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Oral
Questions
April 6, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS
JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, Eastern
Health has released information that there are
forty-three new breast cancer patients who have been
identified who need to be retested. Eastern has also
confirmed that they expect these numbers will likely
increase again before the review is completed.
I ask
the Minister of Health today, to tell us when his
department first learned about these new patients and
what input your office has had in how this information
was released.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Members
of this House, Mr. Speaker, may recall - and if they do
not recall my saying it here, they would recall it as
testimony that unfolded before the Cameron Inquiry -
that last year my office and me, in particular, as the
minister, directed that a more robust search be
conducted of the data bases within the system, to ensure
that we were able to identify each and every person who
may have been impacted between 1997 and 2005 as a result
of their ER/PR tests. We commissioned the Centre for
Health Information to start that process. They were very
much engaged last year with us in identifying the 1,013
that we released back in March of last year.
As 2008 unfolded, we
realized that there were still people who were coming
forward and saying that they were a part of that group
and wondered what their status was.
As a result of that
direction we provided last year, the Centre for Health
Information have now been aggressively doing a much more
robust search of the information systems in the Province
to identify any and everybody who may have had and ER/PR
test conducted during that period.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
What we are seeing today,
Mr. Speaker, is that exercise unfolding. They have been
working on it diligently for a number of months and we
are now starting to see the reports coming out of the
Centre for Health Information.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the key elements
of this process has been ensuring that information is
released and communicated properly. What we saw on
Friday was a press release from Eastern Health showing
up at 4:00 in the afternoon with no media briefings or
press conferences, and very little detail attached to
it.
I ask the minister again
– because it was told this morning that your office
had been informed and knew about this since Wednesday. I
ask: Why was it not
communicated to the public more appropriately, in a more
effective fashion than it was, instead of waiting until
the end of the day on Friday?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
will not try to explain the actions of Eastern
Health’s communication strategy on Friday. I, too,
would concur that late Friday afternoon, to make a
release available to the public and not have anyone from
Eastern Health available to provide comment, is not
something that I would have directed. It is not
something that I condone. It is not something that I
agree with. Let me be perfectly clear about that
particular piece.
Yes, I was aware that
they were going to be doing that release. The
conversation that my office had with Eastern Health was
midday on Thursday, and the understanding and direction
was pretty clear: that this information needed to get
out immediately. The fact that they were late on Friday
afternoon releasing it, I had no control over, Mr.
Speaker. That was their call, their decision to release
it. I received the notice of the release just moments
before it was out. I was out of the Province on
government business, meeting with my colleagues in
Halifax and with other health regions.
Mr. Speaker, that was
their call, but I would agree with the member opposite
that getting a release out late Friday afternoon and not
having anyone available from the organization to comment
on it is not something that I would agree with either.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Furthermore,
Mr. Speaker, I think this release was filed under false
pretenses. It was filed under a headline that said:
Moving forward with Cameron recommendations.
Then, buried in that
press release were the information and the evidence
regarding the faulty testing of thirty-eight patients in
this Province, many who have already been reported as
being deceased.
I ask again: Why was the
headline misleading? Why was this information not
conveyed in a straightforward, up front manner that
warranted the kind of disclosure that it should have
had?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Again,
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the member opposite and the
members of the House, Eastern Health write their own
press releases. They release their own communiqués. I
was aware of the information that they had. I was aware
on Thursday that they were going to be releasing it. My
understand was they were going to be releasing it
quickly. I then went out of the Province on business,
only to find that I got a copy of the release at the
same time it was being released to the public.
I say, Mr. Speaker,
again, I am not condoning the manner in which it was
released; nor did I sign off on the content of that
release. The fact that no one was available to provide
some context for it, some comment on it, on Friday
afternoon was inappropriate.
This morning, I
understand, Eastern Health had officials available to
provide response to the media and others who had some
questions in and around the content of the release, and
some detail around it, Mr. Speaker. I understand some of
that information got shared, but again I say, Mr.
Speaker, in response to the question, I did not sign off
on the release. They issue their own communiqués
through their own executive management team.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, I suggest the minister take a drive down to
Waterford Bridge Road and have a conversation with
Eastern Health.
