The Editor:聽
I wish to respond to Mr. Trent Wotherspoon (NDP deputy leader) and his letter in the Feb. 17 edition of the Mercury.
I have not met Mr. Wotherspoon, but I would believe him to be a very educated man, so I am going to assume he is a younger man, or else he has a very short memory.聽
鈥淭hirty-six thousand people currently unemployed, the highest number this province has ever seen.鈥澛�
What Mr. Wotherspoon failed to mention is that under the Sask. Party and Brad Wall, this province has grown to over one million people, and, as of December 2015, and even in this slow economy, our unemployment rate is the best in the country at 5.5 per cent.聽
鈥淢r. Wall is stimulating the economics of France, England and the United States more than our own.鈥澛�
Mr. Wotherspoon, you can鈥檛 really believe these projects are not going to employ more people from Saskatchewan than from France, England and the United States.聽
鈥淢assive deficit, Rainy Day Fund鈥澛�
At least we can now see the deficit for what it is. Under the NDP we had no idea what the real deficit was as you kept two sets of books. Another thing, the Wall government has changed one report that shows everything for the people of Saskatchewan to see.聽
As for the Rainy Day Fund, what a joke that was. The NDP forced Saskatchewan people to leave the province to find work, which resulted in closed schools, closed hospitals, neglected highways etc., just to brag about the so-called Rainy Day Fund.聽
鈥淭hey let us down on things like emergency rooms, classrooms and the cost of living.鈥�
Excuse me, Mr. Wotherspoon! You want to talk about emergency rooms? You must think people in Saskatchewan are stupid. Our province has grown and, if the NDP had not chased thousands of people out and then closed 52 hospitals, eliminated 1,200 long-term care beds and neglected infrastructure, we would not have the emergency room wait times today.聽
鈥淐濒补蝉蝉谤辞辞尘蝉?鈥澛�
Schools were closed in this province because the NDP chased people out of rural Saskatchewan.聽
鈥淐ost of living鈥�
I am seeing a lot of big new houses built and being built all over Saskatchewan. Truthfully, I am a bit jealous of the opportunities our young men and women have today, opportunities that were not available for me when I was younger under the NDP government.聽
With the Wall government, new hospitals and schools are being built. Health funding has been increased substantially, they have hired over 600 doctors and 3,000 nurses. Our surgical wait times are now the shortest in Canada. Under the NDP we had the longest surgical wait times in Canada.聽
We have seen new highways and bridges built and repaired.聽
Mr. Wotherspoon, are you sure you live in Saskatchewan?聽
Ron Dunville
贰蝉迟别惫补苍听
