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Anna Thistle, MHA for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans, says Premier
Danny Williams knew about the conditions at the Grand Falls - Windsor cancer
clinic and refused to prioritize it during the budget process. "Today in
the House of Assembly, the Premier finally acknowledged he knew about the
problems at the cancer clinic, but that cabinet didn’t see it as a priority
for funding in this year’s budget," said Thistle. "I couldn’t believe what I
was hearing from the Premier today, he knew about the conditions, yet he
felt paying off the mortgage of The Rooms and other government buildings
ahead of schedule with his $103 million cash surplus was more important. His
only defence was that he didn’t know about people getting sick in five
gallon buckets.
"I gave the Premier another opportunity today in the House of Assembly to
put an end to the human suffering and embarrassment that takes place daily
at the cancer clinic and once again he refused. The cancer clinic has been a
priority of doctors, the health board and residents of the surrounding area
since 2002. The Premier finally had to admit today that this was about
money, not about his lack of knowledge of the situation.
"The Premier said yesterday he was directing the Minister of Health and
Community Services to go visit the clinic next week to assess the situation.
We cannot believe anything the Premier tells us anymore. We found out today
that this visit was requested by the Central West Health Care Board in
January and was scheduled three weeks ago. The Premier’s attempt to act as
if he’s involved is nothing more than a political charade. The Premier is,
in fact, doing absolutely nothing to assist the people who are suffering
through difficult times in the cancer clinic.
"I am today calling on people all across the province to write, call and
e-mail the Premier to voice their disgust over his handling of this serious
health issue and demand that government do the right thing and provide the
necessary funding for a new cancer clinic." |