At 11:00 o’clock this
morning, in a public disclosure, they are saying that
the approach they used in communicating this, the way
the information went out, was a joint effort between
your department and Eastern Health and others that were
impacted. I am hearing a completely different story this
afternoon.
Mr. Speaker, 30 per cent
of the patients who were affected by this statement were
never, ever, contacted, and many of them received a
phone call only an hour or so before the information was
made public. In our view, Mr. Speaker, nothing has
changed and this shows complete contempt for patients.
I ask again: Has
anything been learned by those involved, from the
inquiry into the Cameron report and the recommendations
that were filed?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: The
whole issue of lessons learned in this process – and I
would like to think, Mr. Speaker, that as a health
system, with the significant changes we have already
made and some investments we have made – I know our
government has learned a lot of lessons from this
process. We have taken a lot from the Cameron inquiry
itself. We have taken a lot from the involvement we have
had as a department, from the last couple of years, in
examining what went wrong here. So we, as a government,
have taken a lot from this exercise and we have learned
from that and our response in this year’s Budget and
our response in last year’s Budget and the actions we
have taken, I think, reflect that level of understanding
of what actually we need to do to strengthen our system.
Now, with respect to the
manner in which information gets communicated, as I said
a moment ago, I am not trying and I will not attempt to
defend or to justify the manner in which this got dealt
with on Friday. It was appropriate that we provide a
public disclosure. One of the things that we learned
from this Cameron inquiry was that, as soon as we start
identifying problems, we need to start communicating it
with the patients involved and we need to start
communicating with the general public, and we need to do
it in such a fashion that it does not start to seep out
gradually. That is what Eastern Health was doing on
Friday -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In this culture of
secrecy that Eastern Health seems to have fostered
around this entire issue – it is the only way I can
explain it, when you bury important information in
documents that are mistitled and inappropriate – Mr.
Speaker, where do those patients go now to get answers?
What can they expect to see from these people in terms
of response, in terms of details? When can we see the
patient navigators being put in the system so at least
patients have a comfort level of knowing that they have
somewhere to go to access appropriate information?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: There
are two parts to the member’s question, Mr. Speaker.
The one with respect to the navigators, to assist people
through the system, those positions were announced in
the Budget and that money will be flowing to the health
authorities immediately so that process can start.
With respect to the other
piece, I understand now that there is a 1-800 number
that Eastern Health has put in place for patients who
have some questions to be able to call and get some
answers and get to talk to someone. I understand that
was initiated late last week, and I understand that over
the weekend some people did, in fact, make some calls
and did have some discussions with someone within
Eastern Health as to how this might affect them and were
they impacted by that and be able to get some answers to
some questions for them.
With respect to the
future, Mr. Speaker, clearly - I want to repeat this
because it bears repeating, I believe - I want to make
sure that the member opposite understands, and the
people of Newfoundland understand, if any reference was
made this morning to this being a joint effort, this was
not a joint effort. The Department of Health and
Community Services received advice of the memo that went
out, the release that went out. We received a copy of
that, just like members opposite would have gotten a
copy. That would have been a draft by Eastern Health
themselves. It was not a creation of our department.
What was a creation of
our department, I say, Mr. Speaker, was the decision to
do this robust search that was commissioned and directed
to have been done last year, and we are now starting to
see that. My conversation and my department’s
conversation with Eastern Health in the recent past was
on Thursday of last week when clearly this message was
to be delivered to the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador in a public way. That was the direction and
that was the understanding that I had with Eastern
Health last Thursday.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Because the Cameron
inquiry is a very complex document - it has over 470
pages of information very vital to the people in the
Province - Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask government
to consider doing some kind of public information
sessions around the Province whereby people are
explained these recommendations, they understand them,
and they can actually watch the transformation that is
taking place in our health care system as a means of
restoring that confidence.
I ask the minister today:
Are you prepared to put in
place a team of people to hold those public forums and
questions and answers to that people better understand
this document and what the recommendations mean for our
health care system?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, by all means, we are keenly interested in
ensuring that the lessons learned from this Cameron
inquiry are not just lessons we learned as a government,
not lessons that the health authorities learned, but
that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador take some
valuable insights from this piece of work that has been
done, because there are some meaningful recommendations
in there that will serve not just the health system but
the people of the Province well into the future.
