NDP Caucus in Mahone Bay. Leader Claudia Chender is fourth from the right. Photo Nova Scotia NDP

NDP Leader Claudia Chender says Nova Scotians want proof that improvements are being made to the healthcare system.

Chender made the comments at the party’s caucus meeting being held in Mahone Bay Monday.

She says every week Nova Scotians hear government is making healthcare better while the number of people without access to primary care keeps growing.

“We just get sort of assurances that things are getting better but no evidence that things are getting better,” said Chender. “If you talk to the average Nova Scotian, I have yet to have a conversation in the last six months with anybody about health care who would argue that anything has improved people are seeing a steady decline and it’s, it’s very concerning.”

Chender sees a need for more long-term care facilities to open more beds in hospitals.

“In Dartmouth for instance, at any given time around half of the inpatient beds at the Dartmouth General Hospital are patients who have been approved for long term care. They don’t need to be there. It is clear that we need more long-term care,” said Chender. “The Liberal government built almost no long-term care beds in over eight years, and we pushed for it that whole time and I think we’re seeing some of the results of that now in the challenges were having in our hospitals.”

Chender says a model based on the collaborative care centres which her party began to implement when they were in power would provide people with access to healthcare professionals.

She says combining multiple ways to access care under one roof would allow a person to come in, be triaged and then directed to the appropriate caregiver.

“We believe that we every Nova Scotia needs to be attached to a single practice. That may not mean that you get to see a doctor all the time. You might see a nurse practitioner, you might see a physician assistant, you might see a pharmacist or social worker depending on what you need, but your file lives in a certain place and your care is coordinated,” said Chender.

The NDP leader says considering the number of baby boomers heading into retirement and needing medical care, it’s widely recognized people will have to adjust to the reality of not having a family doctor, not just in this province but across the country.

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NDP Leader Gary Burrill and MP Rick Perkins. Photo Ed Halverson

An eventful week in Nova Scotia politics.

Leader of the provincial NDP Gary Burrill announced he is stepping down as the head of his party.

Burrill was named NPD leader in 2016, winning a seat in the riding of Halifax-Chebucto in 2017, which he still holds today.

Burrill says party membership has seen a renewal with younger voters and he is stepping aside leaving the party in a stronger position than when he assumed leadership.

“We gained a member in the election and now it’s the case that every single member of our caucus is someone who has come there since I became leader our party,” said Burrill. “I think now is the right time for us to renew ourselves, also in leadership, so that we can build on these strengths and be prepared to put our program before the people in the next election.”

The party will meet in the coming weeks to decide how the process to replace Burrill will unfold.

Burrill says NDP members will select his replacement within the year.

He says he looks forward to working with whomever is chosen and intends to continue to represent constituents in his riding.

“I will be right there. I won’t be 10 feet from our new leader or from the rest of our caucus. I am deeply immersed in our project and mission to form the next government of Nova Scotia. But I think it is my responsibility to choose the moment when it is best for us to renew ourselves in leadership as we move towards that goal, and I think that the moment for that is now,” said Burrill.

On the national stage, newly elected Member of Parliament for South Shore-St.Margaret’s Rick Perkins has made his way into Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s shadow cabinet.

Perkins will be the official opposition’s chief critic on Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

The first-time MP says it’s an honour to be chosen from among 118 caucus members to hold the government to task.

“I’m a kind of an elbows-high kinda guy,” said Perkins. “I’m not a shrinking violet so, I go into the corner with my elbows high and I dig the puck out and that’s what I plan to do for the fishermen in our community.”

Perkins says he will get to work on the file right away, going to bat for fishermen being asked to repay the Fish Harvesters Benefit, working to resolving the moderate livelihood fisheries and preparing for the launch of lobster season in a couple of weeks in two of the country’s most profitable grounds in LFAs 33 and 34 on Nova Scotia’s south shore.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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