On Sept. 28, 2011, I wrote a message on Facebook, “During the Sept. 28th (Newfoundland and Labrador) leadership debate, I wished (Kathy) Dunderdale spent more time on publicly accessible homecare for our seniors and persons with disabilities and those with chronic health conditions; Pharmacare and assistive devices! Also, Dunderdale should have mentioned about the state of our province’s mental health care system. Many people have long wait times to see a psychiatrist. Dunderdale’s PCs spend millions and millions of dollars on all these strategies: poverty reduction; long-term and community care; public housing; mental health, but only a small portion of the recommendations are carried out. They talk the talk but there is very little action. Many of our health-care programs are still behind the rest of the country!”
During the last provincial election in 2015, approximately 500,000 Newfoundland and Labradorian consultants told our politicians — free of charge — what they wanted to see done.
Now, let’s move ahead to today. In a letter I had published in the Newfoundland Herald Sept. 24, 2017, I responded to a Sept. 8, 2017 Telegram article, “$1.7-M contract for Corner Brook hospital given to EY.”
It’s the same old story. Progressive Conservatives and Liberals hire outside consultants while they have professional career civil servants who could do the same with a lot less expense.
Danny Williams promised to build a new Corner Brook hospital back in 2009, and likewise Dunderdale, Jerome Kennedy, Paul Davis and Steve Kent for the PCs. Dwight Ball and Dr. John Haggie’s Liberals promised to build a new Waterford Hospital years ago.
All they do is wastefully spend, spend, spend millions of our hard-earned tax dollars on repetitive consultations and private consultants. During the last provincial election in 2015, approximately 500,000 Newfoundland and Labradorian consultants told our politicians — free of charge — what they wanted to see done. Instead, with all the money spent on all these consultations, they could start building these urgently needed and long overdue projects now.
I want to conclude by quoting Independent MHA Paul Lane from his Sept. 20th email message: “Couldn’t agree more sir. There are millions of dollars worth of reports and studies sitting on shelves in the Confederation Building collecting dust. Absolutely ridiculous.”
Edward Sawdon
St. John’s
