Medical
Association had submitted a proposal to government. They
are awaiting a response from that proposal – not
necessarily a phone call, but a written response into
what government’s position is.
I ask the minister today:
Why has that response not been
forthcoming from you and your Administration?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and
President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have been having discussions
with the NLMA over a period of time. The matter has
moved along, obviously not as quickly as I think either
side would like, but we did ask the NLMA to put their
proposal in writing. We received their proposal on March
3, and we have taken that proposal and we had it costed
and we have had it reviewed, and the costing is
somewhere in excess of $126 million to $140 million.
In the meantime, the NLMA, the
doctors want to have another meeting to provide us with
additional information concerning coverage for ICU. That
meeting was set up for last Friday. A representative
from collective bargaining and a representative from
health were to attend and meet with the doctors’
representative. The meeting was cancelled, and today I
called to try to get the meeting rescheduled but the
doctors indicated to me that they did not want to have
the meeting rescheduled. Instead, they have asked us to
respond to the letter of March 3, and in due course we
will do so.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On what is a very serious issue
that has unfolded in the Province, the department
received a proposal from these doctors on March 3, today
is March 23 and there has been no response given to them
in writing.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier
today - because we now have a copy of the proposal that
was submitted to government and it was released this
morning by the NLMA. I ask the Premier - because in your
comments last week you said that the proposal they had
submitted was through the roof, it was too high, it
cannot be dealt with, it cannot be satisfied and it
cannot be answered. Well, the proposal that we certainly
looked at today does not fit that description.
I ask you:
Which of these particular aspects
of the proposal do you feel characterizes your comments?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS:
I forgot to say over the moon, Mr.
Speaker, because that would have been one I would have
used, too, if I had to think of it at the time.
These proposals, as the minister
has just indicated, have been costed at, at least $125
million on an annual basis, probably as much, if we add
all the incremental items, as $140 million to $150
million; a significant amount of money. If you remember
correctly, the last arbitration that the medical
association went to, I think they were awarded $54
million. You can take that by comparison; it will give
you an indication of the order of magnitude of what they
are asking for now.
I will tell you one item that they
are asking for; they are asking for some of their
physicians to be reimbursed partially for overhead that
occurred during the last agreement. I think that is
pretty unreasonable.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Mr. Speaker, the other thing that
these physicians are asking for is Atlantic parity with
their colleagues in the three Maritime Provinces.
I ask the Premier:
Is this a concept that government
is prepared to accept and negotiate on?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and
President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL:
Mr. Speaker, as I say, negotiations
have been going on. We have their written proposal. We
have had it costed. We have reviewed – I think there
were ten or eleven asks in the proposal outlined in the
letter. We were asked to hold off until such time as
this meeting with respect to ICU took place. The meeting
has not taken place. I called today to try to get the
meeting rescheduled. They have asked us to respond now
to the letter without having that meeting, so we will
respond in due course.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Mr. Speaker, there are two very
distinct sections within the NLMA proposal that relate
to doctor recruitment and retention which goes with
improving our health care services and also ensuring a
doctor is available at all times to address patient
concerns. These are very fundamental proposals that are
necessary to improve our health care system.
I ask the minister:
Why have you dismissed such a
serious proposal without a comprehensive negotiation,
going twenty days and not responding to this when you
realize that these are the critical components of the
proposal that is on the table?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and
President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL:
Mr. Speaker, I just said to the hon.
member that discussions have been taking place and we
were asked not to respond to the letter until such time
as that further meeting had taken place. So we are not
delaying. Discussions will take place, they will
continue, and we will negotiate a deal that is fair to
all concerned but on behalf of the taxpayers of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Mr. Speaker, we are losing doctors in
various regions of this Province in almost every
speciality, and unless government is able to change its
negotiating tactics this will continue. Yesterday, we
learned that the hospital in Clarenville will be without
an internal medicine specialist for the next ten days.
I ask the minister:
What concerns do you have about
the increasing gaps in this service? It is not the first
time it has incurred; it has been a problem for the last
two years. I ask: What is being done to ensure that
doctors are recruited and these positions are filled?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In fact we have, in 2010, Mr.