I compliment and commend
the member for bringing forward a recommendation in her
question, and we would be only too glad to put in place
a mechanism that ensures that the recommendations in
that report, in the Cameron inquiry, are well known and
well understood by the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador. That is learning process, Mr. Speaker, so
thank you very much for your suggestion.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the House of
Assembly passed legislation to expropriate provincial
assets of AbitibiBowater and hand the assets and the
employees, to a certain extent, over to Nalcor.
I ask
the Premier today, if he can confirm for me that, once
an operation becomes void under contract law, that
contract with workers also becomes void.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am not
sure I understand the Leader of the Opposition’s
question. Maybe she would like to rephrase it for my
benefit.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Minister,
government passed laws to expropriate assets of
AbitibiBowater, one of them being the energy division,
and they transferred it to Nalcor Energy. My question
was: Under contract law, once
that became void, does it also mean the benefits that
would have been paid out to those workers would have
become void as well?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not sure if I
understand the Leader of the Opposition when she talks
about the contract becoming void.
Certainly, when the
assets of Abitibi were expropriated, the assets became
owned by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Abitibi would continue to exist as a corporate entity,
would continue to own its other assets, and it would
still be obligated to carry out any contracts it entered
into.
Maybe, if the hon. member
would be a little more specific, I will do my best to
answer your question.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Once the assets were
expropriated, and the employees were transferred over to
Nalcor for operations, the Premier was very clear. He
made a statement, he said: Government is going to make
sure that all the workers will be properly compensated
in one way or another.
I have to ask: In
the negotiations with Abitibi, around expropriation, was
the issue of severance payments for transferred workers
on the table, and can government commit to ensure that
the appropriate compensation will be paid out to all
those qualifying workers?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there are a
number of situations that the task force has identified
and is working through, relative to the expropriation of
the assets of AbitibiBowater.
The transitioning of
employees who may be going with Nalcor, and other
employees who are not a part of that transition: those
issues are currently being investigated, options are
being looked at, and at an appropriate time there will
be decisions made relative to the options that are
available to government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
There were over
twenty-two employees whose jobs were expropriated along
with the facilities of the power generation plant. Mr.
Speaker, these workers are being told today that, you
will not be eligible to receive severance packages from
Abitibi. All except for three of those workers are being
told today that, you will not get the holiday pay that
is due to you.
I ask the minister: What
assurances were negotiated in the transfer of those
assets to ensure that these workers would get the
severance and the holiday pay that was due to them from
the company that they had worked for, for the last
number of years?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it is my
understanding that some twenty-three or twenty-four
employees have been transitioned to the company Nalcor.
When the hon. member says that the employees have been
told, I am not sure who she is referencing has told them
that. It is my understanding that Abitibi has indicated
to the employees certain things that they now feel they
have no responsibility for.
As I indicated in a
previous answer, as the Chair of the Task Force, we have
work underway looking at the obligations that Abitibi
has to its workers. The fact that those workers are now
employed by some other entity does not necessarily
relieve Abitibi of its obligations.
That is being looked
into, and as I indicated, as soon as we have information
further to that we will report back on it.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
There are seventeen
workers who are directly employed today by Nalcor. They
are being told by Abitibi that, it is not our
responsibility to pay you out those severances and
holiday pay that was due to them.
Mr. Speaker, again my
question comes back to the government. When
the asset was expropriated, when the jobs were
expropriated and transferred to Nalcor, where these
employees ever informed that, you may not now get your
severance packages or the holiday pay that is due to you
by this company?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Again I say, Mr. Speaker,
the determination that Abitibi has made is not
necessarily one that is correct. We have undertaken to
do some work on this. We understand the benefits that
the employees were to receive. It is our position, at
this time, that the decision by Abitibi may be
premature. As I indicated, we are looking into that
matter and when we have the appropriate due diligence
done on it we will be able to report back with the
options that are available.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
There are five of these
employees who were told by government that they would be
transferred, with the diesel generation operations, to
work for Nalcor who never got a position.
I would like to ask the
minister today: What assurances
or security are going to be provided to these five
workers who right now are being told by Abitibi, we do
not owe you any severance, we do not owe you any holiday
pay, and they are being told by Nalcor, we do not have a
job for you?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as a part of
the transition process, there were contractual
arrangements under the agreements that the unions had,
the various locals had. My understanding is, right now
there are, if I remember correctly, three locals that
are involved, three various union groups. There were
bumping rights and succession rights and those kinds of
things that employees could utilize, and some of those
employees did, in fact, utilize that. Some people did
exercise their bumping options. Some people, because of
that, who were in certain positions, were bumped out of
positions as the contracts allowed them to do.
