Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 1 November 18, 2025 CONTENTS CONFLICT OF INTEREST Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie GOVERNMENT AGENDA Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 2 Hon. Ms. Holt Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Hickey Mr. Savoie Hon. Mr. Hickey Mr. Savoie Hon. Ms. Holt SENIORS Ms. Mitton Hon. Mr. Dornan Ms. Mitton Hon. Ms. Boudreau HEALTH CARE 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 3 [Translation] CONFLICT OF INTEREST Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Good afternoon, Madam Speaker. [Original] Madam Speaker, recently, the taxpayers of New Brunswick paid for a Maritime kitchen party in Ottawa, hosted by the Premier. New Brunswickers who are having a hard time paying for food, heat, and rent watched as the Premier put on a big party with their money. While we don’t know the total cost yet, we do have a copy of the guest list.

Madam Speaker, can the Premier give this House her definition of a “conflict of interest”? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I think the definition of “conflict of interest” is clear. It’s when somebody could benefit personally, financially or otherwise, from a relationship.

I appreciate that the member wanted to point out the work that we did in Ottawa, where we were successful in getting New Brunswick on the list of the major projects that are really going to move this economy forward. We worked very hard to convince our colleagues to give their attention to New Brunswick and to support the kinds of projects that are going to create well-paying jobs here, deliver revenue for New Brunswickers, and advance our capacity to grow our economy.

Our government will continue to do the things we need to do to make sure that New Brunswickers have the jobs they need, have the affordability they need, and have a government that is investing in them. [Translation] Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. [Original] Madam Speaker, based on the Premier’s response, can she explain why she was promoting her former employer, ProfessionaL Aboriginal Testing Organization (PLATO), at a high- profile event in Ottawa? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms.

Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. PLATO is my former employer, so it is part of my bio, and that information is read and presented when I am out doing things. I am really proud of the work, actually, that we did at the ProfessionaL Aboriginal Testing Organization, a social enterprise that trains First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and then employs them in software testing careers all across this country. It brings dollars from the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 4 rest of the country back to New Brunswick, where the head office is. It’s now majority Indigenous owned. It’s a real example of a success story here in New Brunswick, where we have strength in technological innovation and where this government has shown a commitment to reconciliation. It’s a part of my history that I’m really proud of. Thank you very much. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, the Premier became Chief Growth Officer at PLATO testing and its sister company, PQA Testing, after the former Liberal government was defeated. Can the Premier declare what her relationship is with PLATO testing today, such as her current ownership percentage? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I have zero ownership in PLATO testing.

As I mentioned before, it is now a majority Indigenous-owned enterprise, which is really exciting, since it advances the kind of economic reconciliation that our government loves to see. It is one of the reasons we have been partnering with First Nations across this province to advance renewable energy projects such as wind projects and engaging in making sure they have equity stakes in the development of resources in this province.

It is something that I’ve been committed to for a long time and something that our government is going to deliver on so that everyone in New Brunswick can benefit from our beautiful province. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Well, thank you, Madam Speaker. I’d be interested to know when she sold those shares. GOVERNMENT AGENDA We learned late last week that the second-quarter results show a staggering deficit of $835 million so far. The net debt is now slated to be $13.5 billion by year’s end, adding $1.2 billion to our debt in just one year.

This government promised to balance the books in each and every year of its mandate. The Premier even doubled down on that by putting it in the Minister of Finance’s mandate letter. Now, the Premier has made a big deal of these mandate letters. The government website clearly says that it was she who wrote them, so I’d like to ask the Premier to clarify this for the House. Did she write the entirety of those mandate letters, or will we find out that this was yet another marketing exercise by her former boss, Jordan O’Brien?

Tell us, Premier: Do you accept full responsibility for the writing of those mandate letters, or will you blame someone else for writing them because you’re not following what you wrote? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 5 [Translation] I find the question interesting. If the opposition members had read the mandate letters carefully, they would have seen that they contain exactly the same words as our campaign platform. The platform was established by a large team of volunteers, candidates, and committed members of our party, with support and input from stakeholders and various team members.

