Leader for the Saskatchewan NDP Party Ryan Meili made his first stop in Lloydminster as party leader. On Thursday, Meili toured around the city with Mayor Gerald Albers taking in the sights and learning about the challenges a border city faces.
“We are in a situation right now in Saskatchewan where more people are struggling and that’s something that has been clear everywhere I go and we saw it again today in Lloydminster. Seeing quite a number of businesses that don’t have occupants right now. Knowing that the number of housing starts, for example, is way down that there are signs of an economy that’s struggling,” says Meili.
He adds that in his tour of the city he learned about an overcapacity situation at the Lloydminster Hospital, where the hospital is serving a lot of people but doesn’t necessarily have the facility to do so.
The NDP is the official opposition for the province current government the Saskatchewan Party and the next provincial election won’t be held until 2020. Meili says his platform starts with the core principle of improving peoples lives.
“What’s going to make the real difference in approving our health, the quality of our lives and then backing up from that whether it’s in the economy, whether it’s in diversifying the opportunities for energy production by increasing how much we’re doing renewable energy, whether it’s like ideas like PhamraCare.”
Meili has been travelling all over the province this summer, including making a stop in North Battleford before coming to the city. His tour in Lloydminster also included a visit to the Native Friendship Centre and a BBQ with local NDP members at Weaver Park.