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Oral
Questions
April 14, 2008
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions today are
for the Premier, and they are around the inquiry that is
ongoing in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, even from
the briefing today that we received from Robert Thompson
- who, as we all know, is government’s point man on
the public inquiry into the ER-PR testing - it is
obvious that government still does not have a full
handle on this issue. I guess that was evident this
weekend as government scrambled to put together the
numbers to present in today’s briefing to both the
media and the public. Yet, we have learned today that
there are nineteen patients whom have not yet been
tracked and located and therefore not contacted.
I ask the Premier: Why
has government, or at least through Eastern Health, why
has there been no coordinated effort to contact these
nineteen patients to date?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Government has, in fact,
not been scrambling. Government has, in fact, been
working on this since June of last year and something
good from an information perspective has come out of
something very bad. Fortunately, and despite the wishes
of the Leader of the Opposition to have Mr. Thompson
removed for conflict of interest, his efforts have
uncovered these problems. He has done basically a
process audit, for want of a better term, in order to
try and find out exactly what the numbers are. The
numbers keep changing. This really accentuates the type
of problem that my government and my ministers have been
trying to deal with, with information coming from
Eastern Health. It lays it out very clearly. This thing
is still not complete. This is an ongoing process. There
will be more reporting.
For the Leader of the
Opposition to suggest that this is somewhat opportune
and we were scrambling over the weekend to put this
together, nothing is further from the truth. It has been
a very difficult process. It has been ongoing since
June. It was only until November we could even start to
release some of the findings and as we get these
findings, when we have complete information we will
release it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, we have now learned that 400 of those patients
were to be contacted via their physicians, yet no one
can confirm that this is the case. Government, through
Eastern Health, is now directing a review of those
contacts with patients.
I ask the Premier: Why
did you wait for so much time to pass before you ensured
that these patients were actually contacted through
their physicians as was supposed to have happened?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, as will come out in the inquiry - and this is
why completion of the whole inquiry is such an important
process, and this is why Mr. Thompson has to be allowed
to complete his work. These are things that are being
discovered on an ongoing basis.
With regard to the number
of 400, that is basically extrapolating a raw number
from this information. That is a due diligence check.
That is going to be a secondary check to make sure that
is done. The real numbers here, of course, are that
basically there are nineteen people who are unable to be
found anywhere, despite all the efforts, the best
efforts, as I understand it, of the people involved at
Eastern Health. Nineteen were not able to be contacted.
One still remains out of the group of fifteen, and there
are four others that may have been questioned on the
diagnosis of a tumor. So, that is twenty-three. As well,
there are another nineteen people who have since
deceased and with a question of whether their families
have been contacted.
The good thing about this
is that we are getting to the bottom of it, and at the
end of the day this is about the patients, it is about
the families and it is about future patients and future
families who are affected by cancer. So, we should not
look at this as being a bad thing but a good thing
because we are finally getting accurate information, and
it just shows the frustration that we are having in
trying to deal with the chaos in the information that is
coming from Eastern Health.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
My next question is for
the Premier, and it is to do with a response that I was
given in the House of Assembly on March 19 by the
Minister of Health in response to a question. He said to
me: "…those individuals currently being followed
by a physician are being provided with the necessary
support that they would need through this period."
I ask the Premier today: How
could the minister knowingly have made that statement
when, in fact, no follow up had been done, and still has
not been done to date, with those physicians to see if
they have, in fact, contacted the patients at all?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: The
questions that are being asked about statements that
other people have made, those questions would have to go
properly to the person who made them. That question
would have to go to the minister.
I can say though, in
defence of the minister and ministers, they can only
rely on the information that is presented to them. They
are dealing with massive departments with budgets of
over $2 billion with thousands and thousands of
employees down the line. That information gets presented
to them, gets presented to me, gets presented to
Cabinet, gets presented to government, and we have to
rely on the information that is presented to us by the
experts.
Now, over the course of
this particular process - and again I can say this is a
good thing - we have now set up Robert Thompson as a
secretary to basically do his own task force to go back
and find out what when wrong. During the course of his
investigation, he has indicated that there were
problems, and he actually lays out in this report -
which is somewhat of a preliminary report –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: -
what his concerns were and what the reasons were.
There are two reasons and
I can come back to them, Mr. Speaker, if necessary.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Premier: At
some point I think someone should at least question the
validity of the information being provided.