Our party works in a way that is truly open, transparent, and inclusive and enables everyone to participate and share their ideas about what we’re planning for the province. The language is from our platform. I did indeed sign the mandate letters. I confirmed that they contained the government’s objectives and were about the work we’re doing transparently and openly every day for New Brunswickers. Thank you very much. [Original] Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Well, thank you, Madam Speaker.

These promises are being broken so badly, and I was wondering whether the Premier would take responsibility. She said: Hey, we made these promises, and we’re going to keep them. But now, there is a little bit of skating: Oh, we all did this together. So, I guess they all should share the blame for breaking the promises. However, I’ll ask this: Will the Premier get on her feet today and promise—even though she broke her promise to balance the books each and every year of her four-year mandate—that she will not balance the books on the backs of New Brunswickers by raising taxes to pay for her promises?

Will she promise not to raise taxes on New Brunswickers during this mandate? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Raising taxes is something the member opposite would be familiar with, given that it happened under his government. Our government has New Brunswickers’ backs.

That’s why, when we acquired a system that had been experiencing rampant spending increases with no measurable increase to services for New Brunswickers, a massive deficit, a lack of investment in public services, and a lack of investment in infrastructure… People were more concerned with bankers in New York than they were with the good people of New Brunswick. Our government has had to undo some things and invest in other things the former government ignored for years. We are focused on New Brunswickers’ bottom line, their debts and deficits.

We’re making sure that affordability is number one, and we’re doing it in a lot of different ways. I’ll list some of them for you while I have the time. We took 10% off their electricity bills. We’ve frozen their property taxes. We’ve funded IVF treatment. We’ve put in place free breakfasts. We’ve put in place free RSV vaccines for seniors. We took 8¢ off the price of—

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 6 Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): There is your nonanswer, Madam Speaker. New Brunswickers, look out, because tax hikes are coming. The devil is always in the details when you’re dealing with Liberal promises. The Holt government has failed to fulfill its promise of balancing the books each and every year. The deficit is $835 million and growing. This year alone, there is a $1.2-billion increase in net debt.

There is almost $100 million extra in debt servicing costs—money that could’ve gone toward helping New Brunswickers with the services they need. This government has failed to deliver on its promise of affordability, Madam Speaker. What this government has never made clear, and New Brunswickers have seen this play out with Liberal government after Liberal government, is that someone will have to pay the bill for its promises, and that’s going to be future generations.

Does the Premier wish to apologize to the next generation of New Brunswickers and those who follow for this obscenely broken promise that they will be paying for in increased taxes and diminished services? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms.

Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Madam Speaker, if there is an apology to be given, it’s the other side that has to apologize to New Brunswickers for gutting their health care system, for disrespecting their nurses and doctors, and for putting us in a situation where more than 23% of New Brunswickers didn’t have access to primary care. That number fell from 97% to 77% when these folks were in government. Our government is making sure that investments are going toward New Brunswickers’ priorities, such as health care.

We are investing in nurses with retention bonuses. That means we have more nurses today and more net new nurses today than this other team ever recruited. We have more doctors in the province than ever before. We are taking thousands of people off the wait lists for care. That is 14 000 people and counting, Madam Speaker, with the opening of eight clinics. We are making New Brunswick the best place to be a primary care provider, whether you’re a nurse practitioner, a family doctor, a social worker, or a mental health counsellor.

New Brunswickers told us that they didn’t get the care they needed under the former government. Our government is delivering— Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you, Madam Speaker. We’re seeing a trend from the Liberal playbook. In the 2014 Liberal platform, we saw that the former Brian Gallant administration had made massive miscalculations in its financial accounting for its promises in that election.

