Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. The edited Hansard will be posted when it becomes available.

The entire audio/visual record of the House proceedings is available online within one hour of the House rising for the day. This can be accessed at: https://www.assembly.nl.ca/HouseBusiness/Webcast/archive.aspx

Oral Questions

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

Last week in this House and in the media, the Premier stood by his claim that the staffer in his office is only being paid by MCP to advise on health care issues, however, we presented documents that prove that wasn’t the case, but the Premier has doubled down so, I will give the Premier another opportunity today.

Will he admit that Dr. Whalen gives him political advice on things other than just health care?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, I make no apologies for hiring good people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: I make no apologies for taking policy advice from someone who works in our health care system, particularly someone who is on the front lines of our health care system, working daily in emergency departments in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We ae also going to make sure that we get lots of policy advice when it comes to the social determinants of health, something that this government forgot about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Again, Speaker, they’re very specific questions. I would appreciate an answer as would Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

The Premier said, and from Hansard, I quote: For providing policy advice to the Premier’s office on health care matters and that is the only thing that he’s providing advice on. As I said, we know, and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians know, that is not the case because Dr. Whalen has been involved in other briefings that have absolutely nothing to do with health care.

Why does the Premier think it’s okay for MCP to pay for political advice that does nothing for health care in this province?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, I’ll reiterate my comments about hiring good people and not afraid to take advice from people that work in the health care system on the front line. That’s exactly what we have done and perhaps if the previous government had done a better job with that, we wouldn’t find ourselves in the mess we are in with our health care system right now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: When we talk about health care, one of the things we ought to be talking about, as the former Minister of Health should know, is the social determinants of health which impact a lot of different areas and we’ll continue to seek advice from somebody who works in the front lines of the health care system.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

What the Premier is missing, either intentionally or unintentionally, it’s not about the person. It’s about where the money is coming from and what the money is being used for. That’s the questions that we’re asking.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

J. HOGAN: I’ve given the Premier two opportunities today. We’ve given him two weeks to come clean, however, we do have more evidence that we’ve gotten through Access to Information requests. We have a copy of Dr. Whalen’s calendar and big surprise, what does it show? More meetings and briefings that have absolutely nothing to do with health care.

Why is the Premier saying one thing, when the evidence continues to mount and the documents show that what the Premier is saying is not true?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, when I talk about the social determinants of health, let’s talk about what that actually means. Let’s talk about how affordable housing impacts people’s health. Let’s talk about how having a job impacts people’s health. Let’s talk about how the cost of living impacts people’s health. There are lots of subjects and lots of topics of conversation that impact peoples’ health and I will continue to take advice from people who work directly in the system.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you.

I’ve been through the calendar and I’m not sure there was one meeting that’s about the social determinants of health, but what is in there is a meeting about fisheries and aquaculture.

So, Premier, please tell Newfoundlanders and Labradorians what fisheries and aquaculture has to do with getting advice on health care in this province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Clearly the cost of food is a big issue in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Clearly, the cost of eating healthy and being able to afford these healthy (inaudible) –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: – is a part of health care in Newfoundland and Labrador. We just heard the Leader of the Third Party talk about the importance of affordability of seafood in our own province, the ability that we fought for with Ottawa to try to allow fishing seven days a week for our recreational food fishery, that’s what we’re talking about: health care in Newfoundland and Labrador, food that will help keep people healthier.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Speaker, I think that’s a stretch, but we’ll try something else that I don’t think he can stretch into the truth.

Why was Dr. Whalen meeting, in his calendar, about a bird dog firefighting aircraft? What does that have to do with health care, and why is MCP paying for advice on that?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, as I have said previously, I make no apologies for taking advice from people that are involved in our health care system in our province, and I will continue to do it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

I want to be very clear that regardless of the advice that is being given, it is totally inappropriate and wrong for MCP to pay for political advice regardless of what that advice is.

Not only is that wrong, what’s gotten worse is that this has become a cover-up, and the Premier of this province is telling Newfoundlanders and Labradorians things which, factually, are incorrect.

