Committee set to review audit of ambulance service won't hear from paramedics' union

Nova Scotia's Auditor General Kim Adair is set to release a report next week on the province's ground ambulance service, including her analysis of whether it is "meeting the needs of Nova Scotians in a cost-effective manner."

The week after that, the Nova Scotia legislature's public accounts committee will question officials about that report and its findings. But PC members of the committee on Wednesday used their majority to defeat a motion to include the union that represents paramedics in that discussion.

New Democrat MLA Susan Leblanc proposed representatives from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 727 be invited to offer their insight.

Liberal MLA Brendan Maguire supported the idea and implored PC members of the committee to get onboard.

"We can't have a conversation without representation from the union and the EMTs [Emergency Medical Technicians]," Maguire told the committee. "It just doesn't make sense. Who knows more than the actual members?

"They can tell you what's happening on the ground. They can tell you where the deficiencies are and they can tell you where the investments need to be made."

Maguire suggested it was "quite insulting" to have the discussion without hearing from those on the front line.

But PC MLA Nolan Young suggested anything the union had to say would fall outside the mandate of the committee.

Why union isn't being included

The committee's mandate is "specifically dedicated to past expenses of government, and who better to discuss past expenses of government [than] the department and the deputies," said the MLA for Shelburne.

His colleague, Tom Taggart, said he wouldn't support calling for union input either for that reason and others.

The union's main goal "is not to support or understand government programs, its goal is to support and increase the benefits of its membership," said Taggart, who represents Colchester North. "So how in the heck would that be considered to be important in this case?

"For us to give a platform for the union to come in and start negotiating for the next contract, it's a little bit beyond what I believe is what this mandate of this [committee] is for."

PC members on the committee — Taggart, Young, Melissa Sheehy-Richard, Danielle Barkhouse and John A. MacDonald — voted not to invite the union to the committee's meeting on Oct. 4.

The committee will instead question the deputy minister of Health and Wellness, the top executive at Emergency Medical Care Inc., as well as Nova Scotia Health's interim CEO.