Speaker, nineteen family practice residents finished
their medical training, with two delaying their entry.
Of the seventeen family physicians, Mr. Speaker, who
will commence practice, fourteen are practicing in this
Province, all with bursaries and return-in-service
agreements. Twenty-seven specialists, Mr. Speaker,
finished their medical training, with two residents
delaying their entry due to maternity, sick leave. Of
the twenty-five specialty residents to commence
practice, seventeen are practicing in the Province, nine
of whom have bursaries and return-in-service
commitments.
So, Mr. Speaker, fourteen out of
seventeen, I do not know the exact number but it has to
be between 80 per cent and 90 per cent, and then
seventeen of twenty-five - again, I will have to ask my
colleague, the Minister of Finance to do the
calculation, but they are very high numbers. Obviously,
Mr. Speaker, the market adjustment policies, the
bonuses, the bursaries, everything is working and we are
keeping doctors in this Province, contrary to what the
Liberal Opposition says.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister might want to tell
that to the people in Burin today who are supposed to
have three internal medicine specialists but they only
have one; the people in Clarenville who are now going to
be without one; the people in Carbonear who recently
lost an internal medicine specialist. Mr. Speaker, we
know that there is a shortage of nearly 125 general
practitioners in this Province today.
So I ask you, Minister:
What plan do you have to ensure
that these gaps are lessened and that we have good
negotiations with our doctors so that we can recruit
people to this Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We currently have - as of
September, 2009 – 1,042 physicians in active practice,
our most ever. In the last eighteen months, Mr. Speaker,
we have a net increase of fifty-three physicians. We
currently offer bursaries, Mr. Speaker, of $25,000 a
year. We have forty-one family medicine residents, seven
psychiatry residents, and twenty-eight residents in
other training programs, with a one-year
return-in-service agreement. We have retention bonuses,
Mr. Speaker, weighted toward rural and isolated areas,
up to three years incremental, Mr. Speaker, $36,000 for
three years added on to their salary in a lump-sum non-pensionable
payment. Mr. Speaker, we have an $18 million expansion
of the medical school, and we will increase our
undergraduate class size from sixty-four to eighty. We
have a provincial physician recruitment office. We are
currently, Mr. Speaker, in negotiations with the
physicians.
Again, we have difficulty
recruiting individual positions and physicians but
overall, Mr. Speaker, we are doing quite well. The
doctors, contrary to what the Opposition says, are quite
happy with (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Well, that is of little comfort for
the people in Burin, I say to you, Minister. It does not
change the fact that these vacancies exist in our system
and gaps are still there.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here with
great sadness to question the minister on why air
ambulance services in our Province have failed the
people of Labrador again. A man who was severely injured
from an industrial accident in Labrador West died while
waiting for an air ambulance to arrive.
Why, after all
the previous incidents, are the people of Labrador still
waiting unacceptable times for air ambulance medevacs?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On October 9, I became Minister of
Health and Community Services. On November 27, I flew to
Labrador, met with the councils in Lab West, met with
the council in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, met with two
families who were severely affected by air ambulance
issues. I indicated in this hon. House in early December
that we would conduct a review of the air ambulance.
I appreciate the petition provided
by the Leader of the Opposition with the 3,000 residents
of Labrador asking to have services in Labrador. We have
a consultant, Mr. Speaker, who has conducted a review.
That review is completed; we will be releasing that
review in the near future.
Mr. Speaker, I heard the host of
Open Line today say there should be air ambulance in
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Deer Lake and St. John’s, and I
also heard the Member for The Straits & White Bay, or –
PREMIER WILLIAMS:
White Bay North.
MR. KENNEDY:
White Bay North - phone in and say it
should be in St. Anthony. We are looking at it, and
again I ask – we have two planes - to the Leader of the
Opposition, where should they be?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the minister needs to put
his head around the fact that it is not about changing
out services in air ambulance; it is about adding
services to meet the need and meet the capacity in the
Province.
