Tuesday, 2 August 2022

After more hospital complaints, Higgs gets involved in health-care system — again

Round 4

 
 
 
---------- Original message ----------
From: Johanne Perron <johanne.perron@equite-equity.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2022 13:43:46 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Hey Higgy Have your buddy Margaret Melanson
tell us another one will ya?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

(English follows.)

Bonjour ! Je suis en vacances et serai de retour au bureau le 16
août. Pour une réponse rapide, veuillez contacter notre coordonnatrice
des Affaires publiques et des communications, Rachel Richard
(rachel.richard@equite-equity.com). Notez qu'elle sera aussi en
vacances du 1er au 5 août, inclusivement. Si votre message ne requiert
pas de réponse immédiate, il me fera plaisir de vous répondre dès mon
retour. Bonne journée !

Hello! I am on vacation and will be back in the office on August 16.
For an early answer, please contact our Public Affairs and
Communications Coordinator, Rachel Richard
(rachel.richard@equite-equity.com). Note that she will also be on
vacation from August 1 to 5, inclusively. If you don't require an
immediate answer, I will be happy to get back to you when I return to
the office. Have a nice day!

Johanne



---------- Original message ----------
From: "Green, Matthew - M.P." <Matthew.Green@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2022 13:45:01 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Hey Higgy Have your buddy Margaret Melanson
tell us another one will ya?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>


Thank you for your email and for taking the time to contact the
office of MP Matthew Green to express your views. This automatic
response is to let you know that we have received your message.

For the most up to date information on Canada’s response to COVID-19
as well as information on financial assistance and travel restrictions
please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en.html
Please note: Our office is currently closed to the public due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Our staff continue to work on your behalf, but no
in-person meetings will be scheduled at this time. Please be assured
that casework emails will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member
and you can always contact our office by phone at (905) 526-0770.
Due to much higher than normal levels of correspondence, our response
time for non-urgent requests has temporarily increased as we
prioritize urgent emails from constituents of Hamilton Centre and
emails related to Matthew’s critic responsibilities.
Form letter campaigns, anonymous or cc’ed emails as well as
non-critic/non-riding correspondence may not receive a direct response
and it may take several weeks for you to receive a response to your
inquiry.
Thank you again for writing, and please be assured that all email sent
to my office is treated as confidential.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bonjour. Nous accusons réception de votre message et vous remercions
d’avoir écrit au bureau du député Matthew Green. Ceci est une réponse
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Veuillez noter que notre bureau est fermé du 22 décembre au 4 janvier.
Pour des renseignements à jour sur la réponse du Canada à la COVID-19,
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https://www.canada.ca/fr.html.
Veuillez noter que notre bureau est fermé en raison de la pandémie de
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Comme nous recevons beaucoup plus de correspondance qu’en temps
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Nous vous remercions de nous avoir écrit et sachez que tous les
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---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2022 10:43:38 -0300
Subject: Hey Higgy Have your buddy Margaret Melanson tell us another
one will ya?
To: David.Zaslowsky@bakermckenzie.com,
William.Devaney@bakermckenzie.com, maura.mckinnon@nbmc-cmnb.ca,
info@ecaair.org, achilds@mikmawconservation.ca, admin@acic-caci.org,
info@equite-equity.com, moncef.lakouas@bgcmoncton.com,
minister-ministre@swc-cfc.gc.ca, Maryam.Monsef@parl.gc.ca,
Matthew.Green@parl.gc.ca, Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca,
sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca, jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca, "barbara.massey"
<barbara.massey@justice.gc.ca>, JIM.HOLLOWAY@bakermckenzie.com,
"erin.otoole" <erin.otoole@parl.gc.ca>, "jagmeet.singh"
<jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore@parl.gc.ca, "John.Williamson"
<John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, "barb.whitenect"
<barb.whitenect@gnb.ca>, "Ross.Wetmore" <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>,
info@susanholt.ca, hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca, susan@susanholt.ca,
"Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, info@donaldarseneault.ca,
info@tjharvey.ca, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre
<andre@jafaust.com>, andrew <andrew@frankmagazine.ca>, briangallant10
<briangallant10@gmail.com>, "bruce.fitch" <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>,
"robert.mckee" <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, "robert.gauvin"
<robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, "kris.austin" <kris.austin@gnb.ca>,
david.coon@gnb.ca, "Roger.L.Melanson" <roger.l.melanson@gnb.ca>,
"benoit.bourque" <benoit.bourque@gnb.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>,
"Katie.Telford" <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "Arseneau, Kevin (LEG)"
<kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>
Cc: motomaniac333@gmail.com, moncef.lakouas@nbmc-cmnb.ca,
"Dr.France.Desrosiers" <Dr.France.Desrosiers@vitalitenb.ca>,
johannelise.landry@ccnb.ca, johannelise.landry@vitalitenb.ca