I ask the Premier today: Do
you expect your ministers to read their briefing notes
when they are in charge of a department?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Absolutely,
Mr. Speaker.
Ministers, and myself,
are expected to read our briefing notes when they are
provided, subject, of course, to the knowledge that they
already have about a particular issue.
For example, if a
briefing note comes to me on an issue that I already
know as much about, or 100 per cent about, then it would
not be beyond me not to read the entire briefing note.
The same way, you have to allow discretion for ministers
and you have to expect ministers, all ministers, to do
their jobs and to do their jobs properly.
I don’t babysit them. I
don’t go down and ask them a quiz the next morning -
Did you read your briefing note? Here are the questions
on it. - because I cannot do that. These are responsible
individuals who are in charge of departments.
As well, we also have an
individual here who was parliamentary assistant in that
Department of Health for over four years, as far as I
know, or nearly four years, as far as I understand it,
so he is an individual who was briefed from time to time
and informed about general health issues. Whether he
would go through every single item and every single word
and every single page in a briefing book, only he can
answer that, but I have to be reasonable in my
expectations of what ministers can accomplish and are
expected to do.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, in a backgrounder issued on May 23 by the
Department of Health, it states that all breast cancer
patients have been contacted about their results - a
statement that we now know to be false. At that time,
the Canadian Cancer Society and patients were saying
that they were not all contacted.
I ask the Premier: Why
did the minister continuously make these statements and
not question the information that was being provided to
him and, in essence, to government at that time by
Eastern Health?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, again, that is a question that only the
minister can answer; however, the minister was being
provided with information that was coming directly from
his officials, from his department, and from Eastern
Health.
That question, and those
questions, really should be put to Eastern Health. This
is where the information was coming from. This is where
incorrect information was being provided from, and only
they can answer it.
During the course of this
process we have questioned information. As information
changes, we go back and ask why it has changed. We have
also attempted to verify the correct information.
That is exactly the
report that Robert Thompson has just prepared and it has
been presented to everybody. In fact, as I understand
it, Mr. Speaker, a technical briefing was held this
morning.
In response to the last
question as well, there are two reasons for no contact
being made that were given in that report. The original
policy that all living patients would be contacted with
the results -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: -
was not universally applied.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. Premier if
he would not recite and read from documents, if he
paraphrased them or give the gist of what is in them. I
also ask if he would conclude his answer.
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Policy
was not followed, Mr. Speaker; and, secondly, there was
no protocol between the health authorities to say who
was responsible for doing what. As a result, there was a
passing of the responsibility back and forth between
each other.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, on May 23, when the minister was still saying
that all of these individuals had been contacted,
despite public information being out there by patients,
it was not only incumbent, Premier, upon the minister to
question Eastern Health. At that time you knew, as the
Premier. The Cabinet knew; they had been briefed.
Again, I have to ask: Why
did no one confirm that the information that Eastern
Health was providing was indeed factual?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
As these situations
arose, and as people arose who had indicated that they
had not been contacted, the questions were asked through
the department and back through sources to get
verification. We then had to rely on the information
that came back from Eastern Health.
So, if someone happened
to be on a public airwave and made a statement, then
officials in the Department of Health would bring that
to the attention of Eastern Health and follow through on
it. We would then wait for the answer and respond; but,
you know, the minister was receiving information from
Eastern Health and was attempting to present that to the
public. Now, we can be criticized - we will be
criticized if we do not provide information, because
then we are deemed not to disclose. Then we are
criticized on the other hand if we do provide
information and it is later found out to be inaccurate.
We cannot win in that situation, so we are managing a
very difficult situation, Mr. Speaker.
I remind the hon. member
opposite that this laboratory closed for five weeks
while their government was in power. I can’t wait to
hear the testimony of Premier Grimes and Minister Smith
and other ministers from the previous government, to
hear what they knew.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
We do know that the
current Minister of Health did not read his briefing
notes. Although the Premier expects his ministers to be
briefed and to read their notes, we know he did not. We
know that he did not question the information that was
being provided by the health authority, despite other
claims in the public that it was inaccurate, and we know
that he did not live up to the duties and
responsibilities as outlined under the Executive Council
Act for ministers who serve in a government.
I ask the Premier: Does
he see this as a clear level of incompetence, and is he
expecting to do anything about it?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Let
me state very clearly for the record that this minister
who is presently testifying before the inquiry today, in
my opinion, has done an absolutely outstanding job of
dealing with (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: He
has given an explanation to the inquiry as to why he did
not read a particular briefing note, and the inquiry
will pass judgement on that.
