Kids have been left out of the reopening plan: NDP

As of Monday, someone in Saskatchewan can get a massage, buy a new outfit and then go out for supper, but some parents are still frustrated because they feel there hasn’t been anything in the province’s reopening plan for their kids.

“It’s really hard for me to watch gyms and restaurants open up and my kids can’t sit on a swing,” said Krista Broda, who spoke to media along with representatives of the Saskatchewan NDP on Thursday.

Broda said she trusts the chief medical health officer and she doesn’t want the province to rush as it reopens things that were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. But she said it feels like children have been forgotten.

“Everything around us is moving forward except things that are impacting our child’s mental health and things that are going to benefit them,” she said.

Broda said things like libraries, museums and outdoor recreation facilities are so important to kids, and said her seven-year-old needs to be able to do more than just go ride his bike.

Heather Woolhouse agreed. She said her kids keep asking when they can go to these places but she doesn’t have an answer for them because the government hasn’t given her one.

“All these little things that my kids are so used to doing that we’ve just — we’ve been told ‘no.’ I 100 per cent understand that, because I do want everyone to be safe, but my kids still need a little bit of normalcy in their life,” she said.

Woolhouse said kids have been stuck inside for almost three months and they, and their parents, are feeling stuck.

“I have done all of the things. I have let them make ridiculous messes, we’ve done experiments, we’ve done crafts — so many crafts … but my kids want real things to do now. They’re still young enough. My kids are four and seven. They still need that hands-on, that tactile ability,” said Woolhouse.

She said her kids are bored and they need new challenges, even if it’s just at the park down the street.

The NDP is calling on the government to put together a plan for reopening that includes kids.

“So far the reopening plan has really been silent on the question of all these little people who’ve been losing the end of the year at school, losing their access to favourite activities and access to playgrounds. We want some guidance overall,” NDP Leader Ryan Meili said.

The NDP wants that plan to include access to child care for everyone as kids won’t be going back to school this year and more and more people are heading back to work.

It also wants access for infrastructure like playgrounds and libraries, and also clear guidelines for kids’ sport and arts recreation programs to start up again. Meili pointed out other provinces have been able to open such things up safely.

Meili said the NDP also wants SaskTel to extend the overage relief for data charges at least through the end of June.

“You’ve still got kids in school until the end of June. We shouldn’t have a situation where, just to be able to attend school, kids’ families are facing big increases in their data bills,” Meili said.

Carla Beck, the NDP critic for education, early learning and child care, said no one wants a reckless reopening of services, but the things the NDP is asking for can be opened safely, possibly with some modifications.

She pointed out there were detailed guidelines early on about how to operate golf courses, but nothing on libraries or playgrounds.

“The needs of children — the developmental needs, the emotional, the social, mental health needs of children — simply have not been properly looked at in this reopening plan,” Beck said.

Beck said what the NDP is really asking for is children to be considered in the reopen plan, not just an afterthought.

Later Thursday, the provincial government announced that plans for Phase 4 of the reopening plan are being developed.

There still isn’t a target date for the phase, but it will be rolled out in two parts.

The first phase will include the openings of child and youth day camps as well as outdoor pools and spray parks. Indoor pools, indoor rinks, libraries, museums, galleries, movie theatres, casinos and bingo halls are to reopen in the second wave.

The government said public health measures are being developed for the reopening of parks, playgrounds and beaches. Further details are to be made available next week.