Calling them Town Hall Health Check Ups, representatives from the New Democratic Party were in Moose Jaw on the 24th to hear from the public.

Touring around and listening to people, giving them an opportunity to speak candidly, and then return to legislature with the issues they've heard is the basis for the check ups.

Vicki Mowat, health critic for the province, said they started a few weeks ago.
"Rather than doing outreach in an ad hoc way, which is sometimes what we do, we decided we were going to tour around together in a deliberate effort. The idea is that any issues that community members want to bring forward they have an opportunity to do that. It's a public event that is open to everyone. We try to get the word out as much as we can so that we can get public engagement. What we want to hear about is what issues are impacting folks in Moose Jaw today so that we can draw linkages between that and the rest of the province to be able to do our jobs better in making health care the best that it can be in the province."

Travelling alongside Mowat is Danielle Chartier, the mental health and addictions critic and seniors critic for the opposition, who said that there are some common threads from community to community.

More than 30 people came out, many of which stood and presented issues directly to the representatives.
"Lack of access in a timely fashion to both detox and to residential treatments has been something that's come up in the locations that we've been in so far. When it comes to seniors, long term care is always an issue. Quality of care in terms of staffing, there's not enough staff."

Seniors and a variety of angles regarding them came up more than once throughout the meeting, as people stood to voice their concerns on the topic.

Chartier said when you think about a senior strategy, issues aren't just health issues.
"They're about health care, but they're also about affordability. They're about connecting community, transportation and housing. Those 5 key things that cover seniors and making sure seniors are connected which is that connection to community and staying healthy and well, yes supporting senior centers are really critical
you see here in your community. If those senior centres closed you would have 500 older adults with out a place to gather."

"When it comes to supporting seniors", said Mowat, "you have two really vibrant seniors associations that really need some government support. They keep people healthy. They keep people connected and moving and engaged. The support isn't there from the province."

Emergency care and the lack of assistance including unacceptable treatment options was another idea that was tossed around the room.

Mowat said, "There is a number of issues we've heard about so far already from the health perspective. I've heard a lot about emergency rooms that are bursting at the seams where people want to be able to access that care but it's not available to them. There's exorbitant wait times and we've also been hearing a lot about the need for universal pharma care. How people are making really hard decisions between having to pay for their rent or the medications that they need to stay healthy. The need to be advocating for universal pharma care, and in the context of today, when we've had the federal advisory council report on pharma care advocating for the provincial government to be opting into a system of universal pharma care. I think it's of great concern for people across the province."

Speaking on the opioid crisis, and more specifically crystal meth in the province, Chartier said the government has buried it's head in the sand for the last 5 years.
"Statistics, crime stats, have all ticked up, that have been going down for a decade. Property crime, violent crime, gun violence, theft of vehicles, theft from vehicles. Anybody in law enforcement in Moose Jaw or elsewhere will tell you those are directly fueled by crystal meth. People working on the front lines will tell you that crystal meth has been an issue, and has been a 10 fold increase in people presenting to addictions facility saying that they are crystal meth users. From 3% about 5 years ago to 30% at our most recent numbers. That's a huge increase. It is a problem and I'm glad the government put a little bit of money in the budget this year but it doesn't deal with the issue as a whole. Crystal meth is a drug that you can't treat in 28 days, you can't detox at 8 to 14 days. We need to do a much better job of recognizing that it's a different kind of drug, and putting the necessary supports around people who are living with the substance use disorder. And making sure they have an opportunity to recover, because you can recover. You can recover from crystal meth with the right supports."

You rarely see a substance use disorder without a pre existing mental health condition, said Cartier. This is about making sure people have the proper supports in place to deal with their addiction, but also the proper mental health supports to keep them well. But this is about looking at children. We've heard here in Moose Jaw that mental health supports in school are non existent. It's best to treat something before it becomes a problem and to nip things in the bud. People don't use substances because their lives are good."

Mowat said it's partially about informing the public, but it's also about engaging with people on a 1 on 1 basis, hearing their stories and adding meaning to what people are talking about. "It adds credibility to what those complaints are. It allows us to be very in touch with what's happening in these communities and part of that is seeing the dynamics of different communities and what the concerns are. More than just on a one off basis of people that are going to reach out to us. We want to be there to have those conversations to have that reach to inform the work that we're doing in the legislature and to keep building our party going into 2020."