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Mike Topola on Facebook MAKE LIFE MORE AFFORDABLE by cutting $0.15 a litre on every gas fill and the pst from food and children's clothes
FIX HEALTHCARE - shorter wait times, rural access and more staff
INVEST IN EDUCATION - increasing our per-student funding
PUT SK WORKERS AND COMPANIES FIRST
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Mike Topola
NDP candidate for Wood River
Biography
submitted by the candidate or their team
Mike is an Advance Care Paramedic currently working at Assiniboia Union Hospital in the ER. He has roots in the farming community, coming from a family with strong ties to the agricultural industry. Born and raised in Assiniboia, Mike coaches HS football and basketball.
Mike has seen first-hand the issues facing healthcare delivery in Saskatchewan and is committed to improving access to care and fighting for better rural services across the province.
Born and raised in Assiniboia. Mike is an avid volunteer who has coached high school football and basketball at Assiniboia Composite High School for the last nine years. His experience and insight into the issues facing rural Saskatchewan would make him a strong voice for the people of Wood River.
Reason for running
submitted to 's elections office by the candidate
As a paramedic, I was called to keep the ER open - a bandaid fix. Bandaids should not last over 3 years. When I was a kid, school sports were free, and schools were funded. Now kids pay to play, and we're last in education.
In May of 2022, our community faced a healthcare crisis. The Assiniboia Union Hospital’s emergency room was closed and on the verge of extensive closure due to staff shortages. As an Advanced Care Paramedic, I was called in through my private employer, and we were able to keep the ER open. Since then, only a handful of nights have seen the doors closed. I’m proud of that, but the reality is, this should never have been necessary. In Saskatchewan, we have seen over 4000 days of closures during the last 2.5 years. To hide them bandaids such as myself have been applied. Often paying agencies to use their nurses at three times an SHA wage to work for a short time to keep our hospitals open. This is a waste of tax payer money and a drain upon the staff of our hospitals. It is not sustainable. This is a management problem.
That’s why I am so exited about being a part of Carla Becks team who is investing in Health Care as ALL NDP governments have in the past —so we can hire more full-time nurses, doctors, and support staff. Our hospitals and emergency rooms need permanent staffing solutions, and with this investment, we’ll ensure that critical healthcare services are available to every family, every night.
After becoming a paramedic and returning to the community, I became a volunteer basketball and football coach at the local high school. I noticed a stark difference from when I was a kid. Back then, we didn’t have much, but one thing was certain: school sports were free. Today, we’re asking kids to pay for participation and travel—costs that many families struggle to afford. In a public education system, this simply isn’t right. Education, including extracurricular activities like sports, should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it.
Our children deserve the best possible start in life. Education is the foundation of our future, we must invest in it so that every child in our Saskatchewan has access to world-class learning opportunities. This investment will ensure smaller class sizes, better resources, and more support for students and teachers alike.
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