He has also indicated
that he has tried to get the best information possible,
and he has done that to the best of his ability. He
stood in this House day after day after day, when the
sands were shifting under his feet, when information was
changing from Eastern Health, trying to present it to
the Members of the House of Assembly, presenting it to
the public to the best of his ability, at a time when he
was being provided misinformation by Eastern Health.
Now, he has managed that
excellent, from my perspective. As a matter of fact, I
would not put anybody else in that position, other than
him, right now in this government - I can say it -
because he has done an outstanding job.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, maybe the Premier
can answer this question for the minister that he has
such confidence in: Why is it
that the minister and you, Premier, did not have any
dedicated meeting with regard to this ER-PR retesting,
even though you knew the statistics on the number of
people who were affected, you knew the seriousness of
the matter, but yet there was no direct meeting between
you and the minister to discuss this issue? Why was this
not a number one priority of concern for the government
at that particular time?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I have said before, I have to rely on my
ministers to run their departments. From the beginning,
on this particular matter, we had received an indication
that there was a problem. Then, within hours, it was
indicated to us that no action was required. It was then
in the hands of the department.
We were also being told
over the course of the whole development of this problem
that, in fact, improper testing had stopped, so the
problem had been taken care of; that future testing was
going to be done at Mount Sinai; that the past testing
was going to be retested at Mount Sinai; and that
patients had been notified.
We were also concerned
about the confidentiality, the privacy, and the health
of the people who were involved, and under those
circumstances I am satisfied that our government did
absolutely the right thing.
You have to keep in mind
here that we were dealing with a problem that had been
created and put in our lap and presented to us, and our
primary concern was patient care and the health and the
welfare of the patients who were afflicted by this.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we know that
when this issue broke open on May 15, the minister did
go back and read his briefing notes. We now know that on
May 16 there were briefings with Eastern Health, and on
May 17 there was a Cabinet meeting around this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I understand
that Dr. Howell and Mr. Tilley sat outside the Cabinet
doors while the meeting was going on, and were not asked
to come inside to answer questions or provide for
briefings.
I
would like to ask the Premier why these individuals were
not questioned at that time, or afterwards, on the
information that they were bringing forward.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I was not outside the Cabinet doors; I was
inside the Cabinet doors. Dr. Howell or Mr. Tilley or
other officials are always present, coming and going,
during Cabinet meetings, when these matters are ongoing.
I do know that the
minister and officials of the Department of Health and
the Deputy Minister of Health certainly would have had
discussions - I assume that they would have had
discussions - with these people.
Again, this was in the
hands of the Ministry of Health. That is exactly where
it rested, and it was being handled and managed properly
by the Department of Health.
I said before, if at some
point in time the Cameron inquiry, in its wisdom,
decides that there was some error in judgment made in
the way that it was handled with regard to contacting
patients, and that is our responsibility - I mean
myself, my Cabinet, my government - we will accept it.
I do again take general
responsibility, but I am not prepared to stand here day
after day and take responsibility down the line
specifically for problems that occurred, and mistakes
that were made, and omissions that were made, when I had
no way of knowing anything about them; nor did my
ministers.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, it is a fairly clear, very legitimate question.
Dr. Oscar Howell and Mr.
Tilley were both available to meet with the Cabinet, as
I understand it; yet, they were not invited in, they
were not questioned, and they were not part of that
discussion.
I can only ask the
Premier again: If this was such
a huge priority for the government and you at the time,
why were these individuals not engaged at that level and
questioned?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I
will repeat the answer, Mr. Speaker.
These individuals were
engaged by officials of the Department of Health, which
I assume would be the minister, the Deputy Minister of
Health, and other officials.
Reciprocally, I can ask
why you, as a Cabinet minister, or the Health Minister,
Minister Smith at the time, or the Premier, Roger Grimes
at the time, would not know that a laboratory was closed
down for five weeks because a doctor had complained that
it was not doing its job properly, that testing was not
being done properly, and that might lead to legal
action?
Now, I said before, I am
prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt on that,
but you cannot sit here and question me, and ask me why
I did not know information that I had no way of knowing
and, at the same time, hide behind the cover of saying:
We knew nothing about a laboratory being closed down. We
knew nothing about the problems of 2003, 2002, 2001 when
people were being mistested.
You have to be fair, Ms
Jones; this is about the patients at the end of the day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I think I am being more
than fair, and very tolerant of the Premier’s answers
here.
