Is education Minister Dustin Duncan capable of fulfilling the duties of his position within the Saskatchewan Government?
NDP Education Critic Carla Beck and the NDP say – NO.
In a call to media today Beck put out the call for Duncan to resign from his seat as minister of education – sighting his pandemic response as the primary reason, and an alleged move to mislead the media and the public.
“Simply put, when you don’t do your job, you don’t get to keep your job. It’s as simple as that and government ministers should be no exception.”
Says, Beck. She went on to site numerous places where the Education minister has failed the students of Saskatchewan. From a lack of provisions to keep them safe in the face of the Omicron Variant, to Duncan placing political aims over the safety of students, to ignoring SHA recommendations, Beck says this list of missteps culminated when Duncan gave false and misleading statements to media during a Covid-19 press briefing.
In a statement made during a press briefing January 5th, 2022 Duncan claimed to have been consulting on the province’s back to school plan with the SBA – this was quickly refuted by the Saskatchewan School Board Association, with them saying no such consultation had taken place.
The NDP has laid forth it’s own back to school plan earmarking more than $150 million dollars in provincial spending within the school system in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and ensure minimum disruptions to education services.
The Saskatchewan Party released the following statement at 2:51PM January 10th in response to the NDP call for Dustin Duncan’s resignation:
“While the NDP continue to play politics by taking pointless and gratuitous cheap shots at Cabinet Ministers, Education Minister Dustin Duncan spent the day doing precisely what we was appointed to do: working with and for the education sector. In fact, both Premier Moe and Minister Duncan were in northern Saskatchewan today meeting with the La Loche school community and celebrating progress made towards their new school. Much like the teachers and staff in schools across the province, our government’s focus will continue to be on supporting our students.”
Julie Leggott – Press secretary to Premiere Scott Moe