"Horizon has a thorough quality review process in place which ensures
concerns expressed by a patient about the care they receive in our
facilities are followed up on."

Need I say that one was PURE D BS???

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2022/08/after-more-hospital-complaints-higgs.html


Tuesday, 2 August 2022

After more hospital complaints, Higgs gets involved in health-care system — again 

 

Round 4

 
 
 
 

Horizon hires workers to monitor patients in 5 hospital ERs in wake of Fredericton death

Patient service worker in place at ER waiting rooms in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Miramichi, Waterville

The health authority has launched a pilot project, bringing what it's calling patient service workers into the emergency department waiting rooms of five of its biggest hospitals.

"Essentially, these health-care workers will be in the emergency departments to monitor the status — the health status — of those individuals who are waiting for care," said Margaret Melanson, interim president and CEO of Horizon on CBC Radio's Information Morning in the Summer.

"And having the ability to quickly move to the triage nurse to report if there is any patient who is in distress or reporting any decline in their condition, increasing pain or a need for them to be reassessed in terms of their priority status."

Melanson said there will be patient service workers around 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the emergency department waiting rooms in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Miramichi and Waterville.

Margaret Melanson, interim president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, said the patient service workers will monitor the condition of patients waiting in hospital emergency departments. (Horizon Health Network)

Melanson said a licenced practical nurse often performed this role in the past, however recent staffing shortages required them to work other roles in the emergency department.

"So at this time, what we have done is augment the people who are in these waiting rooms now carrying out this work, so it's not just an LPN, it is also patient service workers," she said.

"And fortunately, over the summer, we have a large number of nursing students who are very well prepared to be able to take vital signs and carry out these comfort measures and interactions with patients that we spoke about."

Melanson said the move is directly related to the death of a man while waiting for care at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton on July 12.

The incident prompted Horizon to undertake a review, and later that week, led Premier Blaine Higgs to fire John Dornan from his role as president and CEO of Horizon Health Network.

He also withdrew the boards of directors for both Horizon and Vitalité Health Network and replaced them with individual trustees.

Attention needed for 'root' of long wait times

John Staples was in the emergency department waiting room at the Chalmers when he saw an elderly man waiting in discomfort before appearing to fall asleep and stop breathing.

He thinks any action to improve health-care in the province is positive.

John Staples said the addition of patient service workers is positive, but doesn't address the root cause of long wait times at hospital emergency departments. (Submitted by John Staples)

"Definitely the pilot project that they're putting in place, had it been in place the night of that incident, of the gentleman's death, it could have made a difference? I don't know," said Staples.

"But to have somebody checking on people and just the reassurance alone, I think, will make a positive effect in the waiting room."

At the same time, Staples said the move seems to only address the symptoms of what's plaguing health care in New Brunswick, and not the root cause.

"Why are people waiting in waiting rooms for eight, 10, 12 hours at a time and not getting the medical care that they need," he said. 

"If we don't have the personnel available to help those who need help, well, again, we need to go back and look at the root problem."

Melanson said Horizon plans to hire more people over the summer to be ready to take on the role once summer students go back to school.

She said the intent is to make the pilot project permanent, and said they'll assess the effect it's had on patient care at the end of the summer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aidan Cox

Journalist

Aidan Cox is a journalist for the CBC based in Fredericton. He can be reached at aidan.cox@cbc.ca and followed on Twitter @Aidan4jrn.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
 

98 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story. 
 
 
 
Anna Barnes
Holt has won. Wishing her every success as opposition leader, and, I sincerely hope, next premier.  
 
