Sask. Party plan fertility treatment tax credit, HPV screening, while NDP target $203M payroll system

Health care was the focus for the Saskatchewan Party and the Saskatchewan NDP as the provincial election campaign entered its second week on Monday. 

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe was joined by candidates Laura Ross and Sarah Wright for a news conference focused on women's health. 

Moe told reporters that if the party forms government they will introduce cervix self-screening as an alternative to the Pap smear. It will also provide a 50 per cent refundable tax credit for the cost of a first fertility treatment. 

"This is just simply trying to support not just families, but individuals across Saskatchewan as they are making decisions, and often this is part of those decisions and how they can grow their families," Moe said. 

The tax credit would help cover the costs for fertility treatments and related prescription drug costs to a maximum of $20,000, which would mean a $10,000 health benefit. 

The self-sampling kit will screen for the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the leading cause of cervical cancer. 

Wright, who is running as the party's candidate in Regina Lakeview, is a breast cancer survivor. She believes the at-home testing kit adds "dignity" to the process. 

"If you can find the cancer, remove the cancer, you're then cancer free and that's what this is all about," Wright said. 

Moe confirmed the party had budgeted the tax credit at $3.5 million to $4 million.  

NDP candidate Meara Conway, who attended the news conference at Kiwanis Waterfall Park in Regina, questioned why the Saskatchewan Party was making the announcement about fertility affordability during an election. 

"This is something that the Saskatchewan NDP has been calling for for years," Conway said. 

Moe admitted fertility affordability had been raised by the NDP on "50 different occasions in the legislature."

However, he maintained this is part of the party's commitment to expand women's health in Saskatchewan.  He dismissed any concerns the NDP might raise on the topic. 

"[Parties] all have their commitments, and there's gonna be some choices and differences, but there will also be some points of alignment — maybe this is one." Moe said. "I don't know, you'll have to ask them."