Liberals grill health minister over alleged about-face on elected health board positions

The Official Opposition took aim Thursday at a bill introduced by New Brunswick Health Minister Bruce Fitch earlier this week that would eliminate elected positions on regional health authority boards.

Rob McKee, Liberal MLA for Moncton Centre, called the bill "an attack on democracy," and questioned an apparent about-face by Fitch on the issue.

In 2008, during another major shakeup of regional health authority boards, Fitch, who was in opposition at the time, advocated for elected as well as appointed members, according to McKee.

Fitch "said that it was a good mix" to have both "because it gives a better regional representation," McKee told the legislature during question period.

"I want to know why his mind has changed so drastically today that now he wants to remove elected members from those boards?"

Under the proposed Act Respecting the Regional Health Authorities introduced Tuesday, Horizon and Vitalité's new boards of directors would each consist of up to seven members — all appointed for a three-year term, with no elected representatives.

Up until last summer, each board had 15 voting members — seven appointed and eight elected. Premier Blaine Higgs revoked the boards of both Horizon and Vitalité and appointed a single trustee for each, after a man died in a Fredericton emergency department waiting room. He also fired the Horizon CEO and replaced the minister of health at the time.

Positions 'evolve,' says health minister

In response to McKee, Fitch countered, "If we didn't review our positions and sometimes change our minds, then the opposition would say we're stuck in the mud, that we're not moving forward, that we can't get out of our own way."

"When we see a problem, when we see an issue, we're ready to change it," he said, citing as an example that referrals for blood work will again be available through the online health service eVisitNB after being dropped last month.

Outside the legislature, Fitch accused the Liberals of trying to score political points and suggested to reporters his 2008 comments about regional health authority boards might have been taken out of context, or even about "something else."

But he reiterated positions on issues can change over time.

"We're going with the appointed boards for the [regional health authorities] because we feel again that we need to be nimble, we need to be reactive, we need to be streamlined and making the decisions, the right decisions for health care," he told reporters.

Asked whether the proposed system will be more nimble when it includes the addition of a new health-system collaboration council, Fitch challenged the opposition's characterization of it as another layer of governance.

The council, which would include the health minister and representatives from both regional health authorities, is "formalizing some of the co-operation that's occurring now," he said.

'Power grab' by premier, alleges Liberal MLA

During resumed debate on the bill, Jacques LeBlanc, the Liberal MLA for Shediac–Beaubassin–Cap-Pelé, suggested Fitch was on thin ice in answering questions about his change in position on elected board members.

"I know that the minister is going against his vision. It's not his vision, it's the vision of the premier," he alleged.

Higgs "wants to control everything. He's on a power grab."

LeBlanc noted there have been three ministers of health since Higgs took office in 2018. "I'm convinced that they're not the ones who are really in charge of the Department of Health."

I think it's the first step towards merging those two regional health networks. And I believe that's a big mistake.- Jacques LeBlanc, Liberal MLA for Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap-Pelé

He argued the proposed changes go against the principles of local governance reform and don't make any sense.

"I think it's the first step towards merging those two regional health networks. And I believe that's a big mistake."

The premier's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Health care belongs to citizens

Richard Losier, the Liberal MLA for Dieppe, told the legislature there are worldwide trends to have a more democratic approach to boards of directors.

"The health-care system does not belong to a minister of health, a premier, a trustee, a CEO," he said. "It belongs to the citizens" who pay taxes and should have a say over governance.

Losier noted health care represents more than 30 per cent of the global budget and affects everybody, from birth to death.

"Why is the government afraid of those elected officials?"