Liberals to close Medavie debate, pass contract by Christmas

The controversial plan to have Medavie Health Services take over management of extramural care programs is going down to the wire.

The Liberal government is moving to cut off debate on the legislation to enact the outsourcing so that it can be passed into law before Christmas.

The contract with Medavie is still being negotiated, even though it's supposed to take effect Jan. 1.

"They're doing this in a secret deal," Opposition Progressive Conservative MLA Brian Macdonald said in question period Tuesday.

"We know they've forced us to close debate on this bill today. Today debate will be over on this bill, and we know the government is going to close down for Christmas on Friday. But they keep telling us they're negotiating the details of this secret deal."

The Medavie legislation is one of nine bills subject to a Liberal motion that would limit debate on them to a total of 45 hours.

That time limit will be retroactively applied to all debate on the nine bills going back to Nov. 7. The motion is expected to pass Wednesday.

Ample time for debate

Premier Brian Gallant responded to Macdonald by saying the PC opposition has had "ample opportunity" to debate the Medavie bill.

"Twenty-five hours, in fact, Mr. Speaker, was spent asking questions about the extramural program," Gallant said.

On Nov. 24 alone, Health Minister Benoit Bourque spent five hours debating the bill during a legislative committee session.

Debate is going to be finished. It's going to be rammed through. Let's at least get it on the table.- MLA Brian Macdonald

But Macdonald said because the contract itself is still shrouded in mystery, the debate should not be cut off.

"We certainly have another 25 hours of questions to ask on Medavie," he said.

Liberal Government House leader Rick Doucet said besides hours of debate in the legislature, Bourque has discussed the legislation in countless media interviews and in a series of public information sessions around the province.  

He said PC questions have been repetitive and the Opposition wasn't really interested in moving the debate forward.

The proposed deal with Medavie would see the private, not-for-profit company manage the program, integrating it with its running of Ambulance New Brunswick. Critics have denounced the outsourcing as posing a risk to a public service that's currently working well.

The Liberals have said they can't release the contract publicly until it's signed.

The lobby group Égalité Santé en français was in court in Moncton Tuesday asking a judge to issue a temporary injunction to block the signing of the contract until legal arguments against it can be heard Jan. 4.

Affected bills

Macdonald acknowledged the Liberals will be able to use their majority to pass the bill in time for the Jan. 1 contract date, but he said that makes it even more pressing that the government release the text of the contract.

"That deal is finished," he said. "Debate is going to be finished. It's going to be rammed through. Let's at least get it on the table."

Other bills subject to the motion to cut off debate include those that allow for first-contract mediation in labour negotiations, that ban special pensions and severance payments to government officials, that freeze property taxes in the coming year, and that toughen conflict-of-interest rules for MLAs.

Legislation to create a new carbon-pricing regime and a climate-change fund is not subject to the cut-off. Debate on that bill will continue when the legislature returns in the new year.