New provincial deal with motels secures rooms for vulnerable people in Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan authorities has secured a group complaint connected edifice rooms arsenic portion of a one-year committedness to thief support vulnerable people successful nan province.

The authorities is prepared to walk up to $1.25 million.

“(That) is nan maximum magnitude that would perchance beryllium charged and truthful that number is based connected harm of much than $200 occurring each and each night,” MLA Gene Makowsky said.

There are 5 rooms astatine nan Travelodge successful Regina’s eastbound extremity and different 5 rooms disposable astatine nan Country Inn and Suites successful Saskatoon.

This comes aft nan contention astir nan Sunrise Motel, wherever nan motel — owned by Sask. Party MLA Gary Grewal — was charging nan ministry inflated rates for societal services clients because nan ministry wasn’t providing harm deposits.

But pinch this caller pilot, nan rooms will costs nan ministry up to $120 per nighttime and will see a refundable $200 harm deposit.

“What that’ll let us, let nan ministry to do is to research if utilizing a harm deposit costs much aliases costs little and whether taxpayers are getting a amended woody retired of that,” Makowsky said.

He says these rooms are disposable for group connected income assistance successful susceptible situations, including location fires aliases home unit aliases erstwhile emergency shelters are full.

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The NDP says successful a connection “after 17 years successful power, nan Sask. Party is retired of touch, retired of ideas and conscionable throwing money astatine problems alternatively of addressing nan guidelines causes.”

“Spending $1.25 cardinal connected a fewer motel rooms raises superior questions, not only fixed nan Sask. Party’s shady history pinch motels, but now fixed nan deficiency of transparency astir this contract,” nan statement said. “For example, Scott Moe and his curate request to explicate why they removed nan nightly room complaint from page 13 of nan statement earlier making it public.”

Makowsky says nan ministry will tally nan numbers connected really often nan rooms were utilized and really overmuch it costs aft nan one-year committedness ends.

From there, nan ministry will find whether aliases not this aviator was much cost-effective.

— pinch files from Katherine Ludwig, Global News