PCs accuse government of prioritizing firefighting equipment for Liberal districts

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 12, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservatives are sounding the alarm implicit what they accidental is Liberal favouritism successful the mode the authorities funds firefighting equipment.

Speaking with reporters connected Tuesday, Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans PC MHA Chris Tibbs — a erstwhile firefighter and the party's occurrence and exigency services professional — said the enactment precocious learned done an Access to Information petition that the provincial authorities allocated $4.8 cardinal for firefighting instrumentality from January 2022, to June 2024.

Some $3.8 cardinal of that wealth went to Liberal districts, Tibbs said, and a 3rd of that wealth went to Premier Andrew Furey's territory of Humber-Gros Morne.

"Politics has been playing a relation successful this ever since a dog's age," Tibbs said. "To archer maine that determination isn't authorities being played with this, I think, is disingenuous and we request to flush it out."

The contented has been playing out successful the House of Assembly this week, with members of the PC Party saying the governing Liberals prioritize funding for their districts implicit the remainder of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Making governmental decisions, reasoning astir further up to your adjacent election, we got to get retired of that. We truly got to basal up and commencement being leaders for the people," Tibbs said Tuesday.

Following question play connected Tuesday, Justice and Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis said the contented isn't being politicized.

"[The] elemental reply is no. What we're looking astatine is we look astatine the needs for the community, the region," Davis said.

"We had fixed important amounts of resources to each districts.… I'm precise excited to denote them successful immoderate district, and we enactment precise intimately with each and each district."

WATCH | Tibbs says the state is playing authorities with exigency equipment:

Asked if the information discrepancy brought guardant by Tibbs could beryllium explained, Davis said it's a snapshot that doesn't amusement everything.

"It's astir expenditures, not needfully announcements. Or sometimes, these trucks are ordered [and] it takes 2 to 3 years depending connected the trucks that's ordered," helium said.

Towns successful Newfoundland and Labrador use to the provincial occurrence commissioner to assistance with the acquisition of equipment, but the determination of who gets backing is made by Davis and his department.

Davis said Tuesday that the state doubled its backing past twelvemonth to $3.8 cardinal for equipment, but received $21 cardinal worthy of requests.

In the House of Assembly connected Monday, Davis said requests were granted based connected request and recommendations from the occurrence commissioner — saying "there's a important magnitude of wealth that is fixed to each territory based connected their recommendations."

When Tibbs asked Davis to spot those recommendations connected Tuesday, Davis dodged the question.

"There is nary written recommendations that travel guardant from the occurrence commissioner," helium aboriginal told reporters. "There is nary written proposal that would travel forward, it's conscionable sitting down and going done each idiosyncratic application."

But Tibbs says that's not bully enough.

"Obviously, determination are recommendations," helium said. "Let's spot if they jive with what the curate is talking about. It's a elemental yes oregon no."

Tibbs says if helium was elected and serving arsenic justness minister, helium would array the recommendations successful the House.

Download our free CBC News app to motion up for propulsion alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to sojourn our landing page.