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News
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Decision to construct privately run dementia units in
Corner Brook breaks Tory election promise March 8, 2006
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Eddie Joyce, MHA for the District of Bay of Islands, says government’s
decision to move forward with privately operated dementia units in Corner
Brook is the complete opposite of the Progressive Conservative campaign
promise made in the 2003 election. In campaign literature, Premier Danny Williams and Justice Minister Tom Marshall stated that they were committed to a publicly-funded, publicly-owned and publicly-operated long-term care facility and dementia units. Yesterday’s announcement to request proposals from private contractors is the complete opposite of their campaign promise. "In 2002 and 2003, the premier spoke against public-private partnerships and stated emphatically that this was the wrong approach," said Mr. Joyce. "It is very hypocritical that the premier now believes this is the right way to go. If the premier supported a public-private partnership approach for this project, the long-term care facility and dementia units could have been in operation by now. Instead, he decided to play politics with this issue and is now doing the exact opposite of what he stated he would do. The premier and Minister Marshall stated that this approach would cost the taxpayers extra money in the long run, there would be a reduction in services, and the facility would be profit driven instead of service driven. I ask them if they still agree with their statements made in 2002-2003. "Now that government has announced their intentions to have these dementia units privately run, I am questioning whether the proposed long-term care facility will also be privately run. This project has not yet been tendered and the people deserve to know if government will live up to their commitment for a publicly-funded, publicly-owned and publicly-operated long-term care facility. "I am also questioning the position of the Long-term Care Action Committee who were strongly opposed to privately run facilities when discussed in 2002-2003. This committee, including the current mayor Charles Pender, stated that anything less than a publicly run facility was unacceptable. I wonder if the mayor’s position has changed."
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