Sask. pledges shorter wait times, driver texting ban

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wallis promising thatnoone will have to wait longer than three months for surgery one of severalinitiativesin Wednesday's throne speech.

Wall told reportersthe Saskatchewan Party government's wait list guarantee is a bold onethat may require the use of private health care, but the basics of the publicsystem will remain.

"There will not be queue-jumping. There will not be the chance for people to put down a credit card and pay for a surgeon in this system," Wall said.

"It will be a publicly paid system. But we may well use other partners as the health-care system currently does. Including, yes, those community-based partners and potentially private partners."

The government is giving itself four years to make good on the three-month wait list promise.

Long waits for elective surgery things like hip and knee replacements have long been a thorn in the side of the Saskatchewan health-care system. Many people wait more than a year for surgery, according to provincial statistics.

NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said he has no problem with the government spending more money to reduce wait times however, that money should go into the public system, not the private one, he said.

The health-care pledge was one of severaloutlined in the speech read in the legislativechamberby Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart.

Other promises and plans for the fall session include:

• The introduction of legislation to ban people from using handheld cellphones and texting while driving, something the government said earlier this yearit intended to do.
• Consumer protection legislation tohelp people whobuy concert tickets.
• New anti-tobacco legislation, the details of which were not revealed in the speech.
• Capping the number of needles given out under needle-exchange programs, as a public safety measure.
• Legislation to prevent members of a profession from avoiding discipline by quitting the profession.
• Changing the way provincial budgets are prepared tobetter handlewild fluctuations in resource prices, such as the situation this summer when potash revenues came in more than $1 billion below the spring budget projection.
• More money for wind power.

The throne speech launches the fall sitting. Saskatchewan MLAswill be in their seats in thelegislature Thursday for the first question period.