Again, it is my
understanding, Mr. Speaker, that this is legal according
to the contractual arrangements that were signed off by
the unions and the company, and Abitibi, as far as we
are concerned, should still live up to any obligations
it has to any employees it has who are displaced.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
There continues to be a
number of problems associated with school bus safety in
our Province. There is no policy or procedure manual
which the Highway Enforcement Officers can consult
during the carrying-out of their inspections, and the
forms which are presently being used to do inspections
are not consistently and fully completed. I know this
year in the Budget the government announced $300,000 to
enhance school bus safety regulations.
I ask the minister: How
is this money going to be used to improve school bus
inspections?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Government Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. O'BRIEN: Mr.
Speaker, to answer the hon. member’s question, first
off I would like to say that school bus safety is
paramount to this government and, I suppose, in any
government because we are talking about the safety of
our children in regards to being transported from their
homes to the schools. In this process, we have had a
blueprint commitment in regards to looking at the
issues, and certainly we have engaged with the
Department of Education. We have identified a number of
areas that we can have a look at. We costed it at about
$300,000, which was reflected in this year’s Budget.
We will engage the
stakeholders in regards to consultations and we will
also review our forms policy and review those forms,
make sure that they are consistent and make sure that we
are consistently inspecting and we are actually
submitting to the officials in my department the right
information.
That is a process that we
will undertake. It is under review and we will be
engaged to partner with the Department of Education in
regard to this because it is very important to the
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, we know that school bus inspections in
2007-2008, eighty-six of the 864 school buses, or 10 per
cent, were identified with brake defects. While this is
alarming, it was also noted that while this is happening
the brakes are not being properly recalibrated, and
without this the meters cannot accurately measure the
performance of the brakes. This was noted in the Auditor
General’s report in 2004 and again in January 2009.
I ask the minister: How
does government expect to improve school bus safety
without taking the necessary steps to ensure accurate
testing?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Government Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. O'BRIEN: Mr.
Speaker, in regard to the inspecting of school buses,
school buses in this Province are the most inspected
vehicle on the road today in this Province. We inspect
regularly. As a matter of fact, I think, between it all,
we inspect once ourselves and twice by the inspection
stations themselves.
In regard to the issue at
hand, I am and have followed it keenly in regard to my
interest level to school bus safety in the Province, the
system is actually working. Yes, we do have school buses
over a certain age. We have brought down the overall age
of a bus in Newfoundland and Labrador, since we took
government, from fourteen to twelve. The wear and tear
on any given bus, you might have a brake problem today,
have it fixed, and maybe you might have another one
tomorrow. What you have to look at in regard to the
reporting system is if it is the same bus or if it is
another bus.
Certainly, we have a no
tolerance at play here in regard to when we inspect the
bus and we identify that a bus may need some work on
their brakes –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Member for
the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker
It has come to our
attention, I say to the minister, that back in December
there was a report completed on a bus in our Province
where it was stated either that the inspection showed
that the brakes were in good working order or new brakes
had been installed. This was in December of 2008. Yet,
when this incident happened in January 2009, to my
understanding, the cause of the accident had to do with
the brakes.
I ask the minister: What
is he prepared to do to ensure that accurate testing is
done and the proper reporting is taking place?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Government Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. O'BRIEN: I
would not be able to comment in regard to the specific
situation that the hon. member has described, but I
certainly will come back to this House with a report on
that, and make sure that everything was in order. We
endeavour to inspect school buses, and all schools
buses, on a regular basis. Plus, as I said in my
previous answer, we have a no tolerance approach to
school bus safety, and the inspection regime that we
have in place. If we find an issue in regard to a defect
related to brakes and some other items, too, that we
consider to be of high risk to the safety of the
children in this Province, we pull the bus at that
particular time.
We do not give them three
months to get it done. We tell them that they have to do
it now, regardless if we, as a mechanic, would say that
the item in question could go on for another three
months, but get it done within a three month period,
that you might have a mechanic say in regard to your own
vehicle.
