Williams defends health minister amid breast cancer fiasco
Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister is getting rave reviews from his boss, amid Opposition calls for him to step down as the breast cancer testing scandal widens.
Health Minister Ross Wiseman admitted to a judicial inquiry last week that he did not read the sections in his briefing book on flawed cancer testing for about four months after his January 2007 appointment.
Wiseman explained that he was too busy with other issues to read the notes, which provided crucial information on what officials then knew about flawed cancer testing, which already was the subject of a class action lawsuit.
In the house of assembly on Monday, Opposition leader Yvonne Jones took aim at Premier Danny Williams over Wiseman's admission.
"We know that he did not question the information that was being provided by the health authority, despite other claims in the public that it was inaccurate, and we know that he did not live up to the duties and responsibilities as outlined under the Executive Council Act for ministers who serve in a government," said Jones, resuming a sharp attack on Wiseman that she launched last week.
"I ask the premier — does he see this as a clear level of incompetence, and is he expecting to do anything about it?"
Williams, though, dug in his heels and stood by how Wiseman handled the controversy, and said that some issues — including dealing with faulty information originating from the Eastern Health regional authority and managing an ever-changing set of facts — were beyond the minister's control.
"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't put anybody else in that position other than him right now in this government, because he has done an outstanding job," Williams said.
On Monday, outside the legislature, Williams made the provocative comment that Eastern Health is liable in the class action lawsuit it faces, which was certified in Newfoundland Supreme Court last year.
His comments inside the house show that he believes Eastern Health is responsible for what went wrong with flawed hormone receptor testing — used to help guide the course of treatment that patients receive — and its aftermath.
Pressed by Jones on whether he expects his ministers to read their briefing notes, Williams said they are, although he also said that the "the inquiry will pass judgment" on Wiseman's admission.
Williams, though, also said he will not be watching over his ministers' shoulders.
"I don't babysit them," he said.
"I don't go down and ask them a quiz the next morning — 'Did you read your briefing note? Here are the questions on it' — because I cannot do that," he said. "These are responsible individuals who are in charge of departments."