In the 2024 Liberal platform of the current Holt government, there was found to be a $1-billion miscalculation in its financial accounting for the promises in the latest election. Continuing with that trend, New Brunswickers were also promised financial relief by both governments. Instead, in another trend from the same playbook, they got broken promises from both. We saw huge tax increases in the 2014 Brian Gallant playbook. This government has already broken its promise to balance the books each and every year of its mandate. How can New Brunswickers trust that it won’t raise taxes now, a move right out of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 7 Brian Gallant playbook, which, so far, it has been following to the letter? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m very happy to get up and talk about how our government is focused on New Brunswickers’ concerns about affordability. We actually took the provincial tax off their electricity bills, which was equivalent to a 10% rebate. We have frozen their property tax assessments.

In many places, especially in Saint John, people will pay either the same amount of property tax that they paid last year or less thanks to the work our government has done and continues to do on property tax reform. We took the cost of RSV vaccines off for New Brunswickers. We took the Higgs gas tax, the cost of carbon adjustor, off the price of gas, to the tune of 8¢. Our government has been committed to making life more affordable for New Brunswickers and to doing it in ways that they can actually feel on the ground. We will continue to do that and focus on the priorities they express to us.

They tell us they need help paying the bills. They tell us they want to have access to primary care. Our government is laser-focused on those two things. We are making the necessary investments in New Brunswickers to achieve those— Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Madam Speaker, the comparisons between the Holt government and the Brian Gallant government just keep coming. Premier Holt’s mentor, Brian Gallant, said: We’re going to be very honest with New Brunswickers and we are going to keep our promises by making promises we can keep.

The current Premier said: The best way to earn the trust of New Brunswickers is to tell people what we are going to do and then follow through on the promises we have made. Those are similar statements from two similar Liberal Premiers. Both like to make promises they have no intention of keeping, and both like word salad.

Again, I ask the Premier, will she set aside her salad bowl and apologize to New Brunswickers for failing to keep her promise to balance the books each and every year of her mandate and placing the burden of paying for her obscenely broken promise in the way of increased taxes and diminished services for future generations? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Madam Speaker, I’m really proud of our government’s record of all the promises we have kept in just one year in government.

I think it was quoted as 30% of our promises in only a quarter of our mandate. I’m happy to give you some specifics on those. We committed to establishing 10 collaborative care clinics in this province and to doing it in 2025. So far, we have opened 8 of those, in Fredericton North, Lamèque, Tantramar,

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 8 Carleton North, Campbellton, Miramichi, and Moncton, and there’s more to come in the next few weeks. We committed to showing nurses the respect they deserve, and we delivered to them a 10% retention bonus and another $10 000 and $5 000 in retention bonuses. We committed to putting the rent cap in place, and we did that immediately. We committed to repealing and reforming Regulation 84-20. We did that immediately.

We made a promise that we would make housing development more affordable, and we took 15% off the cost of developing multi-units. We committed to a free breakfast program for every student in every school in this province, and we delivered on that this September. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. That was more word salad from this Premier in the form of her key values. Now, Madam Speaker, remember that these are beliefs that this Premier holds at the very core of her being.

This is the first key value of the Premier: Transparency: No more secrets and backroom deals. Time to work in the bright light of day. Even further, this Premier has once again put the following in a mandate letter: Our government is committed to evidence-based decision-making across all departments. We will operate under an ‘open by default’ principle to improve transparency and trust in government.

Does the Premier believe that she was acting as “open by default” and “in the bright light of day” when it came to the transition housing project in Skyline Acres, where the government members heard from dozens and dozens of dissatisfied residents who knew nothing about this project? Does the Premier wish to apologize to the residents of Skyline Acres and to the children and parents of the elementary school for keeping them in the dark about this project? 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 thank the opposition member for quoting my words and talking about my values. I’m pleased to hear that he supports our positions on openness and transparency. I thank him for the example he gave regarding the work we’re doing to provide housing and services to the most vulnerable people in the community. We’re doing this in partnership with the city of Fredericton and the stakeholders providing the services.

