P.E.I. NDP leader says focus should be on issues and ideas, not 'personalities'
From health care to tariffs, people on the front lines know best, says Michelle Neill
With her party holding no seats, Prince Edward Island's NDP leader spent the year in a unique position, looking in at the legislative assembly from outside.
What Michelle Neill saw was "a little bit like kindergarten," she told Steve Bruce on CBC News: Compass on Dec. 17.
"There's a little bit of attacking of… personalities," she said. "I would really like to see that get back to addressing the issues, not the person."
When it comes to the issues, Neill said it can be frustrating to have ideas and not be able to share them in the legislature. But she does what she can to share information with MLAs from other parties who can bring it forward, she said.
"If I have to go through someone else to get that change or that positive improvement, that doesn't matter to me that I [don't] get credit," she said. "What I care about is ensuring that people get the services that they deserve."
Tackling issues from outside the legislature
While she's found a way to lead the Island's fourth party from outside the legislature, Neill said she would "definitely have a lot more to say about health care" if she had a seat.
"I don't think our government is listening to the workers enough because the workers have lots of ideas — and ideas that I believe will work," she said.
We want to ensure that our taxpayer money is used efficiently and effectively and at the lowest cost possible to be able to ensure that we reinvest in Islanders.— Michelle Neill
"They see and they know how to make changes that are going to make the health-care system more efficient."
Neill pointed to the example of the province's MRI backlog. She said the plan to send Islanders out of province to get MRI scans in Moncton is "such a waste of money."
Options on P.E.I., like taking advantage of an offer to use the Atlantic Veterinary College's MRI machine, would be a fraction of the cost, she said.
"We want to ensure that our taxpayer money is used efficiently and effectively and at the lowest cost possible to be able to ensure that we reinvest in Islanders," she said.
Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser told CBC on Dec. 20 (after Neill's year-end interview was aired) that the health agency has been having conversations with the veterinary college about using its MRI machine. Fraser has also outlined how the agency plans to triage patients for scan appointments at a private clinic in Moncton.
Responding to the tariff threat
To deal with health-care issues, Neill said it's important to listen to the people who are part of that industry. She had the same advice when it came to managing the tariff threat that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has aimed at Canada.
"It's really important that the government of the day, whomever that is… talk to the people who are on those front lines," she said.
"Talk to the farmers, talk to the fishers, talk to whoever it is that has those commodities that do go outside of the U.S. and get some ideas from them because these are very smart people."
If a tariff of 25 per cent is imposed on goods from P.E.I. heading to the United States, "that's going to have a huge effect right here on the Island," Neill said.
Last year, almost 80 per cent of international exports from P.E.I. were shipped to the U.S., representing $1.8 billion in trade. A 25 per cent tariff could devastate some of the Island's major industries, some say.
People like farmers and fishers understand their industries and have expertise that people in government might not have, so leaders should be looking to them for ideas, Neill said.
"Talk to the experts. Talk to the people who know," she said.
The state of the NDP
With no seats in the Legislative Assembly of P.E.I., Neill said there are probably lots of people who don't know exactly what the provincial NDP represents.
In a strategy meeting on Dec. 7, the party talked about how to prepare for the next provincial election and how to get some NDP MLAs elected to the legislature, Neill said.
It all really depends on people understanding and knowing what it is that the NDP stands for... trying to ensure that public funds stay public, and that it's reinvested right here in P.E.I.— Michelle Neill
"It all really depends on people understanding and knowing what it is that the NDP stands for, and I don't think there's enough people out there who really do understand," she said.
"We're very much about trying to ensure that public funds stay public, and that it's reinvested right here in P.E.I.," she said.
Before the next provincial election rolls around, there's a possibility of a byelection in Charlottetown–Hillsborough Park. Neill said the NDP are ready for that possibility and that the party already has "boots on the ground."
As for a federal election, Neill said she doesn't think the federal New Democrats should force it.
"To be quite honest, I think it should wait until the fall when it was supposed to happen," she said. "I think it's better for everyone to do that because then everyone knows exactly when the election is going to take place."
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With files from CBC News: Compass