Sask. Party MLA's motels got $384K from social services for client hotel rooms last fiscal year
NDP also alleges both hotels inflated rates once Ministry of Social Services began picking up the tab
Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP says it has more evidence that Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal benefited from the provincial government paying inflated rates to house Ministry of Social Services clients at motels.
The NDP released documents Tuesday listing all hotels that had received $50,000 or more from the ministry in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The Sunrise Motel and the Thriftlodge, two Regina motels that Grewal has ownership stakes in, received a combined $384,178.
"Looking at this as a member of the public, it's extremely concerning. It looks bad and it possibly is bad," said NDP MLA Meara Conway, the party's social services critic, on Tuesday.
Last year, the NDP raised concerns about the Grewal-owned Sunrise Motel in Regina raising the price on a room after social services started paying for it.
On Tuesday, the NDP revealed Grewal is also an investor in the Thriftlodge in Regina, according to conflict of interest documents filed by the MLA.
The NDP said the Thriftlodge also received business from social services and also appears to have raised its prices once the government started covering costs.
Data provided by the Ministry of Social Services to the NDP appear to back up that claim.
During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the average cost per night for rooms used by social services clients was $151 at the Sunrise Motel and $186 at the Thriftlodge.
Those are the two highest rates of the Ministry of Social Services' three most-used hotels.
They are also more than double the rates available for the Thriftlodge and Sunrise Motel on Booking.com.
"These are two of the cheapest hotels on this list, cheapest for you or I, but they're charging some of the highest rates, and indeed in the case of the Thriftlodge, the highest rate," Conway said during a news conference Tuesday.
Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky declined an interview request. Instead, he issued a statement describing how the ministry uses hotels to provide immediate help for individuals or families in emergency situations, or for longer-term support for families and children in crisis.
Since some hotels won't accept people on income assistance because of past issues, the province's options are limited, he said.
"The number of hotels willing to work with the ministry to provide rooms for income assistance clients in Regina has decreased since 2021. Payments to each hotel continuing to work with the ministry have increased as a result," said Makowsky.
A series of changes Makowsky announced last week are supposed to stop the problem highlighted by the NDP.
The Ministry of Social Services now needs three quotes from hotels before picking one to house clients and must also enter into a formal contract with specific hotels in Saskatoon and Regina.
The NDP says that's not enough.
"What I would expect from the minister and from Premier [Scott Moe], to be honest, is to look into whether any of the other hotels utilized by the Ministry of Social Services have ties to Sask. Party MLAs," said Conway.
Grewal has not yet commented on the details revealed Tuesday.
The office of Saskatchewan's auditor has confirmed that it will investigate the province's procurement and payment practices for when people on social assistance need to stay at hotels.
The auditor's report on the subject is scheduled to be issued in December 2024.
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