Council reacts angrily to premier’s comments
Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillors officially proclaimed their collective disgust with Premier Stephen McNeil after he characterized the public outcry to his government’s June announcement that the North Sydney and New Waterford hospitals will be closed as “noise.”
On Tuesday, council passed a resolution reaffirming its support of maintaining rural and community hospitals and criticizing the closure of such facilities. The same resolution also denounced the premier’s “noise” comments and that a letter from CBRM council be sent to McNeil and provincial Health Minister Randy Delorey with copies to be forwarded to all of the municipality’s MLAs.
Prior to passing the resolution, council members took turns deriding the premier for his dismissal of the community health-care concerns.
“To call it ‘noise’ is disrespectful,
it is insulting, and it is irresponsible,” stated District 11 councillor Kendra Coombes, whose area includes the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital.
District 1 (Sydney Mines and area) councillor Clarence Prince concurred, while District 2 (North Sydney) Earlene MacMullin stated: “It’s more than disrespectful – I don’t have a word for it.” McNeil’s announcement, which he delivered before a large and vocal crowd at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion in Sydney in late June, calls for the redevelopment of CBRM’s health system, including plans for the eventual closures of the North Sydney and New Waterford hospitals. The province says those facilities will be replaced with community health centres.