Sask. health minister denies NDP claim that former premier played role in new meth treatment centre deal

A new crystal meth treatment facility in the works for Estevan's St. Joseph's Hospital has raised questions from the Saskatchewan NDP about both the centre, and the role the Opposition claims a former Saskatchewan premier played.

In the legislature on Wednesday, NDP Leader Ryan Meili said he has an email that shows Grant Devine lobbied for the company behind the rehab centre pitch.

He also said the email was sent to former premier Brad Wall's chief of staff, Joe Donlevy.

"This is a deal for what Grant Devine refers to in that email as 'a profitable business model,'" Meili said. "We badly need more spaces for Saskatchewan people to seek treatment for their addictions, but this isn't how you do it."

The 2020-21 budget included $1.4 million for Cedars, the company that is the proponent of the service at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Health Minister Jim Reiter described Cedars as a company with a background in addictions treatment, but Meili said the deal means a for-profit company has received an untendered contract for the program.

He also questioned the timing of the deal for the rehab facility, coming about six months after the email from Devine, who was premier of Saskatchewan from 1982 to 1991.

The project approval "smelled funny," Meili said, adding "when Grant Devine advocates for 20 beds, six months later there's 20 beds."

The NDP raised the email during a committee meeting on Tuesday night.

Reiter said he was not aware what the NDP was referring to when it brought up Devine's email, so he called the CEO of the hospital, Greg Hoffart, to find out more.

Hoffart "had no idea what I was talking about," Reiter said. "He's assured me that. As much as [the NDP] love to taint Grant Devine, he's had absolutely no role in this whatsoever."

Reiter did not get to see the email until after question period Wednesday, when it was tabled.

In the email, Devine wrote, "our objective is to present a well-documented model to Premier Moe in the new year." 

Moe said in the legislature he had spoken to Hoffart in Estevan about the potential new facility, which he said would replace the service that operated "until the NDP closed it."

Moe said he had "no meeting or other consultation" with Devine on the issue, and that Meili was dragging Devine's name "through the mud."

Reiter said that in this case, the meth treatment in Estevan is an extension of existing services, so a tender was not required.

He said St. Joseph has turned to Cedars, "who have a long history in addictions treatment … for their advice, and using them in that capacity. The government had no role in soliciting that."

In the assembly, Reiter called Meili's questioning "absolutely despicable," which led to a warning from Speaker Mark Docherty about using unparliamentary language.

Reiter said the centre will be free to the users and completely publicly funded. It is slated to open in September.