed. They squandered the boom. Now they’re asking you and your family to pay the price for their bad choices.

Over the past 13 years, they have tripled the debt, shoveled billions of dollars of our money to out-of-province political donors and left our public services stretched to the breaking point.

Now, they’re promising four years of “austerity.”

That means four more years of cuts, of Crown sell-offs, of privatization of healthcare.

These cuts are a bad idea at any time. During a global pandemic, they’re downright dangerous.

We need a government that will fix problems, not just ignore them.

That is my commitment to you.

Together with my new, forward-looking team, we will take action – right away – on the things that matter to you and your family:

• Safer schools and smaller class sizes, instead of the worst back-to-school plan in Canada;
• An economy that works for us, including a Sask-First approach to building roads, schools and hospitals, a $15/hour minimum wage, and creating jobs in renewables through our plan for clean energy that reduces emissions and lowers bills for families;
• Making sure our services like hospitals and clinics are there when we need them;
• Fixing long-term care and expanding home care to help seniors stay at home; and,
• Stopping the cuts and fixing the Sask. Party’s broken politics, starting with taking big money out of politics so that we make decisions based on what works for people, not for the powerful.

The Sask. Party has taken many years to dig the hole we find ourselves in today. It will take time to undo the damage.

Fortunately, we have a plan to get started right away.

There is much to do. Taking ambitious action on climate change. Working in partnership to close the gaps in employment, health and justice between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Saskatchewan. Acting to make workplaces safer and fairer. New Democrats are ready to get to work.

We need a real plan to get our province’s finances back on a solid footing. We’ll appoint a panel of experts to open the Sask. Party’s books, tell the true story of our finances and advise us on how to build our province back stronger than ever. And we promise that you and your family will come first as we build our budgets.

Saskatchewan people have a clear choice before us.

Scott Moe’s old ideas aren’t working for ordinary families. More Sask. Party cuts aren’t the way to rebuild our province.

We need to invest in people. Invest in healthcare. In seniors. In our kids’ schools. We need to diversify our economy and get families and our province moving forward again.

We can build a better future here in Saskatchewan. It is possible when we put people first.

Yours,

Ryan