 
 
 
JOHN NOWLAN
That is the basic function of emergency room staff, right, to assess patients to determine who needs to be seen when. It is called triage.
This is a PR move pure and simple. Putting in another layer of staff, to talk to other staff is absurd.
Fix whatever the basic problem is.
The military is very good at this work; adopt those models.
There is in fact a question as to whether Dornan was fired over the death or his pending recommendation to return to a "red" stage because of Covid in hospitals. No mention of that here.
PS: "'Pilot project" is government-speak for we have no idea what to do but this may work if we are lucky. 
 
 
Anna Barnes
Reply to @JOHN NOWLAN: Possibly just not overall the kind of "yes-man" that Higgs seems to prefer.
 
 
 
 
louis LaPierre
It doesn't take much imagination to have individuals in charge of triage within the ER. It should have been a standard practice long ago.
 
 
Anna Barnes
Reply to @louis LaPierre: These Patient Service Workers are not going to be in charge of triage!! Read the article. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anna Barnes
Unless I'm missing something, there is no suggestion that these folks will have any special health care training. Of course, even an untrained person could zero in on extreme cases, such as if someone lost consciousness or fell to the floor, and alert the triage nurse.

I feel sorry for whoever ends up in these jobs; they could end up facing a lot of negativity from irate patients when there is really little or nothing they can do.
 
 
 
Anna Barnes
Reply to @Anna Barnes: I reread the article and it sounds as if the "Patient Service Workers" could be nursing students. All well and good. But this is 100% about optics - throwing the fed up public "a bone".
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fredericton ER death compounds grief for mother who lost baby

Aimee Dunn says Chalmers Hospital promised more compassionate care

When Aimee Dunn heard that a patient died alone in the waiting room of a Fredericton emergency department less than four months after she lost her infant in the same ER, she felt grief and rage all over again.

"My baby looked perfect," said Dunn, who had to be delivered of a stillborn girl by C-section on March 23 at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.

"They promised to do better. Now someone else is dead."

At the heart of Dunn's pain is why it took 12 hours for anyone to check on the health of her baby.

WATCH | Fredericton couple still in grief after losing child in ER

Woman who lost baby in Fredericton ER says hospital promised to do better

4 hours ago
Duration 4:54
Aimee Dunn says hospital vowed to make changes, but then she heard a man died in the ER waiting room

Dunn, who was 35 weeks pregnant, says her medical history should have prompted her pregnancy to be a top concern.

At 30, Dunn had already had one miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.

A diabetic from childhood, she came into the hospital wearing her insulin pump. 

                              A plaster cast of Reia Dunn’s feet and hands, given to Dunn and Waite by staff at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn)

And her records showed she'd had lupus, an autoimmune disease that can raise the risk of pregnancy complications.

She said she'd been in the care of Dr. Erica Holloway, a maternal fetal specialist.

Dunn believed the maternity ward would take good care of her.

She knew its corners and its crannies, working there nights in housekeeping. 

Her tasks include taking out the garbage, disinfecting equipment and cleaning up after women give birth in the labour and delivery unit. 

"It can take up to an hour," Dunn said. "But none of this bothers me. I'm happy to do it. "

Something went wrong

On March 22, when Dunn was still excited that her day was coming — that soon she'd be a mother herself in labour and delivery, holding the baby girl she'd already decided to name Reia — she started feeling pain. 

She began vomiting and heaving uncontrollably. 

Her partner, Mitchell Waite, said he called labour and delivery and was told to bring Dunn in.

But when they got to the unit, they were turned away and instructed to go to the emergency department instead.

Dunn was admitted immediately at 5:43 p.m., according to the autopsy report.

Already, she symptoms of preeclampsia, a known risk factor in maternal death and fetal death. 

But Dr. Stephen Cashman in the ER seemed preoccupied with her cannabis use, Dunn said.

She had been diagnosed early in her pregnancy with hyperemesis, or severe nausea and vomiting. A cannabis user since age 15, she decided to keep using it during her pregnancy against the advice of her physicians. She said it helped reduce the nausea, but more important, it gave her an appetite.

