Health Minister Paul Merriman spent the last week dodging questions as to why he was away from work for a full week..This is out of character for Merriman who has one of the highest vote participation rates in the Legislature..Merriman did admit for the week he was absent that it was for health reasons..In the media scrum, a reporter asked, “Were your symptoms mild?”.“We’ve already talked about this, good try though,” Merriman responded with a laugh..Another reporter continued the questioning, “If you had COVID, you self-isolated. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell people that’s what you should do?”.“I was out for a couple of days for personal reasons…I understand that I lead a very public life and that’s something that [happens] when you get into this business and a minister’s role,” said Merriman..“As minister of health, you lead a very public life. But there are some things that are still private and in discussions with my family. There’re things I want to keep private. I don’t have to disclose everything.”.NDP Opposition leader Ryan Meili differs from Merriman and thinks politicians should tell the public when they have COVID-19..Politicians can lead by example, he said..A reporter asked Meili, “Do you think politicians and elected officials have an obligation to disclose whether they had COVID or not?”.“I will put it this way. If I test positive, you’ll know,” said Meili..Meili was asked, “If the minister of health has COVID, should he be telling us that he has COVID?”.“If I were the minister of health, I’d tell you if I had COVID. It would be an opportunity to show people the level of risk that continues,” said Meili..“I don’t know what’s going on, but if members of the government are contracting COVID-19 and choosing not to share that. I think that’s a missed opportunity to educate people both about the effectiveness of vaccines if their course is mild. But also the ongoing presence and risk for COVID.”.The Saskatchewan Party does not have a specific policy when testing positive for COVID-19..They follow the government’s recommendation of staying home for five days and do not come back until a negative test result..Merriman acknowledged that COVID-19 is going through the building, referring to the Legislature..However, Merriman said it’s “less severe” than previous COVID-19 strains..Some recent high-profile politicians with COVID-19 are Saskatoon’s Mayor Charlie Clark and Speaker of the House, Randy Weekes, who is part of the Saskatchewan Party..Chris Oldcorn is a Western Standard Reporter based in Regina.,coldcorn@westernstandard.news,Twitter: @chrisoldcorn,.Parler: @chrisoldcorn
