Another promise from NDP leader Ryan Meili as we get closer and closer to a provincial election campaign.

He says he is committed to enacting legislation which would protect the province from privatized healthcare and reverse steps towards a two-tiered system the Saskatchewan Party has taken.

Speaking at an event in Regina on Wednesday, Meili said ““As a family doctor, I ask my patients how they’re feeling, not how they’re paying, but under the Sask. Party, people are being asked to pay for the care they need, and wait times are getting worse and worse. The Sask. Party’s only answer is deep cuts to the healthcare regular families need and private care for the few who can afford it.”

Meili adds the SaskParty’s failed system of private MRIs has done nothing to ease the backlog, and wait times continue to grow as the number of people waiting for an MRI has nearly doubled since the introduction of the Sask. Party’s patient pay model.

In June, NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat introduced a private member’s bill that would repeal the province’s private MRI legislation and focus on getting all patients the care they need, not just those who can pay to jump the queue.