Some of Moose Jaw’s small businesses and community groups are facing high utility costs, which Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili believes could be addressed if solar panels were installed to save money.
This idea is part of the NDP’s plan to fight climate change. The climate plan is called Renew Saskatchewan, Meili explained, and would remove the costs to retrofit buildings with solar panels to make them more energy efficient.
“We think it gives a lot of opportunity to organizations … to actually see their bills drop (and) save some of those costs, at the same time as being part of the transition to renewable energy we all want to see happen,” he said.
Meili — who is from Moose Jaw — was in town on April 29, where he visited with several small businesses including Prairie Bee Meadery and Coteau Hills Creamery. He also met with the local CUPE representing educational workers, while he visited with seniors at the Timothy Eaton Gardens and the Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre. He express his concern about both seniors’ organizations possibly shutting down.
What struck Meili when speaking with the businesses and seniors was their high power bills. He noted it costs tens of thousands of dollars up front to install solar panels or perform retrofits on buildings, which few people can afford.
The NDP’s plan — through Renew Saskatchewan — is to have the Crown corporations lend money to businesses, farms, organizations and residents so they can install solar panels quickly. Their bills, said Meili, would go down immediately and would decrease over time as they save money.
This then creates chances for renovations, installations, manufacturing and employment opportunities in Moose Jaw.
“One of the ways, as New Democrats, we want to improve the Saskatchewan economy is by helping more small businesses to establish themselves,” said Meili. “More to grow the economy from the grassroots up and give more opportunities for local companies to thrive.”
Education
During his meeting with educational workers, it was made clear to Meili that Saskatchewan classrooms and schools are stressed. There are more immigrant students with English language needs, more students with special needs, and simply more students overall.
“Staff are not able to keep up with it,” he said. “We’ve seen cuts in support staff and basically, just overall, cuts in the funding support to education. That really is a huge oversight.”
These cuts don’t simply hurt students today, but they also hurt the students as the future workers of tomorrow, Meili continued. These cuts hurt the economy and the province’s well-being.
Meili has heard the concerns about education around the province. He noted with so much pressure in schools, morale right now is low.
“If teachers are stressed, they are not able to give their full attention, which worsens the quality of education,” he said. “We are hearing high numbers of (Workers’ Compensation Board) claims. It’s a bad recipe.”
Reception from residents
Meili still has family in Moose Jaw, so he visits them regularly. He is also in town regularly for outreach efforts with residents. He said he has received a “really warm reception” in coming to The Friendly City.
“It’s really clear that the folks don’t feel they’ve been represented well,” Meili said, “and they’ve seen the results … . I’m very hopeful for our opportunities in Moose Jaw in the next election (in 2020).”
