The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is once again asking questions of the parties and candidates during the 2020 Saskatchewan election campaign. Their responses will be posted in this section as we receive them.
We hope that this information will help you when you direct your concerns to your provincial representatives.
To become involved in CCSN’s political advocacy campaigns, please contact jmanthorne@survivornet.ca
Questions:
The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network (CCSN) works to connect patients, survivors and other stakeholder groups with decision makers and the wider community to engage in discussion and to act on evidence-based best practices to alleviate the medical, emotional, financial and social costs of cancer and encourage research on ways to overcome barriers to optimal cancer care and follow-up for patients, caregivers and survivors in Canada.
A recent CCSN-commissioned Leger survey of 1,243 Canadians revealed that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a crisis in essential cancer care across the country. Cancer patients, their caregivers and those awaiting confirmation of a cancer diagnosis faced and still face postponed and cancelled appointments, tests and treatment, causing heightened fear and anxiety, even as pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Here are a few responses we received in our Leger survey from cancer patients living in Saskatchewan :
“It’s hard enough going to the appointment but having it postponed and waiting makes me a little more anxious hoping that everything is still good”
“I’ve been trying to get an MRI for a year and this just sets it back even more.”
“The greatest fear is probably if it comes back and treatment is not available because of COVID-19”
New survey data from the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR) suggests COVID-19 will be on Saskatchewan voters’ minds when they place their votes.
The survey found that COVID-19 is an important factor to voters. More than 6 in 10 respondents stated that issues related to COVID-19 will be important in determining their vote in the provincial election, and among those who stated COVID issues will be important to their vote choice, 53 per cent mentioned health care as their top issue. – (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/analysis-sask-election-survey-covid-19-1.5724801?fbclid=IwAR1XCoO3s_hop2CK1dd_XhxNxWK-WG7Vnw6J38ZF1SjNfwpZNfC74YkiVww)
The government of Saskatchewan has a critical role to play in making sure that essential cancer care is not disrupted by COVID-19.
Cancer can’t be cancelled or postponed. The delay and cancellation of cancer care due to COVID-19 has triggered another public health crisis. Cancer care and diagnosis must continue during any public health crisis affecting Canadians to save lives.
If elected, how will your government provide the explicit inclusion of essential cancer care in a second or third wave of COVID-19 and in all crisis and pandemic planning in the future?
Responses will be circulated to cancer patients, caregivers and survivors in Saskatchewan and included on our website at www.survivornet.ca. Links to your responses will also be posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Saskatchewan Green Party
“The Green Party believes that mandating mask’s wherever possible in business’s throughout the province will be the single largest factor in reducing the spread of COVID19 within the province. If we can successfully reduce the spread of this pandemic, it will simultaneously reduce the amount of patient care in hospitals and allow patients with critical needs unrelated to COVID19 to get the treatment and care they would have received pre-pandemic. The fact that the Sask Party has not already made masks mandatory in public settings, shows they are not interested in simple effective measures to reduce the burden on health care workers in the province. In general, the Green Party is interested in expanding health-care in the province as opposed to reducing it.”
– Saskatchewan Green Party Candidate
Bruno Sahut (Saskatchewan Liberal Party Candidate)
“I would like to thank you for your key request, as it is dear to my heart and soul! My dad died of cancer in 1986 from aluminum exposure, my brother died of cancer from stress and smoking in 1999 … being said I’m regularly checked as this cancer may be genetic! I would like you to know as well as your organization that after one of my wife and I died of cancer in 2002, I decided to create a walk-in, budget priced, MRI clinic, equipped with 40 machines of the latest MRI technology in the world called: “Imaging Care Centre”, to test and detect early cancer in patients! The capability of my clinic was 1000 scans per day! For this, Standard & Poor’s asked me to join their world group of Business Leader for my knowledge on MRI capabilities in detecting cancer. At the time, I contacted the Saskatchewan provincial government “of the time” to find out if they would allow me to open my 40 MRI early cancer detection clinic, in Regina! They denied me the opportunity as it went against the Canada wide health transfer money requirement … I told them they could keep the money and use my services under the same rules as any other medical public clinic in Saskatchewan! They still refused even as a publicly run 40 MRI clinic, as the price of an MRI was equivalent to the cost of an MRI done at the hospital at that time, but 1000 more accurate! A life saviour … anyway … my point is I know where you’re coming from, what you want and where you are going to!”
-Bruno Sahut, SK Liberal Party Candidate
