‘Quick fix’ for paramedic shortage
Conservative leader says it’s his first priority ‘when’ he becomes premier
New Brunswick’s Tory leader says his first priority “when” he becomes premier will be to find a solution to the province’s paramedic shortage.
Blaine Higgs says on his government’s first full day in office, he will call on Medavie — the company that manages the ambulance service — and give them a week to come up with solutions.
Higgs said he expects the minority Liberal government of Premier Brian Gallant will be defeated in a confidence vote Nov. 2, which will prompt the lieutenant-governor to ask him to form a Tory government.
“We will call in Medavie and tell them it is not acceptable that ambulances sit empty while families wait for urgent help,” Higgs said Thursday in his response to the Liberal government’s throne speech.
A court ruling last year said bilingual paramedic services must be provided, but a labour adjudicator said there may be ways to lessen the language requirements, so the Liberal government has asked for a judicial review to be heard in late January.
But Higgs said a solution is needed sooner.
“We will give (Medavie) the mandate to generate options to meet their service requirements and respect the language laws,” Higgs told the legislature. “They can use the ideas generated by the Paramedic’s Association, or they can generate alternatives. But they have a week to give us options.”
There are more than 100 paramedic vacancies in the New Brunswick and response times for ambulances are slipping.
The Liberals won 21 seats in last month’s election, one fewer than the Tories, while the People’s Alliance and Green parties each won three.
Without a majority, the Tories would require support from the smaller parties, but their leaders say they still haven’t decided how they’ll vote.