CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson

CUPE National conducted a survey this fall through Janet Brown Opinion Research about the Saskatchewan election, which found that the top issue for residents is health care.Forty-six per cent of those surveyed indicated health care is the top issue, which is up by 14 per cent since the poll prior to the last election. Twenty-eight per cent said inflation is the top issue and 26 per cent said it’s education.

CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson adds that off those polled this fall, 61 per cent believe Sask Party Leader Scott Moe isn’t doing enough to manage the health care system. He says Moe’s 77-page election platform was just released and not one page indicates any extra funding for health care.

The Saskatchewan Party’s approval rating has dropped 16 points since the last election in 2020, sitting at 45 per cent while the NDP’s approval rating his risen by 12 points to 40 per cent. Peterson says, “This situation looks exactly like it did in Alberta in 2015 – a tight race with a large number of undecided voters, and that of course was the election that elected Rachel Notley and the NDP after the voters made their choice late in the campaign period.” He believes the ballot box question for this election is who will fix the health care system.

CUPE is Canada’s largest union representing 750,000 workers across the country in various industry sectors and in Saskatchewan, the union represents nearly 14,000 health care workers. You can hear the Leaders debate tonight (Wed, Oct 16) on CJWW beginning at 6:05.