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Regina Walsh Acres Nomination Address

By Premier Lorne Calvert

Fellow New Democrats, fellow candidates, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen...

I don't think there's anybody in our party who speaks with greater passion and conviction than Sandra Morin.

Sandra really calls ‘em like she sees ‘em, and that's why the people of Regina Walsh Acres will return her to the government side of the Legislative Assembly on November 7th.

Friends, this campaign is only a day old and already I can feel an energy in our team and in our membership that I'm not sure I've felt before.

New Democrats across Saskatchewan understand what is at stake in this election. They understand what is at risk. They also know the promise the future holds with continued New Democratic leadership.

This morning I was in Saskatoon to announce the first major plank of our healthcare platform. It constitutes the next chapter in our party's, and our province's, history of leadership on Medicare.

Medicare has a proud history in Saskatchewan. After all, we invented it. 

We invented it because, in the words of the Greatest Canadian Tommy Douglas, we believed (that is members of our political movement and the majority of the people Saskatchewan) that healthcare is too important to come with a price tag attached.

We believe now, as Greatest Canadian advocate George Stroumboulopoulos put it, that it's your health card that should determine the services you get under Medicare, not your credit card. 

That's why we introduced the Seniors Drug Plan, the single most important improvement to a provincial Medicare plan in this country in a generation.

We believed then and we believe now that no senior citizen in the province of Saskatchewan should ever have to make a decision about which prescription he or she is going to fill in any given month. 

We believed then and we believe now that no senior citizen in the province of Saskatchewan should have to choose between filling a prescription and buying gift for a grandchild.

And so we capped the cost of prescription medications listed in the provincial formulary, for seniors, at $15 per prescription. 

Our province's seniors and elders, whose contributions to Saskatchewan are incalculable, are no longer required to make these types of choices.

But friends, we also know that you don't have to be 65 years old or older to be burdened by high cost prescription drugs. 

There are times when those costs represent a severe burden, and a measurable deterioration of a person's, or a family's, quality of life.

Friends, our mission is to make life better for Saskatchewan families. Our mission is to ensure that all Saskatchewan people benefit from our strong and prosperous economy. 

Our mission is to preserve, strengthen, and lead Canada in the provision of publicly funded and publicly delivered healthcare.

Today we have taken the next step. 

Today, I was pleased to announce that an NDP government will introduce a Universal Drug Plan, modeled on the Seniors Drug Plan, effective July 1^st, 2008-the 46^th anniversary of Saskatchewan Medicare.

The Seniors' Drug Plan works. The time has now come to extend those benefits to everyone in Saskatchewan so that a family's ability to pay will no longer determine whether they get the prescription drugs they need. 

Today's announcement places Saskatchewan at the forefront of Medicare delivery in Canada, precisely where we belong, precisely where an NDP government will always insist on being.

Friends, there is renewed energy in our party that reflects the renewed energy you can feel no matter where you go in this province. 

Saskatchewan is truly booming.

We have more jobs than people to fill them.

People are coming home to seize the opportunities available to them. 

This did not just happen by accident. Our NDP government has worked hard to help make it happen.

We balanced 14 straight budgets leading to 16 straight credit rating upgrades.

We reformed resource royalties to stimulate record activity in mining, oil and gas. 

We cut taxes-personal income taxes, business taxes, property taxes, the PST by 2 per cent.

We are providing Saskatchewan families with the most affordable utility bundle in Canada. 

University tuitions are frozen.

Training spaces at colleges have increased. 

Our graduate tax exemption means young people get a strong start as they stay here to build their careers and raise their families.

90% of graduating nurses are now staying in Saskatchewan. 

Health wait lists are getting shorter.

Together with the hard-working people of this province we have built a stronger, healthier and more prosperous Saskatchewan than ever before. All this raises a fundamental question.

 Is it really time for a change?

 Is change for the sake of change worth the risk to Saskatchewan families?

 To Saskatchewan seniors?

 To Saskatchewan workers?

 To Saskatchewan students?

You may have heard that, earlier today, Brad Wall announced his party's plan for post-secondary education in the province of Saskatchewan.

It's a poorly conceived plan that does absolutely nothing to attract young people to Saskatchewan or to persuade Saskatchewan students who go to university elsewhere to come home.

Under this plan, there will be no tuition freeze, no tuition reduction, and no protection from future tuition increases.

Furthermore, his 7 year program is wildly complicated, with different rebates going to different graduates. Mr. Wall seems to be operating under the assumption that the more complicated a plan is, the better it will work.

We will soon be announcing our own plan for post-secondary education-a less complicated, more effective plan created in consultation with students and their families by my colleague Warren McCall.

We have a real plan for students, a plan that will tap into the tremendous energy of our young people so that they may contribute to, and fully benefit from, our re-energized economy.

 Friends, the energy that has gripped this province, the spirit of optimism and pride that has gripped this province, is shared by people all across Saskatchewan, with 58 notable exceptions-Brad Wall and his Sask Party candidates.

 Despite all the evidence of our province's success, they remain stubbornly negative about Saskatchewan.

 Brad Wall tells Albertans that we need to be more like them. That we're crazy not to imitate them.

 Mr. Wall may want to be an Alberta follower.

 I want Saskatchewan to be a Canadian leader.

 I am proud to lead a strong new team of New Democrats who will continue to move Saskatchewan forward.

 I'm confident that the people of Saskatchewan, in their excellent judgment, will choose the party with a bold new vision and a bold new team.

 I'm confident they will choose the NDP and a secure and sustainable prosperity from which all may benefit.

 Now some might say that my confidence is misplaced.

 They say that, despite the booming economy and the renewed optimism and pride of our people, our party is trailing in the polls.

 I would caution those who put a lot of stock in polls to consult polls taken about four years ago.

The polls today are actually more favourable to New Democrats than they were four years ago. We all know what happened four years ago.

 Speaking of polls, according to a Harris-Decima survey conducted just last month, Saskatchewan people today are more content, more secure, more optimistic, view themselves as more compassionate and even funnier than most Canadians, an opinion shared by one of the country's leading experts on the subject, Brent Butt.

 Not terribly surprising in the home of Canada's top two television comedies, Little Mosque on the Prairie and Brent's own Corner Gas.

 I have to say though that Brent did rank us behind Newfoundland in the funny department which is fine with me because if I know anything about Saskatchewan people it's that they love a challenge.

 And while I'm on the subject of polls, I want to give notice to Mr. Wall. I also love a challenge.

 And I know that you love a challenge too.

 Our challenge is to win this election so that we can deliver a Universal Drug Plan to the people of Saskatchewan.

 So that we can deliver affordable and accessible post secondary education.

 So that we can create more opportunities for young people.

 So we can put more money in the pockets of working families.

 So we can continue leading Canada in environmental protection.

 So we can continue building an even stronger, greener and more prosperous Saskatchewan.

 Let's go win an election!