Mr. Speaker, the question
was not to the Premier about, why did you not get
correct information? It was about why, after you knew
about the issue, after you were informed, after there
were numbers of briefing notes, after there were Cabinet
meetings, why no one - you included - talked to Mr.
Tilley and talked to Dr. Howell about this problem and
what was going on. That was very clear.
Mr. Speaker, let me ask
the Premier this question. When Eastern Health was going
to court to disallow the release of peer reviews, I
questioned the Premier with regard to that, and why the
government did not step in. Of course, his response was
that, from government’s perspective, we were not a
party to that particular action and we –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the member to pose
her question.
MS JONES: I
certainly will, Mr. Speaker.
- and we had just
basically stood back and let the courts do what they had
to do.
Well, I ask the Premier
this question. You may have taken
a hands-off approach in your office when it came to the
court challenge of peer reviews, but why is it -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the member to pose
her question.
MS JONES: I
am posing the question, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the Premier: Why
is it that your office was very much engaged in editing
communication releases and ads that were going out from
Eastern Health by your director of communications?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
What the Leader of the
Opposition - and I apologize. Before, I referred to the
Leader of the Opposition as Ms Jones, and I just correct
the record there. That was just an oversight.
What I did state in
answer to this question last week, or two weeks ago, was
that, in fact, from our perspective, Madam Justice
Cameron, the head of the inquiry, actually had that peer
review in her hands. So we knew that this information
was not going to be kept from the Commission of Inquiry,
and in an open, accountable and transparent manner they
had the information for their benefit so they could
basically make findings at the end of the day based on
that information.
The legal point was a
moot point because, in fact, it was just a question of
whether, from an ethical perspective and a practical
perspective, these peer reviews could be allowed into
evidence. That was a matter for the courts to decide.
I also ask Ms Jones why
her Premier and her Cabinet would not know –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. Premier to
conclude his answer.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I
will, Mr. Speaker.
- why that Cabinet would
not have known a statement from a doctor that said: a
diagnosis based on inappropriate immunostain will surely
jeopardize patient care. That happened in -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
SOME HON MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the Premier would
know the difference is, is that his government was
informed.
Mr. Speaker, we have
continuously heard the Minister of Health stand in this
House of Assembly and tout the new Centre of Excellence
of the lab conducting breast cancer testing. However, I
have received calls, in fact, over the weekend from
patients who are less than confident with the statements
that were made by the minister. One woman who was
diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago received a
phone call telling her that her tissue samples had to be
retested. She received the same phone call six months
later from the lab, again, saying that her tissue
samples had to be retested. When she questioned it,
apparently the first call she got, although she was
contacted and told it would be sent out, it never was
and it was not done until six months later.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. member to
pose her question.
MS JONES: I
certainly will.
She was called back for
an MRI in January and she had a double mastectomy last
month. She describes the process as she went through -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. member to
pose her question now.
MS JONES: I
will, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
I ask the Premier: What
is the Centre of Excellence that government refers to
and what improvements have been made, because they have
not been witnessed by all women affected?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, the details on health care will be provided by
the minister when he is available in the House. I can
tell you, though, that from my personal perspective, and
from the perspective of the members of Cabinet, members
of government, caucus members, this is a very serious
matter to us. When we look at this and we consider the
problems here, we look at this as if this was our
mother, our wife, our daughter, or a male member of the
family who has had this problem. We try to deal
with matters in this government as if it was happening
to us, specifically. We try to react and respond in the
same manner as what the patients are.
So I can tell you right
now, myself, and speaking on behalf of the government,
we have the greatest sympathy for the patients. As well,
I want you to know Ms Jones, that if this kind of thing
is happening, I think it is absolutely terrible - again,
I am sorry, Leader of the Opposition. This is terrible.
It is a terrible thing. It should not be happening, and
it is not acceptable from our perspective.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I certainly agree with
the Premier, that this is terrible and it is
traumatizing for many people. The reality of it is that
it is happening, and that is what is unfortunate.
Mr. Speaker, this patient
who had contacted me also informed me that she was asked
to sign a consent form last month before she underwent a
double mastectomy, to say that she would agree to be
released from the hospital immediately after her
surgery. The reason for that was there was no bed
available to be able to hospitalize her. She had no one
at home to care for her and she resisted signing the
form. The option was to have her surgery cancelled.
