New Brunswick Hansard — content house business 61 2 qp transcripts Oral Questions Questions orales 2026 03 26.ang

content house business 61 2 qp transcripts Oral Questions Questions orales 2026-03-26.ang

New Brunswick — Debates (Hansard)

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 1 March 26, 2026 CONTENTS AGREEMENTS Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 2 Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Kennedy Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Kennedy Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Dornan Mr. Hogan Hon. Ms. Holt POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION Mr. Coon Hon. Mr. D’Amours Mr. Coon Hon. Mr. D’Amours BUDGET Mr. Monahan Hon. Mr. Legacy

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 3 [Translation] AGREEMENTS Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. [Original] There is one very big question that I have today, and it is this: Why? Why is this Premier so bound and determined to make sure that our taxpayer dollars are going to prop up a company that is staggeringly close to being insolvent? What is it about Foundever that has become so appealing to this Premier?

Is it that she only wishes to do business with companies that make worse financial decisions than she does so she can look better by comparison? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Thank you. Madam Speaker, I’m very pleased that we have a very stringent RFP process that looks into the history of companies here in New Brunswick and around the world.

There are a number of other measures that we look at, including the ability for that information to interact with our clinical information system and with Tele-Care 811 in a way that’s secure and safe for the province. We’ve made these decisions. We stand by them. We’re proud of the companies that we pick through this process. This is not the time or place to share all the intricacies of an RFP process. We look forward to Foundever taking over virtual care this summer. We expect the transition to be smooth.

To the members, in four months’ time, New Brunswickers will have access to primary care, virtual care, Tele-Care 811, and all the other services that we provide. Thank you. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Madam Speaker, those talking points stand in stark opposition to the reality of this situation. Again, I ask myself: Why? Why are taxpayer dollars going to an American-headquartered, Brussels-based company that is on the verge of bankruptcy? Over the past 18 months, the Premier has proven that she has no respect whatsoever for the taxpayers of this province.

Even for her, this is remarkable unless, of course, she is trying to bail this company out on New Brunswick’s dime. Why would that be? Does the Premier or any member of her Cabinet have a relationship with anyone associated with Foundever? Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Madam Speaker, I’m very pleased that members on this side of the House have very high integrity. We are not in a conflict of interest. We look forward to working with the company, which is at arm’s length.

We have a process through SNB and the Department of Health that picks the best company that gives the best proposal, and we evaluate those quite carefully. I am confident that, on April 2, July 2, and August 2, we will have access to virtual care. It will be

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 4 seamless. The care will be good, and it will be integrated with the rest of our health care system. Thank you. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Well, Madam Speaker, this minister promised April 1, and now it’s July. We can really take stock of how much that’s worth. Is there no one at all, Madam Speaker? Is there no one who has business that is associated with both Foundever and someone this Premier is trying to conduct business with?

Is the Premier not aware of the connection between Foundever and Prime Minister Carney via Brookfield? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Madam Speaker, I can speak on behalf of the members on this side of the House. There is no loss of integrity here. We all declared what we have involvement with. I cannot speak for the rest of the world. I’m quite proud of this company. We will have good virtual care on any day of the week that you want to pick, on April 1, July 1, or December 1. I’m quite proud of that. It will be seamless.

We are thankful that eVisitNB has helped us to bridge that gap, as per contractual agreements. New Brunswickers can rest assured that we are going to provide virtual care. We are going to provide collaborative care. We are going to provide primary care to the people of New Brunswick. Thank you. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Wow, Madam Speaker. It is a company that is based in America, that has a majority family ownership that supports Russia in its war with Ukraine, and that is on the verge of going bankrupt.

This government should have known all those details before it climbed into this contract with that company. It’s unconscionable. Has the Premier ever discussed Foundever with the Prime Minister or any member of his government? Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for Prime Minister Carney. I’m pretty confident that he has integrity and that he will not become involved in businesses in which he has a personal interest. In fact, I strongly suspect that he has a separate group that would look after that.

