June 18, 2024 | Advertise with us

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No timeline for agreement: Cockrill

Saskatchewan’s Minister of Education Jeremy Cockrill spoke to radio host Evan Bray this week about the ongoing dispute with teachers, and how the agreement has been passed on to an independent arbitrator.

Cockrill reflected on the dispute, saying, “It hasn’t been an easy ride. Getting both sides to the bargaining table took several months. Hoopla was affected, band trips were affected… It hasn’t been a fun year for a lot of people.”

When it comes to the timeline, Cockrill told Bray there are a few factors involved, “A lot of it will depend on the agreement between the two parties on various things like who is on the binding arbitration panel and who is chair.”

Both parties agreed to enter into binding arbitration and sanctions ended last Friday. An independent arbitrator will now write the contract. There will be no vote to accept the agreement as the arbitrator as the last word.

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Federal NDP elect USASK prof in contested nomination

NDP members have nominated Rachel Loewen-Walker as the federal NDP candidate for Saskatoon West in what could be the province's only contested federal nomination before the next election.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Loewen-Walker thanked the nearly 300 members who participated in the contested nomination meeting. She beat out former federal candidate and fellow University of Saskatchewan professor Claire Card.

Rachel Loewen-Walker is the director of Women and Gender Studies in the Political Studies Department at the University of Saskatchewan. She previously served as the Executive Director of OUTSaskatoon and a board member for the United Way and the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership.

She now faces incumbent Conservative MP Brad Redekopp. The federal riding of Saskatoon West is competitive between the Conservatives and the NDP as Redekopp unseated NDP MP Sheri Benson in 2019. The Conservative Party guarantees the nomination of incumbent MPs if their riding has not changed more than 25%. It is likely that this could be the only contested federal nomination race as there are only a few provincial seats considered ‘in play.’

The next federal election is expected in fall 2025.

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USask adds training programs for hard-to-fill positions

The provincial government has announced two new programs will be coming to the University of Saskatchewan in an attempt to ‘grow your own’ healthcare workers in specialized areas.

The U of S will offer two-year Masters Degree programs in Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy. The province will spend up to $8.1 million to establish the programs, $7 million of which is earmarked for renovations. The province will also finance the operations annually. Both programs are popular at the University of Alberta.

Health Minister Everett Hindley spoke to the concerns around short-staffing and retention, saying, “We have trouble recruiting them as it is because there are high demands for trying to build our health-care system, trying to fund more permanent full-time positions in the province. But unless you have that feeder of grads coming out of a post-secondary education program, it is difficult to fill those positions.”

The provincial auditor’s report states Saskatchewan needs 2,000 more healthcare workers in the next five years.

(CBC News)

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More news and info

• Sask. Party MLAs deflect committee attempt to call witnesses into gun in Legislature (CKOM)

• Downtown Saskatoon announces departure of executive director Brent Penner (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

• Is the flip phone back? Why some people are switching to dumbphones (CBC News)

• Sask. Party introduces candidates Maureen Torr, Jamie Martens in social media videos (SaskParty/X)

• Alberta to ban cellphones in K-12 classrooms starting this fall (CKOM)

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