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David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others








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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cbc-new-brunswick-political-panel-podcast-health-reforms-election-1.5470435

MLAs criticize Liberals for vow to defeat government without clear health-care plan of their own

Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers says party will try to force election at 1st chance

CBC News· Posted: Feb 21, 2020 6:00 AM AT




Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers says that if it came to it, he would ask Speaker Daniel Guitard to step down and vote with the party to defeat the New Brunswick government. (CBC)


Listen to the full CBC New Brunswick Political Panel podcast by downloading from the CBC Podcast page or subscribing to the podcast in iTunes.

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New Brunswick Liberals are taking heat from other political parties for vowing to topple the government over the now-halted health-care reforms without having a public plan to solve staffing shortages plaguing the system.

Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers said this week his party will still try to force an election at the first opportunity — even after the Blaine Higgs Progressive Conservatives hit pause on plans to cut overnight emergency room services and convert acute-care beds to long-term care in six small-town hospitals.

The first opportunity will be March 10, when the PCs table the budget, and the Liberals have vowed to introduce a non-confidence motion.

"He's threatening an election on a budget that he hasn't seen over health-care changes put on pause, and he has no plan to do anything about it," People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said on the latest edition of the CBC New Brunswick Political Panel podcast



People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin says he wants to see the budget before deciding on the fate of the PC government. (CBC)
 
Austin said he couldn't support the changes as they are — the ER cuts, in particular — but he wants to see what's in the budget before deciding the future of the government.  
 
He said people he's spoken with aren't in favour of another election.

"Nobody, other than Kevin Vickers and the Liberal Party, want an election right now," he said.
Liberal MLA Benoît Bourque said he's hearing otherwise after the "completely botched" rollout "undermined the credibility" of the government.

Bourque said the health-care system needs to be reformed, but when asked for the Liberal plan, the former health minister only pledged to better consult stakeholders.

"We need to put the data out there," Bourque told the panel. "We need to show people this needs to happen, something needs to happen, and the way we need to do it is involve all of the health-care professionals, all of the stakeholders and with that we'll come up with a plan."



Benoît Borque, Kent South Liberal MLA, says the 'botched' health-care reforms have undermined the government's credibility. (CBC)

Bourque was pressed to say whether or not a Liberal government would similarly cut ER services if those consultations show that's the best path forward.

He was non-committal, saying "there are too many ifs."

Before the reforms were halted, Vickers promised his government would reverse the changes.

A 'power grab'

Green Leader David Coon also called on the Liberal leader to show his plan, describing his rhetoric as "old-style politics."

Coon also urged the PCs to show the totality of their health-care vision rather than attempting to parcel out changes with the public in the dark.

Health Minister Ted Flemming described the Liberal actions as a "power grab," while maintaining his position the reforms are an appropriate route to address staffing and overcrowding challenges in New Brunswick hospitals.
He said it became clear the plan did not have legislative support and it would have been "irresponsible" to implement it, reposition staff and relocate patients with the possibility the Liberals would reverse the changes weeks later.

"It would have been too disruptive to the system to do that, even though it's for the betterment in the long term," Flemming said.









Commenting is now closed for this story.




David Amos
Go figure

NB: Information Morning (Fredericton)

Is an election coming?
New Brunswick's 3 opposition leaders talk about the reversal of healthcare reforms, and if it's justification to bring down the government.
[mp3 file: runs 00:14:41]


















David Amos
Methinks folks should not ignore the obvious N'esy Pas?

Feb. 13: In the aftermath of the health-care reforms

The announcement that overnight emergency room services will be cut in six rural hospitals sparked protests and political strife. This week, MLAs from the four political parties discuss the pros and cons of the reforms and the government's approach to changing health-care in New Brunswick. Progressive Conservative Health Minister Ted Flemming, Liberal MLA J.C. D'Amours, Green MLA Megan Mitton and People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin joined the podcast this week.


























Marc Martin
Some people are scared.


