PCs accuse government of prioritizing firefighting equipment for Liberal districts
PCs say 80 per cent of money for equipment went to Liberal districts from January 2022, to June 2024
Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservatives are sounding the alarm over what they say is Liberal favouritism in the way the government funds firefighting equipment.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans PC MHA Chris Tibbs — a former firefighter and the party's fire and emergency services critic — said the party recently learned through an Access to Information request that the provincial government allocated $4.8 million for firefighting equipment from January 2022, to June 2024.
Some $3.8 million of that money went to Liberal districts, Tibbs said, and a third of that money went to Premier Andrew Furey's district of Humber-Gros Morne.
"Politics has been playing a role in this ever since a dog's age," Tibbs said. "To tell me that there isn't politics being played with this, I think, is disingenuous and we need to flush it out."
The issue has been playing out in the House of Assembly this week, with members of the PC Party saying the governing Liberals prioritize funding for their districts over the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador.
"Making political decisions, thinking about further ahead to your next election, we got to get out of that. We really got to stand up and start being leaders for the people," Tibbs said Tuesday.
Following question period on Tuesday, Justice and Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis said the issue isn't being politicized.
"[The] simple answer is no. What we're looking at is we look at the needs for the community, the region," Davis said.
"We had given significant amounts of resources to all districts.… I'm very excited to announce them in any district, and we work very closely with each and every district."
Asked if the data discrepancy brought forward by Tibbs could be explained, Davis said it's a snapshot that doesn't show everything.
"It's about expenditures, not necessarily announcements. Or sometimes, these trucks are ordered [and] it takes two to three years depending on the trucks that's ordered," he said.
Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador apply to the provincial fire commissioner to help with the purchase of equipment, but the decision of who gets funding is made by Davis and his department.
Davis said Tuesday that the province doubled its funding last year to $3.8 million for equipment, but received $21 million worth of requests.
In the House of Assembly on Monday, Davis said requests were granted based on need and recommendations from the fire commissioner — saying "there's a significant amount of money that is given to every district based on their recommendations."
When Tibbs asked Davis to see those recommendations on Tuesday, Davis dodged the question.
"There is no written recommendations that come forward from the fire commissioner," he later told reporters. "There is no written recommendation that would come forward, it's just sitting down and going through each individual application."
But Tibbs says that's not good enough.
"Obviously, there are recommendations," he said. "Let's see if they jive with what the minister is talking about. It's a simple yes or no."
Tibbs says if he was elected and serving as justice minister, he would table the recommendations in the House.
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With files from Terry Roberts
