Carla Beck spoke and Megan Nash performed at the Wood River NDP Fall banquet and AGM held in Assiniboia at the 55 Club on October 5. A total of 45 tickets were sold primarily to hear the MLA from Regina Lakeview address the general circumstance influencing the province’s current education system and other sectors, such as crown corporations. Yet, the meeting was also a social occasion for New Democrats from Assiniboia, Gravelbourg and other regional communities to assemble and meet with one another.
NDP Education Critic Carla Beck, a former assistant director of a woman’s shelter and a registered social worker, began her talk by speaking on certain issues such as the Regina Bypass controversy and the overall situation of Saskatchewan’s crown corporations. Above all, Beck wanted to find more ways to unify the province. The MLA believed her party would recreate Saskatchewan’s social fabric, which Beck described as being under threat.
“We all have a common goal. We all have a common purpose. And we engage in teamwork,” Beck said at the beginning of her talk. She then discussed the SaskPower and SaskTel strikes, judging the province’s crown corporations were being undermined by the government. The MLA believed the government has a secret plan to dissolve Saskatchewan’s crown assets. “Five thousand crown workers are on strike. We need those crown corporations and we need those crown corporations supported.”
Also, on the topic of crown corporations, Beck promised the NDP would bring back the STC, because the MLA is certain the province required a renewed bus system to connect the province’s rural communities to larger centres. “We would reinstate the provincial bus system. We need some form of interprovincial travel.”
The Regina Bypass – a frequent topic for the NDP – also marked Beck’s conversation. Beck began her review on the Regina Bypass by talking about the mountainous 543.3-kilometre-long Coquihalla Highway, which according to the MLA, had a $800 million price tag. Beck compared the highway in British Columbia to the road near the capital. “This straight flat track of 48 kilometres costs almost $2 billion,” she said of the Regina Bypass.
Beck also wanted Saskatchewan to develop a suicide strategy, saying young Indigenous girls are 26 times more likely to commit suicide. “This is not a partisan issue, but something we have to deal with in this province.”
“Are there any teachers in the house?” Beck asked and several in the audience raised their hands. “It’s been an honour to be the Saskatchewan Education Critic since 2016,” she said before introducing the topic of education. According to Beck, $54 million in education cuts have been instigated by the current government. She further mentioned the government’s promise in February, 2018 to add 400 more education assistants to the system, which still hasn’t happened. Finally, Beck examined the widespread low staff morale in schools, where teachers are frustrated with overcrowded classrooms. “Teachers can’t provide the best education in their classrooms, but we are going to put people first,” Beck said as she portrayed a conceivable NDP government in Saskatchewan under Ryan Meili’s leadership in the future.