Dunn says she’s getting by with support from her friends and family. From left are Aimee’s grandmother Albina Stuckless, Aimee, best friend Anita Mihailescu and Aimee’s mother Joanne Dunn. (Rachel Cave/CBC)

In the ER, both Dunn and Waite felt dismissed by nursing staff and Cashman. 

"He really didn't want to do anything else with us," Waite said. "He won't even talk to me, and I don't even smoke weed.

"Both him and the nurse were treating us just like poor people who were potheads."

Dunn's medical records indicate Cashman was planning to discharge Dunn, but she was reluctant to go and insisted on staying overnight.

She doesn't remember Waite leaving the hospital around 10 o'clock that night.

"I thought everything was handled at this point," Waite said. "She's in good hands. She's in a good place. She's going to get the care she needs.

"That wasn't the case at all."

No fetal heartbeat 

According to an emergency room report written by Dr. Anthony Sarkisian, Cashman managed Dunn's care until she was handed over to Dr. Yogi Seghal, who then handed her over to Sarkisian at 1 a.m. 

At that time, Dunn was described as stable with normal blood pressure. According to Sarkisian's report, Seghal had  reported Dunn was assessed by labour and delivery, which felt her symptoms were not related to her pregnancy so directed her to the ER.

Dunn insists she wasn't seen in labour and delivery.

Just before 6 a m., Sarkisian wrote, it was brought to his attention for the first time that Dunn had elevated blood pressure. 

He reviewed her vitals and labs and realized she had consistently had high blood pressure since presenting to the ER.

              Aimee Dunn and Mitchell Waite after their March 5 baby shower. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn)

"It was clear to me at that time that the patient was suffering from preeclampsia," he wrote.

He also noted that attempts were made to reach Dr. Sheri-Lee Samson, the obstetrician on call, but she and another doctor had been in the operating rooms, performing emergency caesarean sections.

He noted that Dunn was in diabetic ketoacidosis.

Soon thereafter, she had a seizure and was rushed to acute care for resuscitation.

When "obstetrics" saw Dunn at 6:30 a.m. on March 23, no fetal heartbeat could be identified, the autopsy report said.

'Doesn't sound good'

Waite, a mechanic, said he was getting ready for work when he got the call to come back to the hospital. 

"They said I had to go to L and D [labour and delivery] right away, and I was like, OK, this doesn't sound good," said Waite. 

"So I'm in L and D and they're explaining what's going on, and they told me about the seizures. They weren't upfront about Reia dying.

"They're like, 'It's possible she may have passed away.' So I was left there, not quite understanding the whole concept."

Dr. Erica Schollenberg, with the department of pathology at the IWK Hospital in Halifax, wrote in her autopsy report that the fetus was anatomically normal and likely died in the overnight hours.

"Specific mechanism of fetal demise in maternal eclampsia is not well understood but is likely asphyxial due to acute insufficiency of vascular supply from the uterus to the placenta," she wrote.

By the time Dunn had her seizure, Schollenberg said, she had laboratory features of both eclampsia and diabetic ketoacidosis.

Hospital's apology

Dunn said it took her a while to find the strength to ask for her medical records.

When she got them, she felt sick all over again.

She wrote a detailed complaint describing what happened to Horizon patient representative Gillian Gillies, who set a meeting for May 31. 

Also present were Nicole Tupper, the hospital's executive director, Dr. Erica Frecker, head of obstetrics, and Dr. Krishna Pulchan, head of emergency medicine.

"They basically apologized for what happened," Waite said. 

Dunn said she was touched by Pulchan's kindness. 

"He was a really quiet man ,and when he ended up having his turn, he spoke very softly," she recalled.

Dunn and Waite decorated a child's room in whites and pinks ahead of Dunn’s due date of April 27. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn)

She said Pulchan offered his deepest condolences and told her tears had come to his eyes when he read the complaint. 

"He couldn't believe how out of all that happened that night, if one person would have given any type of compassion that this result could have possibly been changed," Dunn said. 

"Yeah that was the problem," Waite said. "Nobody really cared enough that night." 

Neither Dunn nor Waite took notes of what was said in the meeting. They said they were told there were not enough emergency specialists to staff the ER, so family doctors were filling the gap.

