Premier stands by comments about lockdown advocates

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe stood by comments he made at the Municipalities of Saskatchewan convention Monday, when he said those who advocate for lockdowns to control COVID-19 do so with the luxury of working remotely.

Moe was asked on Gormley on Tuesday if he took back the statement and replied: “Absolutely not.”

“Not all that are working from home are saying that we should look at further shutdowns in Saskatchewan,” Moe said.

“But there are some that do have that opportunity to continue with their salary … or have the opportunity to work at home that have made those comments that we should shut more when they aren’t personally affected.”

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour said the premier’s remarks were disrespectful to frontline workers.

Many of them, including those in the health-care system, have been calling on the province to enact tighter public health measures “because they are the ones who are dealing firsthand with the Premier’s lack of action that has led to us having some of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the country,” said a statement from SFL president Lori Johb.

The SFL said the government needs to take action to make sure all workers are safe instead of “trying to pit one group of workers against another.”

Johb charged that the province has left federal pandemic aid unspent while refusing to pay wage top-ups to many essential workers.

Moe said his government’s goal has always been to preserve the health-care system’s capacity while keeping the economy open.

“These lockdown and measures are stopgap measures to find our way to when we can have mass vaccines available to the general population,” he said.

Saskatchewan’s health minister is to detail Phase 2 of the government’s vaccination program Tuesday.

In this phase, vaccines will become more widely available but the queue will depend on age, as older populations are at higher risk of hospitalization or death.

This part of the campaign is supposed to start by April but Moe was pessimistic about that timeline considering shortages of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“If we don’t receive at least the six million vaccines that the federal government has said we will receive in the first quarter … we won’t be able to start that Phase 2,” he said.

The first phase of the vaccination plan covers long-term care residents and workers as well as vulnerable populations, of which there are about 190,000 people.

So far, not even 10 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated, Moe said.