I would ask the Premier, why does he think it’s okay to use MCP money for things other than health care, and why is he not being honest with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, the fact of the matter is that health care involves a lot of different issues. We’ve taken advice. It’s not about location; it’s about getting results, and that’s what we’re focused on: getting results for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

You know, when we think about results, let’s talk about the fact and the cost of living that we’ve heard so much about in discussions these days. Let’s talk about the fact that people are paying to see a nurse practitioner. Think about the cost of that to people of our province, seniors of our province. Think about the cost of medical transportation, where they have to pay to travel for medical transportation. Think about the 165,000 people who don’t have a medical doctor.

Yeah, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’ll continue to take advice on it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, MCP stands for Medical Care Program, not money for Conservative politicians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. DEMPSTER: Dr. Whalen’s calendar was released today for the months of December, January and February. While he took plenty of meetings that had nothing to do with health care, glaringly, it does not show any meetings with the Minister of Health.

Has the minister been ignored by the Premier’s health advisor, or is there important information missing from Dr. Whalen’s calendar?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, the Premier talked about, I guess, some of the issues that we’re running into. He’s talked about that a lot when addressing the questions about Dr. Des Whalen. Well, Speaker, we’ve been left with a serious, serious mess when it comes to health care and we are taking advice from Dr. Des Whalen, including myself. He is actually out there providing (inaudible) sound voice so that we don’t fall into the pitfalls.

We look at the social determinants of health: family care teams, $20 million over budget; basically, no planning for these travel nurses, $80 million not accounted for.

SPEAKER: The hon. minister’s time is expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, I ask the Minister of Health, has she ever asked Dr. Whalen for partisan political advice, given that is his job as a political staffer – reading from the contract.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, Dr. Whalen has provided sound health advice. When I’m looking at the mess that was created because the social determinants of health are so important to the Health Accord, and one of those factors that was going to pay into that was the Family Care Team. When we looked at the Family Care Team, 21 had been announced, but we’ve got empty buildings because they haven’t been properly staffed. We’re looking at now some of them almost having to close because they weren’t properly staffed, that’s the Family Care Teams.

The social determinants of health were a key factor in the Health Accord, Speaker. This is the mess we’re left with. Basically, no planning, no planning for the travel nurses, yet they billed us $80 million and we’re stuck with that, with nothing in the budget for that.

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, I don’t know why his contract stipulated that he was a political advisor and being paid from MCP.

Speaker, we still haven’t heard any firm numbers on medical travel. I’ve asked multiple times in this House, so I’ll give the minister some.

If a round-trip for a doctor’s appointment from St. John's to Goose Bay costs $1,000, the Conservatives could cover 275 trips if they stopped paying a political staffer from MCP.

Is the minister going to transfer money out of MCP? If she is going to do that, can she at least spend some of it on helping Labradorians get to their appointments (inaudible)?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, we are now planning to roll out the MTAP program so the MTAP coverage is 100 per cent –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: – something that the Member, when she was minister, failed to do. The government had failed to do it when they were a Liberal government, Speaker. The PC government is going to deliver on that practice, but we’re going to plan it, we’re going to roll it out in a few months, Speaker, and then Labradorians and people on the Island who use MTAP will actually have 100 per cent coverage of the MTAP program, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, the now Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs was very vocal about supporting physicians in Grand Falls Windsor, stating in 2024: We’re talking about how we’re doing everything to retain doctors, by God, we’re not. We’re 100 per cent not, because if we were, we would have had a phone call sometime this week.

Speaker, I ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs: Why didn’t you pick up the phone and what is your plan for your 2,000 constituents who are losing their family doctor?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, I’ve actually engaged with the Member that she referenced. He is actually engaged with that doctor, Speaker. At the end of the day, we have to ensure that the policies outlined ensure that patient care is safe and effective, Speaker. That’s what we’re doing. But also, too, is we are now looking at those patients that may be stranded because of this. But it wasn’t because Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services failed to engage with the doctors, Speaker. Everything was done to try to accommodate this, but at the end of the day, when a new physician has a provisional licence, they have to be supervised, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Virginia Waters - Pleasantville.

B. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The $275,000 that the Conservatives are using from MCP for political advice could equate to two registered nurses and a licenced practical nurse at Pleasant View Towers in my district.

So I’m asking the Minister of Health: Why did you let the Premier take the money from MCP that could have been used to support seniors in long-term care and open more beds?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, I remind the Member that the travel nurses cost $400,000 for one travel nurse. How many of our own nurses could we have provided for that? They continue to use these expensive travel nurses, Speaker, where businesses actually got the profit. The poor nurses that were travel nurses did not get it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. EVANS: So, Speaker, at the end of the day, I also will note that really, there was $80 million not accounted for in the budget because they didn’t plan for the travel nurses, Speaker, but they used them. They didn’t put it in the budget. That’s poor fiscal planning, Speaker.

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

As we have heard from the Auditor General, of course, we managed to decrease reliance on travel nurses by 40 per cent.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

J. HOGAN: So it would certainly move it in the right direction. Sadly, what I saw over the weekend on Facebook – I am sure the Minister of Energy saw it as well – was numerous advertisements from recruiters looking for travel nurses in this province.

So can the Minister of Health answer why numerous recruiters are actively recruiting travel nurses throughout the province, despite her commitment that that would not happen anymore?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: I will address the former minister of Health and the former premier on his question. I will address that, Speaker.

In actual fact, if they want to pay $400,000 for a travel nurse, fill your boots. Here, we are going to get unionized nurses to do that work in the province (inaudible) –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: At the end of the day, we are going to use unionized nurses. We are not going to give profits to businesses; we are going to make sure our health care system is fixed. We are going to clean up their mess because this is what they left us: a mess.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Corner Brook.

J. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, that sounds like advertising right now.

As a new MHA, I am disgusted and embarrassed by the use of MCP funds for political, partisan advice. What’s worse is government’s attempt to blur the line between political staff and our independent public service by drawing false comparisons between the likes of Dr. Fitzgerald, Dr. Parfrey, Dr. Browne. Public servants are prohibited from giving partisan advice, unlike the Premier’s new advisor.

Why is government disparaging our public service to protect one of their own?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Energy and Mines.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. PARROTT: Pretty rich coming from the same group – we had a premier who denied knowing about the $35,000 bonuses that they gave themselves. Now, either the staffer didn’t tell them and he kept him working for his or he knew. Does that embarrass or disgust you, I wonder?

What about the land deal that the former minister made with H3?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. PARROTT: Does that disgust you? Millions of dollars –

SPEAKER: Order, please!

I’m going to start naming Members.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

What about Snow’s Lane? I wonder does that disgust the Member?

One other thing, what about the apartments that were rented out? No repercussions, nobody in there. They knew all about it and they never did a thing. They talk about being disgusted, look in the mirror –

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: I’ll say to that Member, you want to talk about land, you want to talk about a previous Progressive Conservative premier who did a lot for his land and benefited from it. You want to start talking about that, well absolutely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

E. LOVELESS: Absolutely, you know what I’m talking about. That’s why your temperature is up

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

E. LOVELESS: Mr. Speaker, we couldn’t get answers out of the Premier so I’m going to ask the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

On February 15, Dr. Whalen attended a meeting about fisheries and aquaculture. Was the minister present at that meeting and if so, can he please tell us the connection of fishery and health care?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Energy and Mines.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. PARROTT: I’ll speak to the preamble and I’ll remind the Member about the vote that happened inside Cabinet that they wouldn’t answer to when they voted to give themselves a bonus, a pay raise on the way out the door. Pre-election, just in case they didn’t win and guess what, they didn’t win, we’re here and we’re doing what has to be done. We’ve hired the people to advise us in the proper way, so we can fix the mess that was left behind after 10 years of neglect, misappropriation of funds and everything that they done –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. PARROTT: So here we are.

