The Saskatchewan Liberal Party has launched a petition to trigger a plebiscite vote.

A plebiscite is a direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question.

The vote would be on whether there should be an independent inquiry into the Government of Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 response.

The petition asks Saskatchewan residents, “Do you think the current Government led by Scott Moe should be made to establish an independent Inquiry to inquire into and report on the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan?”

Jeff Walters, the Leader of the Sask Liberal Party, said they started the petition after they had many people asking them to do something.

“Since February, when the Scott Moe government decided to pull back all mandates, we’ve had a flood of individuals and folks contacting us, feeling powerless that their Government is not listening to them.”

To trigger a plebiscite vote, the petition would need 15 per cent of eligible voters in the province. In Saskatchewan, that means the petition would need around 126,000 signatures.

The petition currently has over 10,000.

Walters adds the petition is sending a strong message that people are looking for answers.

“This is not saying that the Scott Moe government bungled anything. It’s just looking at how we have approached the pandemic, and really just learning what works, what doesn’t, and what’s best for the future,” he said. “COVID-19 is not going anywhere, it’s going to be with us for quite some time, and the responsible thing for a government is to find answers with which is the best way to tackle it.”

He continued that he feels the growing sense of powerlessness from residents in the province is fueling the petition.

“Just this fear that the people in charge are not listening to them. When the Scott Moe government decided to pull back mandates in February, they didn’t really give much of an explanation,” Walters said. “They didn’t show what experts agree with them, and few actually did. They didn’t show what frontline workers agreed with them because few actually did, and they didn’t really show businesses that support it either.”

He added that this is not a political issue, as people from different parties have already supported the petition.