Mr. Speaker, the CEO of
Labrador-Grenfell Health stated that the original air
ambulance was out of service - I have no idea why; maybe
the minister can tell us that - however, the chartered
aircraft used as a replacement had to recharge the
on-board oxygen service and the medical team had to
return to the Health Sciences Centre to retrieve medical
equipment.
I ask the minister:
Why wasn’t an air ambulance ready
to go in this Province at a moment’s notice with a
medical team on standby, with oxygen on board, ready to
respond to an emergency?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Mr. Speaker, I have indicated in the
past that the air ambulance is a very serious issue. I
have met with the families who were affected, and the
emotional impact of meeting with those people was quite
significant on me. Again, Mr. Speaker, my sympathies to
the family in Labrador West.
The air ambulance did not work as
it should, Mr. Speaker. It is the reason that we are
conducting the review and looking at where we should
have our planes located. I am advised, Mr. Speaker - and
so far some of the comments by the Liberal leader are
accurate - the plane in St. John’s was down. It is a
1990 King Air as opposed to the 2008 King Air that is in
St. Anthony right now. A King Air airplane, Mr. Speaker,
costs approximately $8 million and there has to be the
crew to go with it. So we certainly have to improve.
I have made a commitment to the
people of Labrador that we will look at improvements. I
can assure the people of Labrador, Mr. Speaker, that we
take this very seriously and that, in due course, we
will be making a decision and addressing their needs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are happy to know that the
minister is going to investigate this incident. We were
somewhat taken back that the decision to do this did not
come until yesterday, which was four or five days after
this incident in Labrador West; however, Mr. Speaker, I
think answers need to be provided as to why this air
ambulance was not available and not ready to go at a
moment’s notice.
I ask the minister:
In cases where our provincial air
ambulances are tied up and in use in other parts of the
Province, why is it that there is not a Plan B that is
readily available to respond to these emergencies?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Yes, Mr. Speaker, there is a Plan B,
but unfortunately it did not work as it should in this
case. The air ambulance in St. John’s was down. I am
still waiting for an explanation as to why the air
ambulance in St. Anthony was not utilized. It is my
understanding it was in the air. So then, Mr. Speaker,
there is a charter company that we have on call. That
charter company, Mr. Speaker, was advised around 8:00
o’clock that their services would be required. The
gentleman in question went into the hospital in
Labrador, by my notes, at 2:45 p.m., Mr. Speaker, and it
was around 6:10 that a request for an air ambulance came
in.
There was an hour lost, as the
Leader of the Opposition has indicated, Mr. Speaker.
There was an hour lost as a result of having to return
to obtain equipment from the Health Sciences Centre. The
unfortunate reality, Mr. Speaker, is that the charter
aircraft which was utilized took an hour longer to fly
to Labrador West than the King Air normally would.
Again, these are issues that are
of concern. We have conducted a review as to where air
ambulance should be situated in this Province, Mr.
Speaker, and we look at all alternatives to make sure
that not only the residents of Labrador but all of the
residents of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador,
including the residents of Western Newfoundland, are
well served by air ambulance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister today:
In light of the fact that the
review is ongoing into provincial air ambulance
services, and the need has been identified that a third
air ambulance service should be based in Central or
Western Labrador, are you prepared to enter into a
standing offer contract to have an aircraft based in
Labrador immediately to respond to any air medevac
services that would be required until this particular
issue has been ironed out?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Mr. Speaker, the review of the
consultant has been completed. We will be reviewing the
same and making our decision over the next short period
of time as to the location of air ambulance services in
this Province. There has been no decision made, Mr.
Speaker, that a third air ambulance is required in this
Province. If the hon. member opposite remembers our
discussion on this in December, I had indicated that the
flight statistics showed that there were more flights
coming out of Deer Lake than there were out of St.
Anthony, and that there were more flights coming out of
Labrador than were coming out of St. Anthony.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the
Leader of the Opposition that this decision will be made
shortly, but anything that we have to do right now to
ensure that proper services are provided to all
residents of this Province, steps will be taken and
addressed immediately.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have heard the
Minister of Labrador Affairs talk about meetings he has
had with international stakeholders around 5 Wing Goose
Bay. In fact, in The Labradorian newspaper
yesterday he said he was on top of this file and
expecting to hear good news. However, Mr. Speaker, the
NATO exercise that the minister was so excited to see
come to Goose Bay has gone to the United States.
Will the
minister inform the House as to why 5 Wing Goose Bay is
not going to receive this NATO exercise, and instead it
has gone south of the border, obviously without his
knowledge?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Labrador
Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again the Leader of
the Opposition only gets half of the facts straight half
of the time. Let me explain to the hon. members in the
House regarding 5 Wing Goose Bay. There was a NATO
exercise planned for Happy Valley-Goose Bay, for 5 Wing
Goose Bay this summer. It was put together quickly by
the NATO General, General Brady. Goose Bay was looked at
for close air combat support. We travelled to Ottawa
last week, myself and the hon. Minister of
Intergovernmental Affairs; we spoke with the Minister of
National Defence, along with the British High
Commissioner, as well as the Embassies of Germany and
the United States.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I ask the hon. minister to
conclude his answer and to do it now.
MR. HICKEY:
Mr. Speaker, what is happening in
Happy Valley-Goose Bay and at 5 Wing Goose Bay this
summer is that work will be continuing on the
expenditure of some $1.9 million to improve hangars
seven and eight and there has been a commitment on
behalf of NATO that this exercise will take place next
year and future years until 2016.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The only thing, obviously, that
Happy Valley-Goose Bay got out of this is that the
minister got a trip to Ottawa.
Mr. Speaker, this is a serious
issue. In fact, back in December, I had one of the
researchers in my office e-mail the minister and
respectfully ask for an update on 5 Wing Goose Bay. This
is the response the minister sent back to my researcher
- an intelligent, intellectual response, Mr. Speaker. I
quote. He says: 5 Wing is alive and well. You need to
grow up, and don’t e-mail me any more.
This was the response, Mr.
Speaker, from the minister of one of the most important
–
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
If the hon. Leader of the
Opposition has a question, I suggest she pose it
immediately.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a very important question,
but first of all I was going to say, this was the –
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I ask the hon. member to pose her
question or sit down.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister:
On the heels of that intellectual
response, what does this mean for 5 Wing Goose Bay and
NATO training going in to 2011, which we all know
(inaudible) –
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Labrador
Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY:
Mr. Speaker, let me say this to the
hon. member: This government, under this Premier, has
supported 5 Wing Goose Bay more than any provincial
government in the history of this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY:
Let me say this to the hon. member
across: Your answer should be going to the Liberal
Member of Parliament, Todd Russell, who is up in Ottawa;
that is where your questions on 5 Wing Goose Bay should
be going, I say to the hon. member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY:
Let me say, just to answer your
question, Mr. Speaker, all is alive and well, I can tell
you, at 5 Wing Goose Bay. We still have 350 people
working at the base, and I can tell you with the
improvements that are going to be made this year, on
hanger seven and eight and the PTA, I can tell you we
have a bright future. Our glass, as the Premier said
yesterday, is half full not half empty.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for the
District of The Straits & White Bay North.
MR. DEAN:
Mr. Speaker, the fishery represents
the heart and soul of rural Newfoundland and Labrador
and unfortunately it is a very troubled industry on the
brink of collapse. Everyone concerned about the fishery
is looking at the MOU as a way forward for this
industry. In fact, many of the constituents in my
district have been asking about the progress of this
framework agreement.
So, I ask the minister:
Will he update the people involved
in the industry when they can expect to see some
significant results in this process?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Fisheries
and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I advise the Opposition to
probably follow the media a little bit closer, because
if they would have they would have seen a sequence of
steps that have moved this process along quite
expeditiously. This process started last July; Ministers
Dunderdale and Hedderson met with fisherpeople and
instituted it. In the fall, Request for Proposals was
called. On December 17, a letter was written; on
December 30, a meeting with both sides and government.
On January 22, reports were received back; February 15,
presented to Minister Shea - and, Mr. Speaker, I see you
are going to rise, so I will answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, all of these dates
have been released to the media. Right now, Mr. Speaker,
the working groups are meeting and I would expect that
within the next month or two we will have some further
information.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for the
District of The Straits & White Bay North.
MR. DEAN:
Mr. Speaker, the federal government
is a major stakeholder in this industry and they have
not been meaningfully involved in the process; yet they
will be deemed as essential to its success.
I ask the
minister why the federal government is not at the table,
and what is this government’s plan to get the federal
counterpart there?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Fisheries
and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt about
it, the federal government has to be a partner in this,
but I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, to the
Opposition and the people of the Province, that before
we can expect that the federal government would get
involved, we have to have the parties in the Province
who can come to some sense of agreement and some sense
of direction.
I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that
through this MOU process, that is what will happen. Once
we come out of this process with a strong package, then
we have something that we can take to Ottawa and we can
say we fully expect you to be a partner in this
restructuring or what comes out at the end of that
process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for the District
of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, since May 2007 the
people of this Province have had their confidence shaken
in our health care system. Since this government has
been elected they have created an enormous health
authority which provides the major portion of tertiary
care in the Province, and they have had six Ministers of
Health. Mr. Speaker, we now have the current minister
saying that Eastern Health Authority is too big.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier:
When will he admit that government made a mistake in
forming these large, unmanageable regional health
authorities?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question, but I
do not remember saying that Eastern Health was too big.
We have four health boards who administer the day-to-day
operations of the health authorities. As the minister,
as pointed out by the Leader of the Opposition
yesterday, the minister has an oversight role. We are,
Mr. Speaker, dealing with a $2.6 billion budget.
Approximately $1 billion or $1.2 billion of it goes to
Eastern Health, but Eastern Health is also responsible
for the tertiary care unit, Mr. Speaker, and also
approximately 300,000 residents of this Province. Then
we have Central Health, which covers a vast geographical
area and is responsible for approximately 70,000 people,
Mr. Speaker. We get to Western Health, again, a big
geographical area and approximately 60,000 to 70,000
people. Then we get Labrador-Grenfell, which is dealing
with 30,000 people.
So it would seem to me, Mr.
Speaker, that the - Eastern Health is big by its very
nature, but I think that four boards certainly serve the
purpose. We are ironing out the kinks, Mr. Speaker, and
we move along. H1N1 was an example of how we work.
Government worked with all the health authorities to do
what had to be done.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for the District
of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I advise the minister to go over
the footage of when he stands before the media, because
I think you will find at one scrum he said at least
three times that perhaps it is that Eastern Health is
too large. So I suggest that he go and look over his own
footage and see what he says in front of the media.
Mr. Speaker, the government keeps
throwing numbers at us and impresses upon us everything
that they are doing with regard to our health care, the
money that is going into machines and buildings, which
has to be done because of the fact that the
infrastructure has to be kept. The issues in our health
care system are much greater than creating the adequate
infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, without constructive
leadership this Province will be unable to attract or
even retain the medical staff needed to engender the
confidence that I am asking for.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier:
When will his government do what they were elected to do
and work responsibly with the health care professionals
to create an efficient health care system the public has
confidence in?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the things that I have done
as minister in my short tenure is to identify
priorities. In mental health and addictions, Mr.
Speaker, we have sent out approximately $430,000 to
various groups working with people to affect and help
change their daily lives.
Today, Mr. Speaker, I was over at
the Health Sciences where we dealt with the issue of
wheelchair accessibility. This issue had been raised,
Mr. Speaker, in December. January we met with the
Coalition of Persons with Disabilities. Myself and the
Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment got
to work on the matter, and today, Mr. Speaker, it was
heartwarming to listen to the President of the Coalition
of Persons with Disabilities outline what this
government has done right, how we have dealt with all
issues that have been requested, Mr. Speaker.
When we talk about health
professionals, I have already gone through the numbers
of how we have recruited and retained individuals, but
we are now in the middle of negotiations and we know
that during negotiations things are going to be said and
done. Mr. Speaker, I can assure this hon. House and the
people of this Province that our concern is for the
patients of this Province and the efficiency and
effectiveness of our health care system, and that is
what we will continue to work for.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The time allotted for Questions
and Answers has expired.