They also said the hospital was working on plans to add critical triage care to the labour and delivery unit. The emergency department would be making changes to better monitor patients in the ER waiting room.

Horizon's statement

CBC News requested interviews with any of the physicians who were present at the May 31 meeting and a copy of any action plan that resulted from the review.

No interviews or details were provided.

Instead, Horizon forwarded a written statement from Margaret Melanson, the interim president and CEO.

"Horizon has a thorough quality review process in place which ensures concerns expressed by a patient about the care they receive in our facilities are followed up on. Results — as well as any recommendations or mitigating actions — that may come from the review are shared openly and transparently with the patient and their loved ones," wrote Melanson. 

Complaint filed with college

Dunn said she filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick. The college did confirm it's reviewing her complaint filed against Dr. Stephen Cashman of Vancouver.

Outgoing president Dr. Ed Schollenberg said Cashman will be given an opportunity to respond before the college decides next steps.

The college could decide to conduct a disciplinary hearing.

Schollenberg said it all takes time and he wondered if this case would end up under the scrutiny of a coroner's inquest.

"I would think this would be eligible," he said.

Dunn and Waite are still grieving the loss of their first child.

The hospital let Dunn hold Reia for a while. She was also given a plaster cast of Reia's tiny feet and hands and a handprint.

Dunn said what she really wants, since she'll never get her baby back, is to have the hospital follow through on what it promised.

Another death in ER

On July 12, a man described as a senior sitting in a wheelchair died alone while waiting to be seen in the Chalmers ER. 

Dunn was shocked. She'd been told staff would get "compassion training" and improvements were already in the works.

"They said they had a new plan to make sure that patients in the waiting room would be seen by someone and would get some kind of treatment while they were waiting. Even if it's just Gravol for nausea."

She doesn't want to hear about people not getting proper care in the emergency room.

"At this point we're determined to keep fighting for change," Dunn said. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Cave is a CBC reporter based in Saint John, New Brunswick.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Ousted Horizon CEO pushed for COVID 'red phase' in hospitals

‘Seventh COVID wave is amongst us,’ Dornan said in email days before firing

Dr. John Dornan said in an email on July 11 that "a seventh COVID wave is amongst us," with hospitalizations and staff outbreaks increasing.

A Horizon infectious disease and infection protection control committee was "recommending moving to Hospital Red phase next week if numbers continue to deteriorate," Dornan wrote in the email obtained by CBC News. 

Dornan wrote that officials "could make that call collectively on Monday or Tuesday next week," referring to July 18 and 19.

The red phase move never happened, even though the numbers did continue to deteriorate.

The following Tuesday, the two health authorities reported an increase in weekly COVID-19 admissions, active hospitalizations, hospital outbreaks and staff infections between July 10-16.

Dornan was fired July 15.

A major element of red phase protocols would be a ban on routine visitors seeing patients in hospitals.

In his email, the then-CEO said moving to the red phase was "contingent" on Vitalité and Public Health agreeing to it. 

But Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said Wednesday she had no insight into why there was no move to red.

"I don't want to speak for the RHAs. They are the decision-makers in this case, so they're the authority on what happens in their own operations," she said.

Dornan said in the July 11 email it was "probable" Horizon would communicate the possibility of a move to the red phase "publicly this week as a heads up. It is good to be transparent."

That never happened.

At the time of Dornan's firing, Premier Blaine Higgs said a change in leadership was needed to break a "bureaucratic stalemate" in the health system and push forward reforms to address long wait lists and clogged emergency departments.

Higgs made the changes after the death of a patient who was waiting for care in the emergency department at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.

   Dr. John Dornan was fired from his position as CEO of Horizon Health. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

Vitalité vice-president of medical services Natalie Banville replied to Dornan's July 11 email that she had spoken to CEO France Desrosiers, and officials at the health authority wanted to "analyze the situation more closely."

She said cases were increasing but only two of Vitalité's 17 admissions were "COVID related."

"We need to look more closely at the epidemiology and zone situation before moving to red phase," Banville wrote, saying Vitalité's leadership would meet July 12 and respond with a recommendation.

Dornan thanked her and said Horizon would "strive to be on the same page." It's not clear what Vitalité ended up recommending the next day or why Dornan's replacement, interim CEO Margaret Melanson, didn't follow through with his plan.

