NDP leader Ryan Meili feels Saskatchewan’s minister of education is attempting to gaslight school divisions and families following his latest comments.

Meili noted that Minister Wyant said this week that the provincial government’s 2020 $200 million contingency fund could be made available to school divisions that requested it. However he mentioned that the minister stated “no school division has asked for any additional funding at this point in time.”

“No school divisions have received this information that this money is somehow their’s and available for them,” said Meili. “This is at a time before COVID-19 when we knew that school divisions have been forced to make cuts.”

Wyant mentioned earlier in the summer that school divisions have seen savings after schools were closed due to the pandemic and remote learning was offered to finish the year. The contingency fund was announced in June when a restructured budget was presented by government with the dollars being directed to areas such as health and public safety.

But Meili said the government needs a real plan before school starts in less than three weeks, which starts with providing more funding for school divisions.

“It’s time for Gord Wyant to stop trying to gaslight people and pretend they have provided resources that just aren’t there. He needs to stop passing the buck onto school divisions and start taking some responsibility for his actions,” he continued.

Meili added that per-student funding has been cut by over $300 since the 2015-2016 school year.