Now they sit here and their time machine doesn’t work anymore. It worked very well when they were in government but it doesn’t work anymore, get back in your hot tub.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: There’s a social media, tell us all about the Member that was just on his feet about what he said over here and what he’s doing over there. The people of the province know it and I’ll say that to the Member.

But I’ll ask the question again and hopefully he will allow this time, instead of putting his hand up to keep the minister down, let the minister stand on his feet, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, if he was present at that meeting, if so, can he please tell us the connection of fishery and health care.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Energy and Mines.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. PARROTT: I’ll address the preamble. My social media didn’t have campaign signs up saying if you want pavement vote for me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. PARROTT: My social media didn’t say anything about voting for secret bonuses and not disclosing to the public. My social media doesn’t say anything about the land deal with Snow’s Lane. Didn’t say anything about the mental health facility –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. PARROTT:  – awarded to their buddy for $42 million more than the next lowest bidder. Didn’t say anything about sole sourcing a penitentiary because nobody would bid anything through them because of the previous practices.

They want to talk about corruption and all of those other things, I’ll say what I said earlier, look in the mirror.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Waterford Valley.

J. KORAB: Thank you, Speaker.

It would be helpful if the government knew the election was over and we could down to the people’s work here in question-and-answer period.

Speaker, on Wednesday, January 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Dr. Des Whalen’s calendar indicated a prep meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure.

Does Des Whalen advise the Minister of Infrastructure to cancel the new provincial hospital?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, I’ll remind the Member that we know the election’s over because we’re over here and we’re doing things (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, a big thing with having a good advisor is you’re going to get good advice, right Speaker, but at the end of the day, we’re not going to be building hospitals when we need long-term care beds. We’re not going to be wasting our money. We’re not going to be out there wasting our money and not accounting for a lot of things, Speaker. I remind the Member that $80 million –

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Waterford Valley.

J. KORAB: Thank you, Speaker.

Well, you’re not going to build a hospital, a badly needed hospital at Kenmount Crossing. We’re going to patch up a hundred-odd-year-old hospital.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

J. KORAB: Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker, I ask –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

J. KORAB: The Minister of Health said they’re going to build long-term care beds. When and where are we building those long-term beds? When and where?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, 23 per cent of beds in hospitals, acute-care beds, are being taken up by people that need long-term care beds. We got elected; we were sworn in in October; we are planning to build long-term care beds so our seniors can be treated with respect, the seniors that built this province first, Speaker. The difference between the Liberals and the PCs is we care about people, and we care about our elders, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

L. EVANS: We’re going to actually address that. In actual fact, Speaker, that’s the truth.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. EVANS: We’re not going to be building flashy buildings at a huge cost of $10 billion to $14 billion, Speaker, when our seniors are struggling.

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Waterford Valley.

J. KORAB: Speaker, a simple question, when and where are the long-term beds going? When and where? Simple. No preamble, no blah blah blah. When and where?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, we are coming up with a plan to actually make long-term care beds available across the province. We’re going to be putting long-term care beds in regions.

AN HON. MEMBER: So there’s no plan.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

L. EVANS: We do have a plan, that’s the difference between you – $80 million, you had basically paid out for travel nurses, nothing in the budget, Speaker. Nothing in the budget. That’s a lack of planning.

Family Care Teams, Speaker, not staffed, but yet going $20 million over budget. How did that happen when some of them are actually empty with no staff. At the end of the day, on this side, we plan. Plan efficiently, the Minister of Finance said, and that’s what we’re doing, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Gander.

B. FORD: Mr. Speaker, the Atlantic Wildfire Centre, established in my District of Gander, is extremely important. On January 5, Dr. Des Whalen was invited to a meeting to talk about the acquisition of a new Bird Dog aircraft to help with forest fire fighting operations.

