During his visit to Humboldt for several events on June 6th, NDP leader Ryan Meili stopped by 107.5 Bolt FM studios for a conversation. The Leader of the Opposition responded to questions on key areas related to education, health care, agriculture, and energy and the environment.

On the education front, school boards across the province have been increasingly concerned with their ability to manage their operational budgets given levels of provincial funding. Since a funding formula shift a number of years ago, K-12 education has become increasingly reliant on provincial coffers. That, compounded with the increasing complexity of classrooms, has led to increased pressures.

With what he considers to be a zero increase in funding since 2016, Meili characterizes the situation this way, "Integrated and inclusive education is wonderful, but we've got more kids with special needs in the classroom, more kids from other countries, so French or English is a new language for them. So our classrooms are tougher on teachers. The failure to invest in Education, which is exactly what this is, means you're not keeping up with funding and educational assistant supports. That failure is going to cost us so much more down the road."

These challenges come at a time when national studies are sparking criticisms about levels of student performance in the province. To that, Meili responds, "Any troubles with quality are not because we're not graduating great teachers or have great teachers available. It's because of the way we put stresses on the system. The resources haven't kept up with the needs."

When asked about the Provincial and Federal Governments' funding of mental health initiatives in the last budgets, Meili was cautiously positive. 

"It's good, but it isn't good enough. We are still far below the national average in terms of the percentage of our health care budget that goes to mental health." Meili referred to the connection between mental health and the stresses experienced by individuals impacted by economic factors. He notes that shifts in agriculture and the energy sector have exacerbated the situation. However, he also cited the crisis facing youth in the north given the alarming incidence of suicide.

Meili notes, "This session, we introduced a law to have a suicide prevention strategy, and unfortunately the government chose not to support that law or go down that road despite our evidence-based approach that would have made a real difference."

The conversation moved into concerns regarding various sectors of agriculture. Some concerns are wrought by supply and transport issues while, more recently, others are grounded in politics. Drawing on his background coming from a family farm, Meili confesses concern for what he is seeing. Regarding access to markets, Meili states that his caucus is open to cooperation at all levels of government. 

"We need to be working on a diplomatic level to get into China, that's a huge market, but also the United States, India, and other countries. How do we diversify our customer base so we are not so dependent on one product or one customer? We also need to look at what supports are available for farmers at a difficult time." 

Of considerable concern to Meili is the impact of climate change on the agriculture sector. Meili contends that these realities will require the entire industry to adapt in ways it has not yet imagined. He explains, "We need to be working on ideas like what are the crops that will survive in changing conditions, changing growing seasons, changing moisture levels, and that means going down the road of investing more at the University of Saskatchewan and throughout the province on researching innovation so that we are ready to be adaptable."

Finally, continuing with environmental concerns, but moving into the energy sector, Meili commented on the impending legal challenge on the constitutionality of the carbon tax. On this, Meili made the position clear, "We don't like the federal carbon tax. We don't think it's a good fit for Saskatchewan, particularly in rural Saskatchewan where people simply don't have a choice." 

Meili referred to a geography that requires residents to drive distances for services and a climate that requires sustained heating of homes. His criticism rests with the notion that the federal policy failed to take into account the reality of industries and day to day lives on the prairies.

That being said, Meili advocated for continued negotiation with the federal government to come to a consensus on a plan that will work for people in rural areas. Meili concludes, "We do need to recognize that climate change is real and that it is going to have a huge impact on our lives. And we need to step up; we need to be part of showing some leadership. The good news is we have opportunities. We have the best environment in the country for the production of energy. We have great opportunities in solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass."

Meili suggests an upfront loan system through SaskPower that would allow people to install solar panels to provide energy for personal use and sell excess power back to the grid. The upfront loan would be paid off through utility payments over a long term period. He feels this will provide the incentive necessary for a public who is already inquiring about alternative energy sources. 

Meili concludes by promoting the idea that Saskatchewan is a culture of solution finders. He states. "We can't just say we have a problem and it's somebody else's fault. We need to confront our challenges head-on and use our Saskatchewan ingenuity and creativity to come up with some big solutions."