The Opposition NDP is raising fresh concerns with money spent by social services on motels owned by a Sask Party MLA after receiving dollar figures requested more than two months ago.The documents show that the two motels associated with Sask Party MLA Gary Grewal saw a massive spike in government business after he was first elected as MLA for Regina Northeast in 2020.Official Opposition Critic for Ethics and Democracy Meara Conway, who first asked for the amounts in early February, said, “It’s there in black and white. This looks to be a clear example of corruption.”Year-by-year dollar figures on Grewal’s Sunrise Motel in Regina had been requested at an earlier date and already received. It was only in committee on Monday that the Sask Party government released the funding figures for MLA Grewal’s second motel, the Regina Thriftlodge. Prior to MLA Grewal’s election in 2020, his motels did very little business with the Ministry of Social Services. However, following Grewal’s election in 2020, the amount increased to $731,194..The NDP pointed out that business with the Ministry of Social Services also jumped considerably around the time MLA Gene Makowsky took over as Minister in May 2022. Makowsky and Grewal share a constituency office.Both motels associated with the Sask Party MLA were shown to have massively inflated rates when taxpayers picked up the tab with rate changes far higher than other hotels and motels used by Social Services. The Thriftlodge inflates its rates for the Ministry of Social Services by 105.6% and the Sunrise inflates its rates by 63.3%.On Wednesday, Conway asked Makowsky how long the dollar amounts she asked for were known to him.Makowsky responded by saying he had had no knowledge of the situation with the motels. He read into the record comments made Tuesday by Jeff Redekop, executive director of income assistance delivery in the Ministry of Social Services.Redekop said, “Front-line staff are looking for what options are available for clients who are in need. The ministry has generally no knowledge of who owns the hotel and has never been instructed by government to use a certain hotel.”Redekop said the reason for hotel rentals was “about the needs of the clients.”Makowsky added, “I remind the House the only source of these accusations is the NDP. The only people who we’re looking to benefit are the most vulnerable people who need a roof over their heads in emergency situations.”Conway tried repeatedly to find out when Makowsky knew the dollar figures she had requested.“These numbers are even worse than anything we could have imagined. Thirteen hundred to three-quarters of a million. Does the Social Services minister really expect us to believe it’s all just a coincidence?”The hotels owned or co-owned by Grewal were used by Social Services clients more than any others in Regina. Conway repeated her concerns to reporters after question period.“What concerns me so much about this case are the inflated rates. The Thrift Lodge motel inflates its rates more than any other hotel across the province,” she said.Previous suggestions by the ministry that the inflated prices were due to a damage deposit did not ring true to Conway. She said social services client Evelyn Harper, a social services client she knows who stayed in an assigned hotel, was made to pay her damage deposit.“This explanation for why the ministry was then paying $200, 100% more than the market rate, doesn't add up,” Conway said.In response to the controversy, the Ministry of Social Services set up a request for proposal (RFP) to hotels that want to make their rooms available. The RFP process has not yet wrapped up.On Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe told reporters discussion of the hotel should be about policy, not insinuations. He expressed “some disappointment with respect to the Opposition maybe not approaching the debate on the policy, and actually trying to suggest that there's something nefarious with respect to the individuals that are really just enacting the same policy that was there in previous governments.“We would respectfully ask all in the House, let's keep our discussion on the policy. That's what Saskatchewan people want their elected members to do.”Grewal announced in February he would not seek re-election.
The Opposition NDP is raising fresh concerns with money spent by social services on motels owned by a Sask Party MLA after receiving dollar figures requested more than two months ago.The documents show that the two motels associated with Sask Party MLA Gary Grewal saw a massive spike in government business after he was first elected as MLA for Regina Northeast in 2020.Official Opposition Critic for Ethics and Democracy Meara Conway, who first asked for the amounts in early February, said, “It’s there in black and white. This looks to be a clear example of corruption.”Year-by-year dollar figures on Grewal’s Sunrise Motel in Regina had been requested at an earlier date and already received. It was only in committee on Monday that the Sask Party government released the funding figures for MLA Grewal’s second motel, the Regina Thriftlodge. Prior to MLA Grewal’s election in 2020, his motels did very little business with the Ministry of Social Services. However, following Grewal’s election in 2020, the amount increased to $731,194..The NDP pointed out that business with the Ministry of Social Services also jumped considerably around the time MLA Gene Makowsky took over as Minister in May 2022. Makowsky and Grewal share a constituency office.Both motels associated with the Sask Party MLA were shown to have massively inflated rates when taxpayers picked up the tab with rate changes far higher than other hotels and motels used by Social Services. The Thriftlodge inflates its rates for the Ministry of Social Services by 105.6% and the Sunrise inflates its rates by 63.3%.On Wednesday, Conway asked Makowsky how long the dollar amounts she asked for were known to him.Makowsky responded by saying he had had no knowledge of the situation with the motels. He read into the record comments made Tuesday by Jeff Redekop, executive director of income assistance delivery in the Ministry of Social Services.Redekop said, “Front-line staff are looking for what options are available for clients who are in need. The ministry has generally no knowledge of who owns the hotel and has never been instructed by government to use a certain hotel.”Redekop said the reason for hotel rentals was “about the needs of the clients.”Makowsky added, “I remind the House the only source of these accusations is the NDP. The only people who we’re looking to benefit are the most vulnerable people who need a roof over their heads in emergency situations.”Conway tried repeatedly to find out when Makowsky knew the dollar figures she had requested.“These numbers are even worse than anything we could have imagined. Thirteen hundred to three-quarters of a million. Does the Social Services minister really expect us to believe it’s all just a coincidence?”The hotels owned or co-owned by Grewal were used by Social Services clients more than any others in Regina. Conway repeated her concerns to reporters after question period.“What concerns me so much about this case are the inflated rates. The Thrift Lodge motel inflates its rates more than any other hotel across the province,” she said.Previous suggestions by the ministry that the inflated prices were due to a damage deposit did not ring true to Conway. She said social services client Evelyn Harper, a social services client she knows who stayed in an assigned hotel, was made to pay her damage deposit.“This explanation for why the ministry was then paying $200, 100% more than the market rate, doesn't add up,” Conway said.In response to the controversy, the Ministry of Social Services set up a request for proposal (RFP) to hotels that want to make their rooms available. The RFP process has not yet wrapped up.On Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe told reporters discussion of the hotel should be about policy, not insinuations. He expressed “some disappointment with respect to the Opposition maybe not approaching the debate on the policy, and actually trying to suggest that there's something nefarious with respect to the individuals that are really just enacting the same policy that was there in previous governments.“We would respectfully ask all in the House, let's keep our discussion on the policy. That's what Saskatchewan people want their elected members to do.”Grewal announced in February he would not seek re-election.