Unlike Dornan, Desrosiers remains in her position as CEO of Vitalité.

Dornan turned down an interview request from CBC News about his email. "I have no comments," he said Wednesday.

In a statement to CBC News, Melanson said Horizon has "gained more knowledge of the virus" during the pandemic and can now adopt "more targeted and flexible" measures while maintaining important services and allowing visitors.

The statement did not address why Dornan felt differently and favoured a full move to red phase less than four weeks ago.

Three days after his email, and one day before his firing as CEO, Dornan encouraged Horizon staff in an internal memo to "consider showing an example" by masking in indoor public spaces due to "escalating" COVID-19 transmission. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said on July 18 Dornan's firing was "not related" to that memo.

Horizon and Vitalité moved to the red phase Dec. 31 during a surge of Omicron cases. They returned to the orange phase on June 20.

Dornan's July 11 email referred to a "seventh wave" arriving, even though the province's public health officials have been reluctant to use the term.

Russell told Brunswick News July 12 she might not define future increases in cases as waves. 

"I don't want to call it a wave in a sense that everybody defines that differently. I'm saying it's an increased number of cases," she told the newspapers. "Whether it's a wave or not a wave, we're seeing an increased activity level in COVID cases." 

Between July 10 and 16, the same week Dornan wrote the email and was fired, 30 people were newly admitted to hospitals because of COVID-19, up from 15 the previous week.

That number jumped again to 40 people between July 17 and 23.

The two health authorities had 209 staff out sick between July 10 and 16. That increased to 229 the week of July 17-23.

As of July 16, Horizon and Vitalité had 84 active hospitalized COVID-19 patients. It increased to 90 a week later.

The number of weekly new cases dropped last week for the first time in weeks. Those numbers tracked infections from July 17-23 and officials said that could indicate that hospitalisation numbers, which lag behind cases by a week or two, would soon peak and start to come down as well.

In new numbers released Wednesday for July 24-30, the number of weekly new cases dropped again and the number of hospital admissions and active hospitalizations for COVID-19 decreased slightly.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.

With files from Mia Urquhart

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
 
142 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

 
 
 
Fred Brewer
So if Higgs fired Dr. Dornan who had only been CEO for less than 4 months, will he also fire his Trustees that he put in place to run the health boards in 4 months time if they have not fixed the ER problems?
 
 
Michael Cain
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Higgs is running the joint now; the trustees are just for show
 
 
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Michael Cain: IMHO Higgs should be smoking a joint not running one.
 
 
Donald LeBlanc
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Those two Trustees have already been working almost a year, supposedly implementing a Health Plan. How well has that gone, yet now they're replacing two Boards, many of whom were duly elected. Nonsensical. And how did the CEO of Vitality survive the purge after big problems in their ERs, loosing four Oncologists and having been there about two years?

 
 
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Scott-Wallace, Tammy Hon. (THC/TCP-WEB/EDF)" <Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2022 20:10:51 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE CBC's latest spin about why we should
pity the Poor Immigrants while Higgy et al continue to deny my right
to Free Health Care
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

Thank you for your email. Your thoughts, comments and input are important to me.

Please be assured that all emails and letters are carefully read,
reviewed, and taken into consideration. A response will be sent as
soon as possible.

If your inquiry is constituency related you may also contact my
Constituency Assistant, Alissa Landry at
Alissa.Landry@gnb.ca<mailto:Alissa.Landry@gnb.ca> or by phone at (506)
567-4689.
Thank you again for your email,
 //

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réponse s’effectuera dans les meilleurs délais.

Si votre demande est au sujet du bureau de circonscription, veuillez
contacter mon adjointe de circonscription, Alissa Landry à
Alissa.Landry@gnb.ca<mailto:Alissa.Landry@gnb.ca> ou (506) 567-4689.

