Groups across the province weigh in on election requests being fulfilled

REGINA – The election campaign was full of promises, but there were also a fair number of requests made of whatever party formed government.

With the Saskatchewan Party forming another substantial majority, the opinions are rolling in on how people think their requests will be handled.

One of these groups is the Saskatchewan ATV Association (SATVA), which wants to see funding for safety training and maintaining proper trails.

SATVA general manager John Meed said the group is “cautiously optimistic” it will see the change it wants. However, SGI is in charge of the potential regulation and this continues to frustrate SATVA.

“They’ve come out on a number of occasions in the media and said this isn’t part of their mandate, so our question is who is going to take care of this?” asked Meed.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They've come out on a number of occasions in the media and said this isn't part of their mandate, so our question is who is going to take care of this?" asked Meed.

Last year nine people died in ATV accidents in Saskatchewan – a provincial record – and the first ATV-related fatality took place in Saskatchewan on April 2 near Viceroy.

READ MORE: Viceroy man dies following ATV collision

Meed said the ATV Act has not been updated since 1989 and with quads getting more powerful and the rising popularity of side-by-sides, an overhaul is overdue.

Another group that feels having its concerns addressed is overdue is the Massage Therapists Association of Saskatchewan (MTAS).

For over 15 years, it’s been pushing to set up a regulatory body and took a major step in 2015 with the drafting of the Massage Therapist Act.

The proposed legislation would establish the Saskatchewan College of Massage Therapists, which would then implement minimum qualification and practice standards across the province.

Health Minister Dustin Duncan helped draft the act, and MTAS executive director Lori Green hopes he keeps his portfolio so they can quickly get back to work.

“We’ve been in consultation now, fairly vigorously, from the ministry for the last three years so I would really like to see this go into the [legislature] by the fall,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We've been in consultation now, fairly vigorously, from the ministry for the last three years so I would really like to see this go into the [legislature] by the fall," she said.

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) also looks forward to continuing work with the re-elected government. One of the main issues it wants to target is figuring out a mutually agreeable solution to last year’s cuts to the Municipal Roads for the Economy.

SARM president Ray Orb said many small communities relied on this money to help fund infrastructure projects.

Funding will be one of the main focuses for the Saskatchewan School Boards Association when it resumes work with the government.

Association president Connie Bailey is pleased the association can resume work on the school funding review.

However, it has other budgetary concerns since the provincial numbers won’t come out until around June 1.

“The time will be compressed between the time of the provincial budget and the time our budgets need to be complete so there’s a little stress in there with the unknown and how we can deal with that,” Bailey said.

The school boards need to have their budgets done at the end of June.

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich pushed against increased privatization during the campaign. With the Saskatchewan Party victory he accepts 40 SLGA stores will become private, but is ready to butt heads if it goes beyond that.