David Coon, MLA/Député

The video and transcript of oral questions are recorded in the language it was originally spoken.

M. Coon : On dirait que le ministre de la Santé et le premier ministre ne font ni l’un ni l’autre
confiance aux deux réseaux de santé pour faire leur travail. Je n’apprends rien à personne endisant que le vieillissement de la population rend notre système de soins de santé plus vulnérable. Cependant, le ministre n’a pas encore expliqué pourquoi il enlève aux réseaux de santé la gestion du Programme extra-mural pour le confier à Medavie. Pourquoi le ministre de la Santé ne fait-il pas confiance à ses propres employés pour établir une bonne relation de travail entre les professionnels du Programme extra-mural et les travailleurs paramédicaux?

L’hon. M. Gallant : Nous voulons travailler avec les réseaux de santé, mais il faut être très
clair : En tant que gouvernement, nous voulons mettre de l’avant les lignes directrices concernant la livraison d’un système de soins de santé de haute qualité dans toutes les régions de la province. C’est très clair que notre gouvernement pense qu’il est important d’avoir des services de soins de santé dans les régions rurales de notre province. We are not just going to blindly allow the health authorities to do everything that they want if it goes against the very clear direction that we have given. In this case, it is very clear that, when the former CEO of Horizon was suggesting that we close rural hospitals, we said no. It is very clear that, when Vitalité has tried to cut services in rural hospitals, we have said no. We will work with them to figure it out, but there is a balance to be struck between ensuring that they do what they need to do in terms of operations and ensuring that they follow the big picture that we have to make health care top-notch in this province.

Mr. Coon: Perhaps the problem with creating linkages between the extramural nurses and other
health professionals managed by the regional health authorities and the paramedics is the private management of those paramedics. The Telegraph-Journal has reported that Ambulance New Brunswick has sought permission from the Integrity Commissioner to ignore its right-toinformation request for information concerning the frequency with which ambulances are taken off the road due to staffing shortages, something that concerns all New Brunswickers. At the same time, it says, in fact, that it does not even have that information because it is held in secret by its private Medavie managers. With our extramural health services going to private management, when those services decline under that private management, will the minister also defend the shroud of secrecy that will descend around them?

L’hon. M. Bourque : Je vais répéter ce que j’ai dit plusieurs fois à la Chambre : De notre côté
de la Chambre, nous prenons très, très, très au sérieux tout ce qui concerne le droit à l’information. Nous sommes là pour respecter la loi et nous sommes prêts à collaborer avec quiconque fait des demandes, et le ministère de la Santé n’y fait pas exception. The RTI Act is there to determine what information should be released and what information should be protected. That always requires interpretation by the body that has the data. In this case, the privacy commissioner is there to serve in that role. That is an independent body of the Legislative Assembly. We will fully respect its interpretation, and we will comply with what it asks us to do. Again, for us, the right to information is our government’s top priority.