The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on Jeremy Cockrill to be removed as Minister of Education but Premier Scott Moe says he still has confidence in him..At a press conference Monday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck said Saskatchewan people hold their cabinet minsters to a high standard that Cockrill was failing."Time and time again, Jeremy Cockrill has shown that he lacks the empathy and the honesty needed to be the education minister. He's hurting more that he's helping," Beck said, adding his treatment of parent Taya Thomas was the "final straw.""Taya lost her daughter last December. And when Minister Cockrill met with her to discuss the situation in our schools, he asked if Saskatchewan teachers expected him to give up his firstborn child. Again, he's speaking to a mother whose firstborn daughter had passed away just months earlier. And not only did that minister fail to apologize when he met with Taya on Tuesday, according to Tia, he also lied about apologizing to her."In the legislature Thursday, Cockrill said, "I have colleagues on this side of this house who have lost children. That is incredibly difficult for a parent to go through, something no parent should have to go through in this province. I did apologize to Ms. Thomas. It was a poor choice of words on my part and again I apologize for that."In a media scrum that followed on Thursday, Cockrill said he had made a bad choice of words and apologized, but Taylor said his response was inadequate.."I had a friend there who witnessed that he did give me his condolences, but that he made that careless comment afterwards," Taylor recalled."He had the moment while we were in the chamber to apologize to me. He looked to make sure I was there. But he never looked at me to apologize. I was standing here. I was hoping maybe when he apologized, he might look at me in the eye and apologize, but he didn't."Education Critic Matt Love said Cockrill had a pattern of untruthfulness since becoming education minister on August 29 2023."This minister was caught lying in his very first press conference within an hour of getting the job. He said at that time that every MLA had heard from constituents about the pronoun issue, only to be proven wrong a few minutes later, when Minister Hindley stepped up to the mic, and admitted that he had not heard from a single person," Love said."The minister then claimed to have heard from tens of thousands of people about the issue, when internal documents show that he only received 18 emails."Love also suggested the minister had misrepresented the process of bargaining with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF)."He then lied about the STF leaving the bargaining table after 30 minutes when video footage showed otherwise. He then accused teachers of spending only 30 minutes at the bargaining table in the past five months something that's meant to be caught, something that Samantha Becotte disputed in a scrum in the legislature," Love said."He claimed that he had a tentative agreement with Saskatchewan teachers, when in reality, and the government only offered to take it or leave it final offer."Love said it was time for Cockrill to go."Relations in the education sector are at an all time low. We need a minister that people can trust, who will speak truthfully and honestly, and can get a deal that addresses years of underfunding in our classrooms."It's clear that this minister is not up to the job. And quite frankly, it calls into question the premier's leadership. Will he reward or reject this kind of behaviour from those in his inner circle? It's time that the premier removes him from his job as minister of education?"In question period, the premier offered his condolences to Taylor and acknowledged Cockrill's "poor choice of words" and his apology both to the legislature and in the rotunda."There is much that this education minister is doing that is in the best interest of students and our classrooms and our teachers across the province, Mr. Speaker, and he retains the full confidence of myself, the full confidence of his cabinet and the full confidence of his caucus."
The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on Jeremy Cockrill to be removed as Minister of Education but Premier Scott Moe says he still has confidence in him..At a press conference Monday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck said Saskatchewan people hold their cabinet minsters to a high standard that Cockrill was failing."Time and time again, Jeremy Cockrill has shown that he lacks the empathy and the honesty needed to be the education minister. He's hurting more that he's helping," Beck said, adding his treatment of parent Taya Thomas was the "final straw.""Taya lost her daughter last December. And when Minister Cockrill met with her to discuss the situation in our schools, he asked if Saskatchewan teachers expected him to give up his firstborn child. Again, he's speaking to a mother whose firstborn daughter had passed away just months earlier. And not only did that minister fail to apologize when he met with Taya on Tuesday, according to Tia, he also lied about apologizing to her."In the legislature Thursday, Cockrill said, "I have colleagues on this side of this house who have lost children. That is incredibly difficult for a parent to go through, something no parent should have to go through in this province. I did apologize to Ms. Thomas. It was a poor choice of words on my part and again I apologize for that."In a media scrum that followed on Thursday, Cockrill said he had made a bad choice of words and apologized, but Taylor said his response was inadequate.."I had a friend there who witnessed that he did give me his condolences, but that he made that careless comment afterwards," Taylor recalled."He had the moment while we were in the chamber to apologize to me. He looked to make sure I was there. But he never looked at me to apologize. I was standing here. I was hoping maybe when he apologized, he might look at me in the eye and apologize, but he didn't."Education Critic Matt Love said Cockrill had a pattern of untruthfulness since becoming education minister on August 29 2023."This minister was caught lying in his very first press conference within an hour of getting the job. He said at that time that every MLA had heard from constituents about the pronoun issue, only to be proven wrong a few minutes later, when Minister Hindley stepped up to the mic, and admitted that he had not heard from a single person," Love said."The minister then claimed to have heard from tens of thousands of people about the issue, when internal documents show that he only received 18 emails."Love also suggested the minister had misrepresented the process of bargaining with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF)."He then lied about the STF leaving the bargaining table after 30 minutes when video footage showed otherwise. He then accused teachers of spending only 30 minutes at the bargaining table in the past five months something that's meant to be caught, something that Samantha Becotte disputed in a scrum in the legislature," Love said."He claimed that he had a tentative agreement with Saskatchewan teachers, when in reality, and the government only offered to take it or leave it final offer."Love said it was time for Cockrill to go."Relations in the education sector are at an all time low. We need a minister that people can trust, who will speak truthfully and honestly, and can get a deal that addresses years of underfunding in our classrooms."It's clear that this minister is not up to the job. And quite frankly, it calls into question the premier's leadership. Will he reward or reject this kind of behaviour from those in his inner circle? It's time that the premier removes him from his job as minister of education?"In question period, the premier offered his condolences to Taylor and acknowledged Cockrill's "poor choice of words" and his apology both to the legislature and in the rotunda."There is much that this education minister is doing that is in the best interest of students and our classrooms and our teachers across the province, Mr. Speaker, and he retains the full confidence of myself, the full confidence of his cabinet and the full confidence of his caucus."
