On May 30, newly elected MHAs took the oath of office promising to responsibly execute their “official duties in order to promote the human, environmental and economic welfare of the province.”
Despite opinions to the contrary, their job is not to get re-elected. It is worth noting that their code of conduct includes the following principle:
“It is a fundamental objective of their holding public office that Members serve their fellow citizens with integrity in order to improve the economic and social conditions of the people of the province.”
With a minority government, we will see what our elected officials are made of when they have to truly co-operate.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s government is still facing some critical financial challenges. Our elected officials have an obligation to act in the best interests of the province as a whole, not to a district or colleagues in the public sector.
We are at a fork in the road and we have been at that fork for a long time because we have avoided making the right decisions. We must be decisive, cannot be paralyzed, and certainly cannot kick the can down the road any longer.
We must focus on evidenced based decision making. The politics of pavement and firetrucks is over, and people are tired of politicians trying to buy our votes.
Let’s allow our health care authorities and school boards to make decisions to optimize the delivery of education and health care without political interference.
Some will remember the days of consolidation of the kindergarten to Grade 12 schools in the province in the 1990s. The school boards established criteria to determine which schools would close. They went through a process, voted in public meetings, and took responsibility for their decisions.
Evidence based decision making needs to make a comeback. School boards and health care authorities must be able to manage, unencumbered by political influence.
The Health Care Authorities Act states that health care authorities are empowered:
To develop objectives and priorities for the provision of health and community services which meet the needs of its region and which are consistent with provincial objectives and priorities;
To manage and allocate resources, including funds provided by the government for health and community services, in accordance with this Act; and
To ensure that services are provided in a manner that coordinates and integrates health and community services.
Politicians should not decide where long-term beds will be located or where an emergency department should stay open.
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians know that we have overextended our credit card. We are not interested in assigning blame or settling the score. We want to know how we prudently and responsibly dig ourselves out.
We are also not interested in going back to the polls any time soon.
At this critical juncture, I ask our MHAs: “What will your legacy be?”
“Will you look back at your time in office and be able to say: ‘I made a difference for the long-term sustainability of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador?’”
Now more than ever, political courage and leadership is needed from our MHAs. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can handle a tough message if accompanied by a solid plan to a more sustainable future.
We are all in this together.
Janis Byrne is the new chair of the St. Jon’s Board of Trade. She writes from St. John’s.
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