Saskatchewan Office

On June 15th, the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is proud to present a unique Citizen's Conference on the Future of Medicare. "Envisioning the Future of Medicare" will both celebrate fifty years of universal medicare and look to the future of how we sustain and improve this most important of Canadian social programs. Join us in a unique interactive conversation with some of the brightest minds in the fields of health practice and policy. 

For more information on the conference and registration, visit here. 

On June 15th, the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is proud to present a unique Citizen's Conference on the Future of Medicare. "Envisioning the Future of Medicare" will both celebrate fifty years of universal medicare and look to the future of how we sustain and improve this most important of Canadian social programs. Join us in a unique interactive conversation with some of the brightest minds in the fields of health practice and policy. 

Participants include former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan, Dean of the College of Medicine Dr. William Albritton, Health Policy and Research Consultant Steven Lewis, Medical doctor and community organizer Ryan Meili, long-time public health activists Dr. John and Betsy Bury and former Vice President, Community Services of Saskatoon Health Region, Shan Landry. 

Unlike other conferences, this event will offer participants the chance to engage in interactive discussion groups on the prominent issues and challenges facing our public medicare system. The participants themselves will drive these discussions in five key issues of importance to the healthcare debate. Participants will then have the opportunity to receive feedback and insight from prominent experts acting as “respondents” to the group discussions. 

This is a rare and unique opportunity for persons concerned with the future of public medicare in our country to engage in a lively and spirited discussion with some of the brightest minds on the issue of healthcare.

Space is limited, so we ask you to please register by June 7, 2012 to ensure your participation. Registration is $80.00 per person. A reduced rate of $30.00 per person for students and non-profits is also available.

• To register and purchase a ticket to the conference, click here.
• If you are a student/youth or attending on behalf of a non-profit organization, click here.

Is the Wildrose challenge to Tory supremacy in Alberta over? Or is it just beginning? Find out here.

Simon Enoch, Director of the Saskatchewan Office, wonders what a Wildrose Party victory in the upcoming Alberta election will mean for Saskatchewan. More here.

With the elimination of the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit and the certain demise of the film industry in the province, Premier Brad Wall asked:
"If an industry cannot survive at all without a permanent taxpayer subsidy, should the taxpayers subsidize indefinitely?" The Saskatchewan Office offers an answer. 

Saskatchewan Director Simon Enoch discusses the upcoming federal budget and the CCPA's Alternative Budget with Prairie Dog's Gregory Beatty. Read more here. 

See the Saskatchewan office's response to Minister Krawetz's "Austerity for Prosperity" 2012 budget here. 

Saskatchewan's labour movement won a significant victory yesterday as Justice Dennis Ball ruled that Bill 5, The Public Service Essential Services Act (PSES) violated the constitutional right to strike and bargain collectively as upheld in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

In his decision, Justice Ball concluded: “No other essential services legislation in Canada comes close to prohibiting the right to strike as broadly, and as significantly, as the PSES Act. No other essential services legislation is as devoid of access to independent, effective dispute resolution processes … None have such significantly deleterious effects on protected rights.”

Justice Ball's decision corresponds to the arguments that the Saskatchewan Office has consistently made regarding the legitimacy of Bill 5.

For backgrounders from the Saskatchewan Office on Bill 5 and the Charter challenge, visit here and here.

Director of the Saskatchewan Office, Simon Enoch, discusses the causes and consequences of income inequality with Planet S Magazine's Stephen LaRose.

View the article here.