Speculation around when an election will be called is ramping up. My email next Sunday might read “it’s on!”
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What else happened this week:
- This week, I visited with candidates and friends in Richmond, Hants East, Colchester North and Bedford South. Of course I stopped by Masstown Market! I also had a great lunch at the Cottage Bakery with Dr. Trevor Boudreau. I ended the week with Sura Hadad, canvassing with her team of awesome volunteers.
- MLA Tim Halman raised the issue of lack of Pfizer vaccines for our younger population. Parents are receiving emails for their 12-17 year-old children to book their second doses, only to find that no Pfizer is available. Did the government plan ahead to ensure that kids would be able to receive their vaccine? Instead of campaigning on the taxpayers’ dime, Premier Rankin needs to form a plan to get more doses of Pfizer into the province, and get our second-dose vaccination rates up to the national average.
- In the rush to implement an on-the-fly election promise, the Liberal government received a failing grade for their implementation of pre-primary. This week, the Auditor General released her findings on Pre-Primary. The AG found that Regional Centres for Education do not ensure Pre-Primary staff have completed required background checks or provide proof of qualifications before working in the classroom, putting both students and staff at risk. The Liberals love to say we were against pre-primary, which was never the case. What we were against was adding another program into a system that doesn’t meet the needs of all students now. What we learned this week is that the Liberals didn’t adequately plan for it.
Tip of the hat
When he felt there was more to be done, Landyn Toney took action. This week the incredible, 12-year-old Landyn finished up a 200-kilometre walk to bring attention to the painful legacy of residential schools.
As a province and country, we are incredibly proud of you. Everyone was behind you.
Congratulations on a job well done, Landyn!
Failing grade
On the eve of an election, the Liberal government is briefly turning their attention to long-term care.
What was announced by the Premier doesn’t come close to addressing the serious need for investment in long-term care.
We know that we need to build at least 2,500 new beds and hire 2,000 new staff. And that’s exactly what we’ve committed to. We are not governed by soundbites, we’re governed by plans and our plan is compassionate, it is clearly laid out, and it offers common sense solutions to the problems in our province.
The Liberals announced 264 new beds. This doesn’t even start to scratch the surface of what is needed. There are already over 1,292 seniors waiting for long-term care. With an ageing population, that number will continue to go up and effects of this decision will ripple across our healthcare system for years to come.
Looking at the $96.5 million breakdown, they’re building 264 new beds, 17 facilities are getting repairs or renovations and they are spending $792,000 to hire nine permanent full-time employees to oversee and support the projects.
I don’t understand why they need to hire nine new positions to oversee this. We need frontline healthcare workers, not more administration costs.
The care provided by the people who work in these facilities is incredible and we are so thankful for them, but they need more colleagues.
Over a year ago our PC team released our Dignity for our Seniors plan. Please share it with your family, friends and neighbours. It’s important for Nova Scotians to know where we stand on care for our seniors.
Committees
Public Accounts will meet Wednesday to discuss the Liquor Corporation, Phase I from June 2020 Report of the Auditor General, as well as, the Liquor Corporation, Phase II from May 2021 Report of the Auditor General.
Witnesses include: Greg Hughes, President & CEO and George McLellan, Chair, Board of Directors, both from the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation; and Kelliann Dean, Deputy Minister from the Department of Finance and Treasury Board.
On Thursday, the Standing Committee on Health will meet to discuss recruiting and training medical students in rural areas. The witness will be Dr. Katherine Stringer from the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine.
Until next week,
Tim