Premier says Sask.'s health-care workers 'quite busy,' won't be sent to Ontario

Saskatchewan's premier says health-care workers in Saskatchewan will stay put for the time being.

The comments from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford made a request on Friday for Saskatchewan to send health-care workers east, to help in his province's COVID-19 fight.

Moe prefaced his answer by saying he and Ford recently engaged in numerous discussions on a variety of challenges they've faced since the COVID-19 pandemic started over a year ago.

"With respect to any conversations around requests for health-care workers from Saskatchewan to possibly go to Ontario, right now — and this was conveyed — our Saskatchewan health-care workers are quite busy here at the moment," Moe said on Friday.

He said health-care workers across Saskatchewan are already providing a variety of services here and the capacity currently doesn't exist to send them to other provinces.

When asked if Ford understood the COVID-19 situation in Saskatchewan, Moe said he didn't want to speak on his fellow premier's behalf, but said he felt Ford was looking at the challenges Ontario faces and trying to find a solution.

Amid rising cases, the Canadian Medical Association issued a plea on Friday for a number of "unprecedented" measures to address rising COVID-19 numbers in many provinces across the country.

In a news release, the association said it wants to see a marshalling of national resources, national collaboration between provinces and territories, and more restrictive public health measures.