Thread by @Carla4Lakeview

Are you having a hard time keeping track of what the Education Minister has been up to?

I don’t blame you.

After downloading all his responsibilities to divisions, he’s now meddling in public health decisions that aren’t good for his local politics.

🧵

#skpoli #sask

Back in August, while the Minister took the summer off, case counts began to skyrocket. The SHA created a back to school plan to better protect children for the fall term.

The Minister opted to ignore it.

#sasked #skpoli #sask

leaderpost.com/news/saskatche…

Not wanting to face potential criticism, the Minister downloaded all of the responsibilities, leaving decision-making to the local school divisions to work with their local medical health officers.

#sasked #skpoli #sask

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

"I'm looking forward to my son going back to school," he said.

"We will follow the rules that are that are going to be put in place by our school and by our school division, because I know that they will be working with their local medical health officer to make that decision."

School boards across SK, in consultation with their local medical health officers, filled the void in leadership from the Sask. Party gov't & implemented measures to protect their students & staff as Saskatchewan posted record case rates.

#skpoli #sask

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

This was the case throughout the fall until a local medical health officer implemented a public health order requiring proof of vaccination or negative test to participate in a local volleyball tournament. The host school was under active COVID outbreak.

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

A couple parents from the Minister's constituency reached out to him upset over the public health order.

This led to the Minister penning his first letter to school board chairs on Nov 17, 48 hours before the tournament, causing mass confusion among school boards.

The reason this caused mass confusion was that it was not only in direct contradiction to the Minister's earlier direction (that school boards should work with their local MHOs) but was also in contradiction with the government's own direction regarding outbreaks.

#skpoli

The Minister then penned a letter the next day stating that if a third-party facility requiring proof of vaccination/negative test was hosting a school event, that the school should work with the third-party facility to remove that requirement for students or cancel the event.

On November 30, the Minister was asked to clarify once again, whether a local medical health officer could overrule his letters.

In response, he stated that he would expect the school to ignore a recommendation, but an order would trump his letters.

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

Hours later he sent school boards another letter, this time telling them, under the powers of The Education Act, that he was directing them to ignore local medical health orders, regardless of outbreak status when it came to extracurricular activities.

#skpoli #sask

And all this for what? So the Minister could appease a couple parents in his own riding. Playing politics with the health and safety of the students of this province.

Our students deserve so much better.

#skpoli #sask #yxe #yqr #sasked

leaderpost.com/news/politics/…