We had an open and public meeting, which is something the opposition members might not be familiar with. Our elected members were there, which is another way of doing things that wasn’t the way the group opposite worked. They didn’t appear before people to answer questions, but our government and our minister were there to learn about the concerns, answer questions from the people in the community, and take their concerns into account in our plan. That’s exactly how we work, openly and transparently.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 9 [Original] Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Madam Speaker, this is core value number two: Teamwork: Passionate people committing to bold ideas and bringing New Brunswickers together, not dividing them. Does the Premier believe that her values have been represented in her government’s work on this file? Can she not see how she has divided the residents of Skyline Acres with her actions?

Will she apologize to the residents of Skyline Acres for dividing them with the actions of her government’s approach to this project? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

That’s an interesting take from the member opposite when our government is holding community sessions and bringing people together to hear their concerns, to share information, and to continue the dialogue with community members, stakeholders, the city of Fredericton, the chief of police, members of the community kitchen, members from the shelter, members of the city of Fredericton’s mental health services team, and Marcel LeBrun, who is driving this project forward. We are out there doing exactly that.

We are bringing people together, creating the spaces where they can have an exchange, and getting into dialogues with folks so that we can work together on something that, perhaps, if the member opposite was paying attention to what this community was saying, he would know the community members want. They are supportive of the need to provide transitional and supportive housing spaces to our most homeless. They are committed to the same goals we are. We are working together to find a solution that best suits the community. Thank you very much. Mr.

Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Madam Speaker, this is the third of the Premier’s deeply personal core values: Empathy: You deserve a government that listens to you and cares about what matters to you. This government has failed to consult, has failed to be transparent, has failed to unite the residents of Skyline Acres, and has clearly failed to listen to and care for the people of Skyline Acres through its own actions on this file. Will the Premier apologize to the residents of Skyline Acres and show that hers is a government that is listening to the residents?

Will she halt this project until she does the consultation, listening, and caring that she promised and that, supposedly, reflect her core values? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Mr. Hickey (Saint John Harbour, Minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, L): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. The core value of empathy is the exact reason we are carrying out this work. It is so that we can make sure our response to the homelessness crisis in Fredericton means that we build 24 more units

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 10 in this community and so that people have the support they need and the housing they deserve so that they can live in dignity. It is to build the foundation that we know they need when we are following an evidence-based housing-first approach. We made sure we met with the residents of Skyline Acres and heard their concerns in a very lengthy session.

We’ve made changes to the project as such to make sure that residents’ concerns and their responses in the community are heard and are reflected in a project that we want to make sure is a great success in Fredericton. This is a first of its kind in this community. We followed exactly the same process as we did with the establishment of three others in other places in the province. We did the same thing with this one, and we’re going to make sure that we carry out that work in the future. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you, Madam Speaker.

That is proof positive that it’s not the what, but the how. Madam Speaker, this is from the 2025 speech from the throne: Your government has a strategic vision for our province and is committed to working with residents to make things happen. This government clearly failed to work with the residents of Skyline Acres. Will this Premier get up on her feet and apologize to those residents and commit to working with them rather than going forward with this project that dozens of families are opposed to because it was not done in the “light of day”? Hon. Mr.

Hickey (Saint John Harbour, Minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, L): If the Leader of the Opposition says it wasn’t done in the “light of day”, then he might be right. Our meeting was at seven o’clock. It was a bit dark out, but we made sure we met with the community to engage on this. We had two ministers from this government in the session to make sure that every single question from the public was answered.

We were surrounded by all the staff, all the service providers, and the developers themselves, with whom we’ve established a partnership to lead this project and to take on this effort and make sure that we can find success in this community. This is the first of its kind in Fredericton. We’re going to make sure it works. We’re going to make sure that the concerns of residents are heard.