Mr. Speaker, I have to
ask: Is there a policy existing
within Eastern Health right now that says if you
undertake surgical procedures like this you must consent
to be discharged immediately -
MR. SPEAKER:
Order please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I am not, from my knowledge, aware of that
policy nor would I likely be aware of the specific
policies with regard to that, but I can tell you from my
own perspective, and this government’s perspective, if
a woman is put on the street after having a double
mastectomy and has to sign a consent form to allow that
to happen, that is absolutely unacceptable, and if that
is the policy it will be changed forthwith.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, I might add for the Premier, that if it is not
a written policy it should not be a policy at any level.
Hopefully, it will not happen again.
Mr. Speaker, I was also
informed by a woman who had an MRI done for breast
screening, that her results in reporting to her were
delayed for a period of time simply because there
wasn’t a radiologist available to read the report,
specifically as it related to breast screening.
Can I
ask if there is more than one radiologist on staff at
Eastern Health who does this work, and if so, why is it
that at that period during February there was a delay in
being able to get these reports out?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I
will undertake to provide that information, Mr. Speaker.
The question is valid and if the information that there
wasn’t a radiologist available is correct, then we
will find out why, and hopefully there will be a good
explanation.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
My questions, too, relate
to information that we received this morning during our
briefing with Mr. Robert Thompson.
During the briefing we
were told that one of the main reasons for patients not
being contacted was either the lack of a communications
protocol or protocols not being followed. So patients
who should have been contacted fell through the cracks
between Eastern Health and the other health authorities.
I ask the Premier, if he
knows: What actions are being taken with regard to
creating, throughout our health care system, an
established protocol for patient follow-up and contact
in the future?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I
thank the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi for that
question.
As you are aware, this
information - a draft report of this only came to my
attention yesterday afternoon, when I was in the office.
The final report was presented to me after our business
this morning with the Icelandic officials. So, I have
only seen the final report. I will be speaking with the
Minister of Health when he comes off the stand and when
he is finished. I will be instructing him to follow-up
on what has occurred here and to pursue the
recommendations and some of the recommendations that you
have indicated.
You talked about the
protocols; it appears there that policies were set and
protocols were established but they were not followed
and they were broken. So, we will be getting to the
bottom of it and finding out exactly why they were
broken, but this is new information, of course, to me as
well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am glad to hear the
Premier say that he will be following up with the
minister.
This is another piece
that I am concerned about, that the ATIPP Act, the act
that covers the access to information and privacy, puts
responsibility directly on the shoulders of public
bodies to be proactive in releasing information that is
related to public interests. It is right there in the
ATIPP Act.
I am wondering if Cabinet
actually discussed Eastern Health’s responsibility,
under the light of that act, when it came to releasing
information to the public?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I
will take that question under advisement and get an
answer for the hon. member.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Follow-up to that then, I
know that the staff of ATIPP did do information sessions
with all aspects of government and public bodies with
regard to the act, but what I am wondering now in
relationship to my first question, is there actually a
protocol that is given to public bodies and said this is
the protocol to follow with regard to releasing the
information, or do we just have this section in the act
without a protocol?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I would inform the Member
for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi that the purpose, as she is
aware, of the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act is a law for individuals to access the
information that affects them and to allow for
correction of that information. There has been, and are,
ongoing training seminars with various bodies. In
relation to the information to be released by the public
body, ATIPP is triggered when a request is made. Now
that is my understanding of the act. I stand to be
corrected, but the information is not for public bodies
to release private information, it is triggered upon a
request.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I just have a another
question, and it is related to a call that I received in
the last few days, actually two calls, by patients over
the weekend who have had their surgeries cancelled, one
who has been put on a wait list and one who is still in
hospital awaiting surgery. I have contacted Eastern
Health and given them the information, and they are
telling me that there is an intermittent problem with
accessing beds in ICU.
I ask
the government if they are aware of that problem and are
there any plans to extend or expand the ICUs to be able
to deal with this problem in city hospitals?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I didn’t receive any such phone call prior to
coming to the House today so I certainly wasn’t aware
of that particular issue. I thank the hon. member
opposite for informing us of that.
I am aware from being in
Opposition that from time to time you do get calls. Of
course, you obviously have to track them to make sure
that they are authentic which we will do if you can
provide that information to us. I understand you have
already provided that information to Eastern Health. You
provide that to government and we will make sure we
track it down. At this point, we know nothing about it,
because it was a phone call that came directly to you. |
