Fall session of P.E.I. legislature wraps after 14 days of debateThe fall session of the P.E.I. legislature has wrapped after 14 days. Healthcare, leadership, and IRAC loomed large over much of the sitting. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau recaps the big moments.After 14 days, the fall sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature has wrapped up. The largest menu item during the four-week sitting was the Progressive Conservative government’s capital budget, which amounts to more than $486 million in spending over the next fiscal year, and $1.6 billion over a five-year period on major projects including new schools and hospitals.The PCs highlighted some of those big-ticket items, including: $132.2 million for a new hospital in Kings County. $131 million for the long-awaited provincial mental health campus in Charlottetown. $102.3 million to redevelop and upgrade the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.$133 million to create and expand intermediate schools across P.E.I. $65.4 million for new elementary schools in Charlottetown and Georgetown. $44 million for new and renovated high schools. $14.5 million for a new school in Summerside.The capital budget passed in the legislature this week, which typically marks the winding down of the fall sitting. Premier Rob Lantz had said during the sitting that the massive spending was needed investment in provincially owned facilities. He also took jabs at previous Liberal governments, saying they’d “neglected” those investments during their time in government prior to the PCs taking power in 2019.’The growth that we’ve experienced in Prince Edward Island necessitates these investments,’ Premier Rob Lantz says about capital budget. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)P.E.I.’s auditor general has taken issue with the amount of government spending in recent years, calling it “unsustainable.” But after question period Thursday, the premier said the projects can’t wait.”There’s some big-ticket items here, but we have been very clear that these are necessary investments. Many of them have been put off, probably for decades,” Lantz said.”The growth that we’ve experienced in Prince Edward Island necessitates these investments.”Here are some of the other highlights from the fall sitting. Making IRAC land investigations publicThe Greens and Liberals raised questions about the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission’s leadership and transparency.Just before the sitting started, MLAs on a standing committee subpoenaed a 2018 land investigation by IRAC, which purportedly looked into the land holdings of Buddhist groups in eastern P.E.I.’The public has a right to know the outcome of these IRAC land investigations, so that’s a big highlight for me,’ Matt MacFarlane says about his bill passing. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)The final report from that investigation had been sought after by politicians for seven years. But IRAC revealed in early October, after the subpoena was issued, that the document doesn’t exist.That prompted Green Leader Matt MacFarlane to introduce a bill during this sitting to make all of IRAC’s reports and investigations into P.E.I. land holdings public. It passed unanimously.”The public has a right to know the outcome of these IRAC land investigations, so that’s a big highlight for me,” MacFarlane told reporters Thursday. “It means that what we’ve seen before should never happen again, and that means there should be more oversight and accountability from IRAC to complete the job that’s been given to it. To complete its investigations, put the reports out there and then Islanders have access to those reports.”WATCH | Lands Protection Act amendment passes, but P.E.I.’s privacy commissioner has concerns:Lands Protection Act amendment passes, but P.E.I.’s privacy commissioner has concernsLegislative changes that would require land investigations be made public passed unanimously in the P.E.I. Legislature, but the province’s privacy commissioner is raising concerns. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau has more. Housing, Land and Communities Minister Cory Deagle said there are some remaining concerns around privacy if all of those reports and findings are made public. But he said he fully supports the vision of the bill, adding it may need some regulatory changes to protect some people’s private information.Lantz had also committed to look into a new model for how members of the regulatory commission are appointed. Provincial cabinet currently decides who will be appointed to IRAC. In years past, that process has been often criticized for the appointees having political affiliations to the governing party.Lantz said making those appointments more open and competitive is a “good, responsible, transparent way to conduct business.”During the fall sitting, both the Liberals and Greens also called for a third-party review of IRAC, saying Islanders need more transparency around how the commission makes its decisions. Repeated questions on government leadershipOpposition parties questioned the government’s leadership virtually every day of the fall sitting. Lantz was often referred to by the Liberals, and at times the Greens, as a “part-time premier” — he has not confirmed whether he will make a run for PC Party leadership.Presently, Lantz is the party’s interim leader. Deagle had also resigned as a cabinet minister earlier this year to run for leadership. The PC leadership race turned on its head once Housing Minister Steven Myers resigned on Oct. 3. Since then, Deagle withdrew from the leadership race and accepted Myers’s former cabinet position.”There was no leadership shown during this session,” Perry after question period Thursday. “It almost seemed like everybody was on their own, every minister was on their own…. It looked like the premier was more interested in internal party politics than he was in addressing the issues that are facing Islanders today.”Opposition Leader Hal Perry frequently took aim at the premier during the fall sitting, calling him a ‘part-time premier’ while questioning the government’s leadership across departments. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)Lantz defended the PCs throughout the sitting, both inside and outside of the chamber, saying the party and its leadership committee will decide dates, timelines and details around the leadership race. His focus, he’d said several times, was on running the province. Lantz did tell CBC News after the legislature closed that the party will soon turn its attention to the leadership race.He did not say if he intends to run.The frequent questions around leadership as the byelection in District 2, Georgetown-Pownal, is underway to fill the seat left open by Myers’s resignation. That vote takes place Dec. 8.Seniors and health care top of mind for MLAsThe shortage of family doctors and nurses, the ailing health-care facilities, the issues with long-term care and a stalled provincial patient registry were all hot topics throughout the fall sitting, as they have been for several years. This time, the opposition parties often focused on long-term care, and the closure of Mount Herbert’s addictions treatment facility. Opposition MLAs also brought up what they described as much-needed supports for couples seeking fertilty programs off-Island.WATCH | P.E.I. Green Party calls for changes so province can regulate rate hikes in long-term care homes:P.E.I. Green Party calls for changes so province can regulate rate hikes in long-term care homesP.E.I. is one of the only provinces in Canada that doesn’t control rate increases in public or private long-term care homes. The province’s Green Party says that’s wrong, and is calling for changes. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau reports from the P.E.I. legislature.A dozen Islanders with loved ones living in privately operated long-term care homes said they were concerned about the care in those facilities compared to those living in government-run homes. The group shared a letter to Health Minister Mark McLane citing “deep concerns” about a lack of training, timely medical attention and government oversight in the private facilities. The Greens also called for changes around rate increases in long-term care, as P.E.I. is one of the only provinces in Canada that doesn’t control those increases in either public or private care homes. As for the Mount Herbert addictions treatment facility, government announced that it will close when the the new mental health and addictions campus opens in Charlottetown. That sparked concerns about a lack of detox beds in the province. The facility current has 16 in-patient beds, and the new campus would have 16 — so no net increase. The budget for the new campus is now nearly triple its original projection to a rough total of more than $271 million.
IRAC, leadership and health care dominate P.E.I. Legislature’s 14-day fall sitting