Ultimately, we are going to ensure that we fulfill our commitment to empathy and humanity in dealing with this, so that Frederictonians in every neighbourhood can see the vision of this government on the homelessness file in this community as we move forward. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, do you know what? If you ask the people there, they will say they didn’t know about it. I think there should be some empathy for the people who live there as well.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 11 In the final response of question period on Friday, November 7, the Premier made the following claim: We have taken 10 000 people off the waiting list for care. As you know, Madam Speaker, her own government’s figures clearly state that the wait list increased by 10 000, rather than decreasing. Catherine McKenna seems to be her federal Liberal guiding light. If you repeat it and say it louder, people will totally believe it.

Does the Premier wish to apologize to the people of our province who are waiting for a doctor, and does she want to apologize to those people who make up the most recent 10 000-person increase? Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I can understand the member opposite’s confusion about the actual number of people waiting to get care in this province, because the New Brunswick Health Council pegs that figure at about 170 000 people.

It’s something that the members opposite would not acknowledge when they were in government. They created different kinds of wait lists and moved people from this wait list to that wait list. We have a Health Link wait list that describes how many people are registered for Health Link. That is not every single New Brunswicker who doesn’t have access to health care. Our government is investing in the model of care that patients deserve and that New Brunswick doctors and nurse practitioners want. We have opened eight of those clinics, taking 14 000 people off the waiting list for care.

But if the member opposite thinks the waiting list for care is 124 000 New Brunswickers, he’s sorely mistaken. If that were the case, we would all be celebrating the fact that we had taken 50 000 people off the waiting list. I think they need to acquaint themselves with the reality— SENIORS Ms. Mitton (Tantramar, G): Madam Speaker, the number of people stuck in hospital with no way out and the number of those who can’t access health care as a result continue to grow.

The Upper River Valley Hospital is currently at 142% capacity, while 42% of patients in the Chalmers hospital are people forced to live in the hospital, also called ALC patients. Patients waiting for a nursing home placement in smaller hospitals like the Sackville Memorial Hospital are stuck in the hospital and seem to have no way out. The Holt government is spinning its wheels while seniors’ health and quality of life deteriorate in hospitals.

Will the Minister responsible for Seniors bring a clear, costed action plan to the Legislature and show us her plan to get out of this crisis before we adjourn on December 12? Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Madam Speaker, people in our hospitals, alternate level of care patients, are suffering. I will acknowledge this. This is not the best place for them. We’ve known this for a while. We are going to tackle this problem. It’s a combined effort by three ministers. We are looking at how to get people out of the hospital.

How do we prevent people from getting into the hospital in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 12 first place? That is the solution. I’m very pleased to work with the Minister of Social Development, who is developing a plan for better, more complete care in our communities that includes Nursing Homes Without Walls and access to nursing homes and special care homes. We are working on a plan collaboratively, and I’m very pleased to see that we will get people out of the hospitals and into our communities. They deserve more respect. Thank you. Ms.

Mitton (Tantramar, G): Madam Speaker, some people have been waiting for a very long time and feel abandoned. [Translation] It’s regrettable that seniors and patients are deprived of their dignity because successive governments have refused to act with urgency. In the report entitled What We All Want, which was published over 18 months ago, the seniors’ advocate called for the Legislative Assembly to present a clear action plan, with specific numbers and targets for each six- month period, to reduce the number of patients in hospitals who need an alternate level of care.

I will ask my question again: Will the Minister responsible for Seniors, another minister, or a member of the Holt government present a clear action plan with numbers to the Legislative Assembly and show us the government’s plan to get us out of this crisis before the House adjourns on December 12? [Original] Hon. Ms. Boudreau (Champdoré-Irishtown, Minister responsible for Seniors; Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, L): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you to the member opposite for this question.

I’m very grateful to get the chance to speak about the work the government is doing to improve things for our seniors. [Translation] I’m really grateful to rise to speak on this situation in the House today. Our government is well aware that our seniors don’t want to stay in a hospital if it’s not the best place to get the care they need. That’s why we’re working closely with all our partners. We do want to work on the long- term care plan. When the time comes, we will be extremely pleased to present the plan to you. We’re really working tirelessly to complete the plan.