David Amos 




























Mac Isaac
I hate being the adult in the room but, for crying out loud, how about one side denigrating the other and then the other side reciprocating, how about all of us doing what it's obvious Mr. Higgs and Mr. Flemming didn't do, talk to one another and offer solutions instead of nitpicking. On one side of the coin I think it's a given that New Brunswick cannot afford to continually keep open ERs when they're underutilized, but on the other side of the coin we have rural areas that need, at irregular times, life-saving ER services. We also have doctors and nurses (RNs and LPNs), fewer than we want or need, who are working in fatigued conditions and that cannot continue. THEN we have the politicians...BOTH sides folks!!...who offer lip service to the crisis but don't actually offer solutions. The only people who are making much sense are those actually in the "biz"...the health professionals and health authorities but their warnings are being tossed by, you guessed it, the public (that's us!) and the politicians. We NEED ideas folks, not platitudes; not rhetoric; not accusations and certainly we don't need asinine insults. Grow up, put your thinking caps on and start offering ideas, no matter how silly you might think they are...they just might result in another tangential idea that actually helps us...all of us


David Amos

























William Edwards
Vickers don't have a plan, he just wants power. He couldn't run a lemonade stand, he make it for 50 cents a glass and sell it for 25 cents.


David Amos 






























Fern Robichaud
The ER health care reform upheaval had nothing to do with health care, it was solely about toppling the PC gov't by flipping a key riding. Higgs fell for it and now he's in deep trouble; sucker! Oh well, live and learn. Election in May 2020.





























Roland Stewart
So sad, we voted Gallant out and Higgs won the lottery. Vickers is hoping we vote Higgs out so he can win the lottery. Like a merry go round with no way off. I'm sure there are good people out there that have good intentions and could do a good job running the province but once they take that first free vacation the favors have to be returned. There are people out there who run business's bigger and more complicated than running our province, maybe we should put and ad looking for a Manager instead of a Premier.


Terry Tibbs 




























Jeff LeBlanc
Vickers jumped at the chance to steal Curtis Barretts thunder and here he is again rushing into something he's totally unprepared for.


val harris 





















Tom Simmons
I'd rather vote for burnt toast.


val harris 


























John Grail
The Liberals are the most partisan party...what a joke


David Amos


Lorne Amos
For a lad that doesn't even have a seat in the Legislature, vickers runs off at the mouth about something of which he has no idea even what the problem is, let alone a solution.


val harris 

Wayne Mac Arthur
Mr Vickers is not unlike too many in the political world has only 3 plans, 1) Get elected 2) Gain a majority 3) ...


Ian Scott


Roy Nicholl
Perhaps the whole lot should park their partisan quest for power and focus on collaborating to address the problems facing the province.

The electorate should be taking notes - rewarding those who make real and effective efforts to work for the best interests of all citizens and soundly rebuking those who are placing party and power over their obligations to New Brunswick.


David Amos 


























Terry Tibbs
Today's debate seems to be:
What is better, no plan, or a faulty plan?
I would have to *think* a "faulty plan" is the worst of the two,. because it leaves you worse off than you were before, when you had no plan.

Just like premiers. The popular vote will be: to pick between a retired security guard with lots of SANB help and advice, and a tired X-Irving employee who has surrounded himself with bad advisors.
Not much of a choice?


Ben Haroldson


























Joseph Batt
Kevin just exposed his real agenda - to simply get elected and change the colours of govt, not, and I repeat, not to solve the problems NB faces.
Thanks kevin and liberals for confirming suspicions. Liberals are truly not worthy of a vote.































Matt Steele
Kevin Vickers is just parroting what the SANB tells him to say . Vickers is a SANB puppet , and dances when they pull his strings . The SANB had their funding heavily cut when Higgs cancelled the 130 MILLION francophonie games , and now the SANB is using Vickers to try and get back at the taxpayer funded trough . All the MLAs are taking a huge risk in pushing for a Spring election ; but it certainly seems like Higgs could get the majority that he seeks if an election is called .





























Justin Time
It appears that the politicians of all stripes still don't get it. Try working for the betterment of the province, not for your turn at the trough. Voters are extremely cynical and rightly so. Minority governments will continue to be the norm. Criticizing without having a viable alternative seems to be the norm in the rush to power. All parties need to collaborate and come up with some meaningful solutions to New Brunswick's financial woes. Past party ideologies have to be blended to achieve the best solution.

David Amos