NDP call for firing of of Sask. education minister

Saskatchewan’s NDP doesn’t believe Education Minister Dustin Duncan deserves a job right now.

“Simply put, when you don’t do your job, you don’t get to keep your job,” Carla Beck, the NDP opposition education critic, said.

In a virtual news conference Monday, the NDP keyed on a statement — which has been contradicted by Saskatchewan School Board Association President, Shawn Davidson — from Duncan during last Wednesday’s provincial news conference.

“We have worked very closely with our school divisions and with the (Saskatchewan School Boards Association) and from that group, there was certainly no interest that was expressed to extend the holiday break, whether that be two days or a week,” Duncan said at the time.

Davidson told the CBC two days later that there wasn’t, “any indication given to us from the government that they were contemplating responding to that request.”

Davidson said he wasn’t informed that a school delay was on the table.

Beck was joined by critic and opposition deputy house leader Aleana Young in the news conference. Young, a former school board trustee and vice president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, was originally on the initial response planning team for COVID.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen is a government that is rudderless. They have neglected the health, economy and education of Saskatchewan. They have consistently put politics ahead of people,” she said, pointing criticism at Duncan.

“This is a minister who does not care about the basic health and safety of students, parents and staff — let alone learning and grad rates.”

Saskatchewan was the lone province in Canada to return to in-class learning last week.

The conditions educators have had to work in during the past week were described as one of the hardest they’ve seen in their career, according to Beck.

“They were surprised how long the week felt, and how tired and frustrated and exhausted they were — especially given we just had the Christmas break,” she said.

Beck said she’s heard concerns of school COVID spread without the number of teachers they’d normally have, a third to a half of class lists being absent, schools sending out lists rather than individualized letters for exposure risks and concerns that this outbreak has only just begun.

When asked for a message for the students carrying on in classrooms across Saskatchewan, Beck offered a few words.

“We see how difficult this is. We recognize what they’ve been through, even if we don’t know it. There are a lot of people out there who do value their education, who do want better for our education system.”

In a statement sent to 650 CKOM, the provincial government responded to the NDP’s call for Duncan’s resignation by saying the minister was busy all day in northern Saskatchewan.

“While the NDP continue to play politics by taking pointless and gratuitous cheap shots at cabinet ministers, Education Minister Dustin Duncan spent the day doing precisely what (he) was appointed to do: working with and for the education sector,” the statement read.

“In fact, both Premier Moe and Minister Duncan were in northern Saskatchewan today meeting with the La Loche school community and celebrating progress made towards their new school. Much like the teachers and staff in schools across the province, our government’s focus will continue to be on supporting our students.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick