The $35 million paid to a single agency over a five month period for the use of travel nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador was up for debate on the first day of the spring session of the House of Assembly.

Opposition Leader Tony Wakeham, the former CEO of Labrador-Grenfell Health, wanted to know what government knew and when and whether the minister of health signed off on the contract.

Wakeham asked the minister “Who authorized this contract?”

Health Minister Tom Osborne shot back, pointing out that Wakeham himself signed off on agency nurses as the CEO of Labrador-Grenfell Health. To that, Wakeham says travel nurses have been used in the system for years, however “the expenditure on travel nurses used to be $1 million, not $36 million in five months.”