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Corner Brook long-term care facility delayed again November 24, 2006 Eddie Joyce, MHA for the District of Bay of Islands, is angry that government has once again delayed the construction of the long-term care facility in Corner Brook. In his recent financial update, Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan stated that the $16 million committed in this year’s budget for the long-term care facility will not be used. "This is the third year in a row that money was supposed to be committed for this project but withdrawn," said Mr. Joyce. "Earlier this year in the House of Assembly, Minister Marshall gave his commitment that the construction of the facility would proceed this year, but he obviously was misleading the people of Corner Brook and the Bay of Islands. Both the premier and the minister of justice made personal commitments during the last election to have this facility built by 2007. Now the facility is not projected to be operational until 2010 or 2011. This is totally unacceptable. "In addition to this lack of commitment to the overall project, the facility now under consideration will not have enough beds. The planned dementia unit for the facility was supposed to have 80 beds for patients. This has now been scaled back to 40 beds which is not sufficient to meet the demand that exists. I am also surprised that the $16 million committed in this year’s budget will not be spent for the facility, especially since a special warrant was introduced in the House of Assembly to pre-commit $14.5 million to the construction of a long-term care facility in Clarenville. Where is the commitment to the people of Corner Brook and why isn’t their long-term care facility getting similar attention? "I also question why Corner Brook City Council has not said a word about this delay. The government made a commitment to have this facility in operation for 2007, yet we now hear of another delay that will postpone this project again. I cannot understand why council is sitting back and saying nothing, unless it is a result of political connections with the premier and minister. "The seniors and families in Corner Brook will continue to suffer with these unnecessary delays. If Premier Williams and Minister Marshall are serious about this facility, I challenge them to immediately commit funding to honour the commitments they made to the people Corner Brook and the Bay of Islands region."
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