By Josh Sigurdson
May 13, 2021 | 5:06 PM
The Saskatchewan government is debating a private member’s bill aimed at introducing “bubble zones” for those entering abortion clinics in the province.
The bill was introduced by Saskatoon- University MLA Jennifer Bowes, who says women shouldn’t be scared to access something they’re legally entitled too.
“Women are accessing their constitutionally protected right to healthcare services, they have a right to do so without being harassed,” said Bowes. “And by harassment, I mean attempts to dissuade them from accessing this medical service, attempts to express disapproval, to physically interfere with them, there are many examples.”
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Saskatchewan’s justice minister is staying guarded about a private member’s bill to restrict anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics, and the NDP Opposition is chalking up government reluctance to social conservative views within the Saskatchewan Party.
But Justice Minister and Attorney General Gord Wyant said he’s simply taking his time on a complicated issue that requires careful study. He said the government supports the right of women to get abortion services “without fear of intimidation or harassment.”
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Saskatchewan is preparing to enter the fray in the United States over the Keystone XL pipeline.
In a release Friday, the provincial government said it was filing an amicus brief in support of the 21 U.S. states that are attempting to reverse the decision by President Joe Biden to cancel the pipeline.
An amicus brief is similar to filing for intervenor status in the Canadian legal system. That status allows a party to be heard on a matter before the courts.
The province plans to hire an American law firm to prepare and file the brief on its behalf. The brief, which should be filed by early June, is to lay out the implications of cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline on Saskatchewan’s economy.
Justice Minister Gord Wyant. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)
Saskatchewan Justice Minister Gord Wyant says the province is going to get more aggressive when it comes to people who don’t pay their COVID-19 tickets.
During Question Period on Monday, Wyant was asked by the NDP about putting a mandatory minimum fine in place for those who violate public health orders. Wyant said he didn’t believe initiating something like that would deter those individuals who are determined to break the rules.
However, Wyant did say other options are on the table for those who are ticketed for violating public health orders and who won’t pay up.
It may be 11,000 kilometres away but the desperately tragic COVID-19 situation in India is close to home for a Prince Albert man.
Spice Trail restaurant owner Harry Rai, whose family hails from the north of India, is, like the rest of the planet, deeply shocked by the daily images of despair: parks and vacant land overflowing with the dead waiting for quick cremation, oxygen shortages at hospitals, and people dying in line as they try to get medical help.
Rai has a strong message for anyone who thinks social distancing and public health orders here at home are a deprivation of freedom.