Premier Andrew Furey has acknowledged that the province’s health care system is “broken” but he stopped short of calling it a crisis when questioned in the House of Assembly.
The Legislature opened for the fall sitting yesterday.
Health care dominated debate in the House with Opposition Leader David Brazil starting things off by asking the Premier if he felt health care was in crisis.
Brazil challenged the premier, saying you can’t address an issue if you don’t acknowledge an issue – “Yes or no simply, is health care in this province in a crisis?” Brazil asked. Premier Furey acknowledged “it’s a crisis for those experiencing the system when it doesn’t work for them, it’s a crisis because of the pandemic, in fact it’s amplified by the pandemic.” He said the system is broken.
(File photo.)
Health Minister John Haggie continues to face heavy criticism from the province’s opposition parties on his handling of the situation with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association and his approach to addressing challenges in the healthcare system.
Yesterday, Haggie announced numerous new initiatives that will be put in place to address some of the challenges, which he says will act as a bridge to the recommendations in the final Health Accord report.
PC Leader David Brazil was not impressed with what was announced, calling the plan “flippant,” noting that the timing of the announcement shows that the minister was pushed into a corner by recent criticism.
The province is in crisis, whether Haggie wants to admit it or not, says Brazil. He questions whether Haggie has the fortitude to put a plan together, and says the Premier needs to step in and provide leadership to ensure things get done.
He wonders if Monday’s announcement was just a way to deflect some of the criticism regarding the NLMA.
NDP Critic Jim Dinn says if Haggie can’t recognize why some would classify that situation as “union busting” then he should either resign or start having better conversations around what needs to happen.
He calls Haggie’s approach “unacceptable,” saying that he isn’t confident that the plan is long term.
