Sask. Opposition wants province to call Canadian Armed Forces for help with COVID-19

One day after Alberta asked Ottawa for help dealing with its overburdened health-care system, the SaskatchewanNDP called on the province's government to do the same.

The official opposition said it wants the government to look into all available support options for Saskatchewan's health system, includingthe Canadian military, the civil service or help from other provinces

"We're reaching a point where all options need to be on the table," said NDP MLA and opposition critic for seniors Matt Love, referring to COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

"We're hearing that we're a couple of weeks, perhaps days away, based on the hospitalization numbers from needing the same help [as Alberta]."

Saskatchewan is currently in a crisis, said Love's NDP colleague and official opposition health critic Vicki Mowat.

One of her concerns is that the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon is currently treating adult patients with COVID-19 because of a lack of capacity.

"Other provinces have called for support from the military and leaned on other provinces and the federal government for support when their health systems were overwhelmed," said Mowat.

"We should be using the public sector, civilians in the public sector, the Crowns and the military to offset the pressures in the health system."

Military could provide different kinds of support, sayshealth critic

Mowat, a former Canadian Forces reserve captain told reporters that there are hundreds of regular and reserve force members in Saskatchewan who would answer the call for help.

She said the military could provide different kinds of support in Saskatchewan, including medical and logistical support, contact tracing, transportation, or testing.

"Let's call up the federal government," she said.

"I think that is a conversation that needs to happen between the provincial government and the federal government exactly where the redeployment would make the most sense."

Mowat said she is concerned about potentially having to send residents out of the province for treatment, something military personnel are currently helping with in Alberta.

She said a military unit could be ready within 24 hours to help, depending on its state of readiness.

Province in regular contact withfederal government

In an emailed statement, Health Minister Paul Merriman said Saskatchewan is in regular contact with the federal government regarding the pandemic response.

"The province did request additional rapid testing kits to support expanded asymptomatic testing," said Merriman.

"Those kits have been received and will be distributed to schools for use in the coming days."

At this point, however, Saskatchewan has not sent an additional request to the federal government for COVID-19 support.

"Any request is dependent on provincial capacity, noting the SHA[Saskatchewan Health Authority] has enacted service slowdowns to create additional surge capacity in the healthcare system."