PC MLA questions whether Health PEI meetings are open to public

The Official Opposition laid out the case Wednesday as to why Health PEI board meetings should be open to the public.

The minister of health explained multiple times why the meetings have to be held behind closed doors. Then Health PEI chimed in to say its meetings already are open to the public — but no one is attending.

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It was PC MLA Sidney MacEwen who made the latest call for the doors to be opened to meetings of the government-appointed board that oversees the provincial health authority (these requests have been made for as long as the board has existed).

"No doubt that they're working hard and doing good work, but the fact is that they oversee $660 million in taxpayers' money, and we don't get to see any of it," MacEwen said.

'Complex issues'

Health Minister Robert Henderson responded that, aside from the agency's annual general meeting, which is open to the public and draws a crowd, the rest of the meetings have to be closed.

"I think the reality is they're dealing with very complex issues," he said. "Sometimes these issues can be very controversial, and you don't really want public opinion to totally direct where every decision gets made within health care. So I think you have to have some sense of privacy in your ability to make those types of decisions."

Health PEI then sent an email to CBC News saying the public is welcome to attend.

"Health PEI's monthly board meetings (held every second Tuesday of the month) are open to the public if they wish to attend," the email states. "With that said, there is a portion of the monthly meeting that is held in-camera during which the public cannot attend as information discussed during this portion of the meeting is protected under the FOIPP Act or Health Services Act. This is consistent with practices followed by other health boards."

How to attend

So how does a member of the public attend a meeting of the Health PEI board?

According to the agency, you start by calling the main Health PEI switchboard to make a request to attend, and find out where and when the next meeting will be held. (All the website says is that meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month).

There's nothing in the Health PEI board governance policy that states regular monthly meetings are open to the public — or that they're specifically closed. The policy does include a long list of topics which are to be excluded from minutes and agendas available to the public after meetings are held. They include matters of public security, matters relating to the safety of a person, and "matters of a sensitive nature where the need to protect the public interest or interest of a person outweighs the desirability of public disclosure of the information."

The policy includes a provision that states the board may "from time to time" hold meetings open to the public.

A spokesperson for the agency said she wasn't aware of any member of the public ever attending a Health PEI board meeting, and she also said no request to attend has ever been denied.

Not truly public, MacEwen argues

MacEwen said none of this fits into his definition of an open, public meeting, referring to the series of meetings held by the Public Schools Branch as part of the school review process.

"The public was fully aware of the decisions and details around school closure recommendations as the board decided," he said.

MacEwen added that the fact the minister of health did not seem to be aware that members of the public could attend Health PEI board meetings shows the agency hasn't done a very good job letting the public know.

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