Does this Premier really expect anyone to believe that a forest fire fighting aircraft has anything to do with health care?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Thank you, Speaker, and I am certainly glad to get up here and talk about our forest fire protection, I really am. I’m glad the Member brought up the forest fire protection centre in Gander, a very important part of the system.

We train people in Gander, we utilize people in Gander, all our equipment’s in Gander, our station’s in Gander, our aircraft are in Gander, and we keep working to enhance our forest fire protection as well as bringing back the fifth water bomber for this year’s fire season.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY: So I’m glad that the Member for Gander brought up the forest fire protection.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Thank you, Speaker.

While the blame game happens, last night an elderly Inuk man was refused care multiple times at the emergency room at St. Clare’s and the Health Sciences Centre. His first language is Inuktitut. He was dismissed as being drunk and was ejected by security more than once. Only after First Light intervened with senior NLHS officials was the man able to obtain the immediate care that he deserved.

So I ask the minister, will you acknowledge that culturally informed care is not a duplication of existing services, as the minister has suggested in the past, and will we see funding for the First Light clinic in this upcoming budget, yes or no?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, I take great offence to the Member taking my words and twisting them. I said – in actual fact I didn’t say it was a duplication; I said one of the things we would look at is make sure, because of the region and the supports that are actually in the region, we want to make sure if there is actually a clinic for Indigenous people that there’s no duplication of services, Speaker. That’s what you call good planning.

I take great offence at the Member taking my words and twisting them. I did not say that, Speaker, and if she wants to play on words, I will say again, we respect Indigenous people. We respect all different groups that live in the province (inaudible) –

SPEAKER: The hon. minister’s time is expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

J. DINN: Speaker, timely access to mental health care is key to a person’s well-being. A person called our office who has been waiting three years to see a psychiatrist since being referred. Another person received a call that her daughter had an appointment to see a psychiatrist six years after being referred and five years after her daughter died by suicide.

Will the Minister of Health table, in this House, the number of people on the wait-list to see a psychiatrist as well as the length of time they have been on the wait-list?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, I, certainly, hope the Member forwarded the patient’s information who’s been waiting for so long.

At the end of the day, we provide services to people. We don’t play political games over here, Speaker. We don’t. At the end of the day, if there’s an issue with mental health wait-times, access to mental health care, then we need to know about it. I do know, after being in Opposition for seven years, coming into government now in October that there’s been a real disservice done to people who are seeking mental health supports, with 10 years of a past Liberal government. We are going to address mental health. We’re going to increase the supports for people seeking care. At the end of the day, we’re going to do government different on this side.

SPEAKER: The hon. Minister’s time is expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, health care is a major pillar in the government’s platform. One of the very important and crucial part of health care is home support workers. Some health care workers, who do not work with agencies, have not received a pay increase for many years. Your government has committed to retain these workers.

I ask the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board: Will your government review this request to help the residents in need to keep these very valuable home care support workers in work?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, yes, indeed we will.

Answer to the question.

We value everyone who provides care and home support for our seniors in our Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We value them. I think we’ve got 6,000 agency support workers. We’ve got about 2,100 that are self-managed and hired by the clients. They provide a valuable source of help and assistance to keep people aging in their community and aging at home which is their preferred place. We value them. The Premier and the platforms stated about improving health care. That’s a good start.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, agencies pay their workers at a higher wage. Self management private workers do the same but they get paid less. Many private workers work in the rural settings where agencies do not even operate. The workers are crucial in these settings. Will the minister offer any assistance available to keep these crucial workers on the job in their rural settings.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: The Member for Humber - Bay of Islands asks great questions, good questions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: When we were on the Opposition side of the House, and I think we can recall, we presented a petition about pay equity and the discrepancy between the members that were in the self-employed versus the agency. We thought that was an injustice. In fact, we presented it and I think we all rallied amongst each other in support of it. I would say we are aware of that, to the MHA. We are aware of it, and I think we are committed to make sure that we make adjustments to make it fair because we do value their work and it is so, so important.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The time for Question Period has expired.

Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. The edited Hansard will be posted when it becomes available.