We’re also working with all our departments to finish it. Before I conclude, I just want to echo the Minister of Health’s words. We’re working on the Nursing Homes Without Walls program. We announced the 31st site yesterday. We’re very proud of that. I’m going to finish my answer now, given the time I have left. Thank you very much.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 13 [Original] HEALTH CARE Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Well, thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I’d like to go to something that we’re learning is now becoming the de facto movement for this government going forward, and that’s Teladoc’s services. Now, we had a very successful pilot in the Sussex-Three Rivers region that this government cancelled because it said Teladoc wasn’t adding a minute to care.

However, we have a Minister of Health who has now moved this service to Sainte-Marie-de-Kent and has said that it’s great and that it’s going to help so many people. We’re being told by the people of Sussex-Three Rivers that this was an important service that they used and needed. We have a Minister of Health who looks as though he’s playing politics.

I’m giving him the opportunity today to get on his feet and to commit to the people of Sussex-Three Rivers by saying: Look, I’m sorry I took this service away from you when I shouldn’t have; we’re going to restore it because we know it is the right thing for your community. Will the Minister of Health get up and restore this Teladoc service, which he says is great everywhere else? Hon. Mr. Dornan (Saint John Portland-Simonds, Minister of Health, L): Madam Speaker, I’m very pleased to get up. We experimented with Teladoc in Sussex.

It increased the amount of care during daytime hours, but it didn’t give one minute of care during overnight hours. We looked at another riding, which, interesting enough, is a Tory riding. We put Teladoc in Grand Manan, where it has increased access to 24-hour care because there are physicians in that community working with the Teladoc staff. A solution meant for one area sometimes works better in other areas. We’re nimble enough to look at that. Our RHAs are nimble enough to look at that. I thank you for asking why it works better in one area than another area.

We are committed to helping the people of Sussex as well. Thank you. Mr. Savoie (Saint John East, Leader of the Official Opposition, PC): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m not hearing what I believe should be coming out of the mouth of the Minister of Health, which is this: I am going to find a way to help the people of Sussex-Three Rivers by restoring the Teladoc program. The Minister of Health has the responsibility of working with doctors. He could say: Look, this program is working elsewhere in the province.

The minister said that it works elsewhere, so let’s find a way to make it work for the people of Sussex-Three Rivers because they need that program there. The minister just signed a huge contract with the doctors that they were bragging about. If Teladoc works in other places, I am sure that there has to be somebody somewhere with whom he has a relationship who will say: Yes, do you know what? I’m going to work in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 14 Sussex area overnight so we can bring these services to the people of Sussex-Three Rivers, because everybody deserves equitable health care treatment in our system. Right now, we’re not getting equity from this government. Will you restore this program to Sussex-Three Rivers? Thank you. Hon. Ms. Holt (Fredericton South-Silverwood, Premier; Minister responsible for Official Languages, L): Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.

Actually, I’m going to follow the way that the member opposite laid out some of the values that we hold dear, such as openness, transparency, teamwork, and empathy. One value that he didn’t touch on, which I’m not surprised about because it’s something that the members opposite aren’t familiar with, is the notion that we don’t want one-size-fits-all solutions. We recognize that New Brunswick is a diverse place with different types of communities that have different needs. The inflexibility of the previous government is one of the reasons we saw zero progress in improving health care for New Brunswickers.

Our flexibility recognizes that what works in one community might not work in another. Having a rigid model when attempting collaborative care meant that the previous government couldn’t get its promised four clinics off the ground. Our flexibility to recognize that different teams work different ways in different places means that we have eight new family health teams in this province and that 14 000 people are receiving care. We are going to continue tailoring our government’s services to the unique needs of New Brunswickers. [Translation] Madam Speaker (Hon. Ms. Landry): Question period is over.