I am more than confident in the Premier, and I am more than confident that the people of our Department of Health and Service New Brunswick enter into arrangements that are above board. We have no conflict, and I am glad we work with companies that also have no conflict with us. We can continue to provide excellent virtual care in this province. Thank you. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Well, that is the same Prime Minister who took Brookfield from Canadian headquarters and moved it down to

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 5 New York. Does the Premier really mean to tell this House that, during all her jet-setting with the Prime Minister and all their negotiations, there was never, not once, a conversation that included Foundever? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

I am pleased to talk about the kind of work that our team and I have been doing, fighting for New Brunswick on the national stage and attracting investment from the federal government and the Prime Minister in the things that matter to New Brunswickers, like the best housing deal we have ever seen, better than other provinces. There is $300 million of investment in housing, thanks to $150 million from Prime Minister Carney and his government. Just today, Prime Minister Carney announced a $1-billion investment in Base Gagetown.

When I have the opportunity to spend time with the Prime Minister, I tell him about our beautiful province. I tell him about the opportunities we have in this province to grow our mineral industry, though the de facto leader on the other side has expressed himself to be anti-mining. I tell the Prime Minister about the importance of our softwood lumber industry and how we need to fight to reduce the tariffs on our softwood. The de facto leader on the other side is apparently anti-forestry. I tell him about the— Mr.

Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): I seem to remember that, after that whole HST boondoggle, this government guaranteed it would get that money back. Dominic LeBlanc told the government: You’ll take what we give you. That’s exactly what the government did. Madam Speaker, I think we deserve to know this: Did the Prime Minister ever suggest, hint, or imply that the Premier should give up on the made-in-New Brunswick success story that is eVisitNB in favour of the Brookfield-associated Foundever that is teetering on the bank of financial ruin? Thank you. Hon. Ms.

Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Madam Speaker, no. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): That is the first actual answer today, and, considering the Premier’s track record of going O-fer with this Prime Minister, I don’t think she has too much to brag about. Let’s take a look at the timeline of events here, Madam Speaker. The Prime Minister takes office. He makes a commitment to get nation-building projects underway across the country. The Premier attends a First Ministers’ Conference and comes away with nothing.

Fast-forward a couple of months, and now Sisson mine is on the list of nation-building projects. Between the get-nothing First Ministers’ Conference and the Sisson mine being on the list, did the Premier have any conversations at all, with either the Prime Minister or any

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 6 of his ministers, regarding Foundever and giving it a contract for our e-health services? Thank you, Madam Speaker. [Translation] Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I am certainly working with the Prime Minister to meet New Brunswickers’ needs.

That’s why I am very pleased that we have received $60 million from the federal government to invest in our health care system and the computer system that supports it. We have never talked about Foundever. We talk about important issues for New Brunswickers: the economy, the opportunity to create good jobs, and the threat of Donald Trump, who wants to eliminate the New Brunswick forestry economy. We also talk about the way we can help the forestry sector, which needs over 20 000 employees here in New Brunswick. A man on the other side of the border is trying to eliminate our economy.

I’m working with the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, to grow our economy with regard to the mining sector, the defence sector, and issues that matter to New Brunswickers. [Original] Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Madam Speaker, all we have to do is go back to Hansard to hear this government’s protestations that it was going to get every penny of that HST money back, and it didn’t. Now it has had to take a deal because that’s what Dominic LeBlanc told the government to do.

Are the taxpayers of this province propping up a company that the Prime Minister has a vested interest in when it’s on the brink of collapse? The Premier has just said there have been absolutely no conversations, so this must be completely her boondoggle. Is she going to back away from this and do right by a New Brunswick company that has done an excellent job providing services in needed health care to New Brunswickers? Will she back away, yes or no? Hon. Ms.

Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Madam Speaker, I think there’s one thing we, on both sides of the aisle, agree on, and that’s that New Brunswickers deserve better health care. They’ve gone too long without access to primary care. They need virtual supports. They need supports in their community. They need supports for when they age and they want access to a long- term care fac

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Collection	New Brunswick — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	content house business 61 2 qp transcripts Oral Questions Questions orales 2026-03-26.ang
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	content house business 61 2 qp transcripts Oral Questions Questions orales 2026 03 26.ang.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	1f0a77955ccdc6dac7745170eba33c9faa468bb0

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