News Release
Office of the Official Opposition
 

Bill 30 contains little for consumers

Opposition to voice concerns during insurance debate

May 31, 2004

Kelvin Parsons, Opposition House Leader and MHA for Burgeo-La Poile District, believes the insurance bill put forth by government will mean very little savings for insurance consumers in the Province.

"It has taken government seven months to put this piece of legislation together and put it before the House of Assembly," said Parsons. "Today we have a bill that is a watered down version of what was promised to consumers during the election campaign last Fall. There are no significant savings in this legislation for consumers. I fully intend to publicly raise the many problems that I see in this reform package.

"As an opposition, we were under the impression that the legislation would contain details about the proposed deductible announced by the Premier and Minister of Government Services on March 17th of this year. Unfortunately, government has decided not to release details of the plan, instead reserving the right to make these decisions later, behind closed doors."

The Liberal MHA is calling on government to release their full insurance plan, providing full accountability on the issue. "We’ve heard this government tell the public to trust them time and time again. This trust has been broken several times since last fall’s election. It is time that government become fully accountable on this issue and put forth the full insurance plan, including details of the proposed deductible."

Bill 30 was provided to the House of Assembly last Thursday. No commencement date was provided in the legislation or by the minister to inform consumers when the proposed changes will take effect.

Media Contact:
Jeff Mackey
Caucus Communications
Office of the Official Opposition
709-729-6427