We have a no tolerance
approach, and we pull –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Member for
the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
My question is for the
Minister of Health and Community Services.
During the Cameron
inquiry the whole Province witnessed evidence of poor
communication skills and knowledge within Eastern
Health, and in her report Madam Justice Cameron
referenced the need for due diligence by the minister
when listening to information that comes from Eastern
Health.
I ask the minister: Did
it occur to him, or to his officials, to ask how and
when the disclosure of the information about new ER/PR
testing results was going to be made?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: As
I said, Mr. Speaker, in my earlier comment in response
to the Leader of the Opposition, officials in my office
had a conversation, as well as myself, with Eastern
Health people on Thursday. My understanding was that the
very next day – which would have been Friday – that
information would have been made public.
I was not aware of the
time of the day that it was going to be made, and the
manner in which it was going to be released – which we
heard addressed in this House a few moments ago, that it
was quite late on Friday afternoon and, in fact, there
was no comment associated with that, or to be
accompanying that release.
Yes, I was aware on
Thursday, and my understanding was that on Friday that
information was going to be released to the public.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate what the
minister says, but obviously we are dealing with an
agency, an important agency in this Province, one of our
regional health authorities, Eastern Health, which is
showing us that they do not have the skills and the
knowledge to get involved in patient disclosure and
public communications.
I ask the minister: What
is he going to do about ensuring that training begins
immediately to show these people how to do their work?
Because they did not get the message of the Cameron
report.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
can advise the member opposite, and the House, that I
have had a recent conversation over the weekend with the
Chair of Eastern Health Authority with respect to how we
would move forward with having a better understanding of
public disclosure, how we need to focus on communication
with the public and patients in the future. Upon her
return to the Province we will be getting together
personally to have that discussion with our officials
and our department, together with officials within
Eastern Health.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I think we have here a case of old wine and new
wineskins. This was my fear when the Cameron report came
out, that people are so used to behaving in a certain
way that they are not going to change.
I am asking the minister:
Will he be recommending that there be distinct training
for all people who have to be involved in public
disclosure, with patient disclosure and public
communications? They need more training.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I have to say, I am in full agreement with the
Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi and the Leader of the
Opposition. This is disgraceful. It should never have
happened, to do a release on a Friday afternoon under an
improper heading.
It is mentioned in the
Cameron report, and I was just looking at it, where they
were basically saying they were telling the truth but
not the whole truth. That is happening again, and it is
not satisfactory and it is not good enough, I can tell
you right now. So, yes, things are going to happen over
there. We are going to go back to them and give them
some direction with regard to communication.
As well, Cameron has also
indicated that there was a failure of the management
system over there. This has now happened again. That is
not satisfactory. Fortunately, as a result of the
protocols that are put in place by the Department of
Health, and us asking the right questions, and
continuing to press them and pursuer them further, more
information has come out.
This matter was brought,
by the minister, to Cabinet on Thursday. Our media
instructions at Cabinet were: Let’s get this out, and
get it out right away.
On that basis, the
minister made the direction to Eastern Health and what
did they do? They come out on a Friday afternoon with no
support behind it. They issue a press release that has a
misleading heading on it, and that is just not good
enough.
I agree with both of you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: I
need to say, Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely delighted to
hear the Premier be so forthright and make this
statement, because we have to show - everybody has to
show - the people of this Province that they can trust
what is coming out.
We are told by Eastern
Health there is more information coming, that this is
not the end, so we need an assurance from the minister
that the next time they will get it right for the sake
of the people in this Province.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The member opposite is
right, and as I said earlier, this was a piece of work
that we commissioned last year to dig more aggressively,
to make sure we identified everybody. Now that the
information has now been compiled by the Centre for
Health Information, or getting to a point where they are
now able to provide some reports. As of this morning we
have asked Robert Thompson, who you might recall chaired
the taskforce on adverse health events, who was guiding
this process last year, if he would be available to
assist us with now guiding the new information coming
out and to be able assemble that and provide a very
frank and open discussion and communication as we now
get this new information, as it comes from the Centre
for Health Information. We will collate that and Robert
will, and his group, pull that information together
again and we will have some semblance of order as to how
we communicate that to the public.
MR. SPEAKER: The
time allotted for questions and answers has expired. |
