Opposition hammers PCs, calling 2023 vow to empty P.E.I.'s patient registry 'April Fool's joke'

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 6:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The governing Progressive Conservatives' breached predetermination committedness to wide P.E.I.'s diligent registry by this period had MLAs questioning the province's wellness curate successful the legislature Tuesday. 

Opposition politicians besides questioned the government's assertion that the Island's health-care strategy is improving. 

Two years ago, during a provincial predetermination campaign, erstwhile premier Dennis King promised to destruct the registry — the database of radical waiting to beryllium assigned to a superior attraction supplier — by April 2025. 

"Islanders didn't recognize that was an April Fool's joke, except… nary 1 is laughing," Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly said during question play Tuesday successful the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly. 

He aimed this question astatine Health Minister Mark McLane: "Will you yet admit that the strategy is broken, mismanaged and obscurity adjacent to gathering its promises?" 

When King made the committedness successful March 2023 to get everyone disconnected the diligent registry 2 years aft the election, determination were 28,546 radical connected the waitlist.

Rather than dropping though, that fig has really risen much than 30 per cent since the pledge was made. At the extremity of March, the full fig of radical connected the registry was 37,431. 

McLane admitted that eliminating the registry was a "lofty goal" fixed the province's accelerated colonisation growth, but said things are present heading successful the close direction. 

He blamed the erstwhile authorities for not investing capable in the health-care workforce, saying the governing PCs are making a difference through initiatives specified arsenic the caller UPEI aesculapian schoolhouse and an accrued fig of nursing schoolhouse seats. 

"I've got 1 heck of a spread to fill, but aft 13 years of a Liberal government, we're starting to bash immoderate things and hole this workforce problem," McLane said successful the legislature. 

The UPEI aesculapian schoolhouse is scheduled to judge its archetypal cohort of students this fall, but those doctors won't commencement practising successful the health-care strategy for a decade.

'We're starting to recover'

McLane did accidental that P.E.I. is recruiting doctors successful New England, specifically looking for Canadians who completed their residency successful the U.S. and privation to travel back.

The wellness curate besides pointed to the province's caller declaration with doctors, which went into effect Tuesday. It includes fiscal incentives for household doctors that the authorities hopes volition assistance with recruitment and retention.

Green MLA Matt MacFarlane told the legislature helium was foregoing 1 of his questions during question play to springiness the wellness curate the accidental to apologize for the breached run committedness — but nary apology came. 

"You accidental momentum is turning and it's astir to get better, but you can't repetition that for six years and expect Islanders to proceed to believe," MacFarlane said. 

In response, McLane pointed to Canadian Institute for Health Information information that shows P.E.I. is recruiting household physicians astatine a faster complaint than the nationalist average. 

"We're starting to recover, we're seeing it successful the data," helium said. 

"We're starring the state successful household doc growth, so… I volition instrumentality work for that. We're going successful the close direction. We had a 13-year spread and we're starting to capable it now." 

WATCH | Province falls good abbreviated connected pledge to destruct P.E.I.'s diligent registry:

McLane wouldn't perpetrate to a caller day connected getting the diligent registry down to a minimal level — saying it volition apt ne'er scope zero. 

But a report softly posted to the province's website 2 weeks agone did acceptable a caller target. It said 100 per cent of Islanders should person entree to superior attraction by March 2026.