Merci encore pour votre courriel,

Hon. / L’hon Tammy Scott-Wallace
Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture / Ministère du Tourisme, du
Patrimoine et de la Culture
Minister responsible for Women’s Equality / Ministre Responsable
d’Égalité des Femmes
Email / Courriel : Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca<mailto:Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca>
www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tourismnewbrunswick.ca%2F&data=05%7C01%7CTammy.Scott-Wallace%40gnb.ca%7Cf54f63bb9a7547c492c708da5f615bd3%7Ce08b7eefb5014a679ed007e38bfccee7%7C0%7C0%7C637927168989904357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iXA6dE2KNJDaA8zFeBgLJqght6E6w7Z09IGPedI1Euk%3D&reserved=0>
/www.tourismenouveaubrunswick.ca
https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/women.html
https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/fr/ministeres/femmes.html




---------- Original message ----------
From: "Green, Matthew - M.P." <Matthew.Green@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2022 20:10:53 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE CBC's latest spin about why we should
pity the Poor Immigrants while Higgy et al continue to deny my right
to Free Health Care
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to contact the
office of MP Matthew Green to express your views. This automatic
response is to let you know that we have received your message.

For the most up to date information on Canada’s response to COVID-19
as well as information on financial assistance and travel restrictions
please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en.html
Please note: Our office is currently closed to the public due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Our staff continue to work on your behalf, but no
in-person meetings will be scheduled at this time. Please be assured
that casework emails will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member
and you can always contact our office by phone at (905) 526-0770.
Due to much higher than normal levels of correspondence, our response
time for non-urgent requests has temporarily increased as we
prioritize urgent emails from constituents of Hamilton Centre and
emails related to Matthew’s critic responsibilities.
Form letter campaigns, anonymous or cc’ed emails as well as
non-critic/non-riding correspondence may not receive a direct response
and it may take several weeks for you to receive a response to your
inquiry.
Thank you again for writing, and please be assured that all email sent
to my office is treated as confidential.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bonjour. Nous accusons réception de votre message et vous remercions
d’avoir écrit au bureau du député Matthew Green. Ceci est une réponse
automatique.
Veuillez noter que notre bureau est fermé du 22 décembre au 4 janvier.
Pour des renseignements à jour sur la réponse du Canada à la COVID-19,
l’aide financière et les restrictions de voyage, consultez
https://www.canada.ca/fr.html.
Veuillez noter que notre bureau est fermé en raison de la pandémie de
COVID-19. Notre personnel continue de travailler pour vous, mais nous
ne pouvons organiser de rencontre en personne pour l’instant. Sachez
cependant que tous les courriels sont acheminés à qui de droit et que
vous pouvez toujours nous contacter par téléphone au 905-526-0770.
Comme nous recevons beaucoup plus de correspondance qu’en temps
normal, les délais de réponse aux demandes non urgentes sont plus
longs. Notre priorité va aux courriels urgents venant des habitants de
la circonscription de Hamilton-Centre ou portant sur les
responsabilités essentielles de M. Green.
Il se pourrait que nous ne répondions pas directement aux campagnes de
lettres, aux courriels anonymes, aux courriels envoyés en copie
conforme (c.c.) et à la correspondance ne portant pas sur des
questions essentielles ou relatives à la circonscription. Il pourrait
s’écouler plusieurs semaines avant que nous puissions y répondre.
Nous vous remercions de nous avoir écrit et sachez que tous les
courriels envoyés à mon bureau sont traités confidentiellement.
 
 
 
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Holloway, Jim" <Jim.Holloway@bakermckenzie.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2022 20:09:39 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: [EXTERNAL] RE CBC's latest spin about why we
should pity the Poor Immigrants while Higgy et al continue to deny my
right to Free Health Care
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

I will be travelling and away from the office until Monday, August 15,
2022.  While I will be checking my emails periodically, I will likely
be delayed responding to messages. If you need immediate assistance,
please contact Kim Humphrey at kim.humphrey@bakermckenzie.com or at
(416) 865-3875. Kim can reach me if necessary or redirect your inquiry
to an appropriate colleague.  If the matter is urgent, please call my
cell below.  Thank you.


Jim Holloway
Baker & McKenzie LLP
+1 416-865-6914 (office)
+1 416-457-4714 (cell)


This message may contain confidential and privileged information. If
it has been sent to you in error, please reply to advise the sender of
the error and then immediately delete this message. Please visit
<http://www.bakermckenzie.com/disclaimers>
www.bakermckenzie.com/disclaimers<http://www.bakermckenzie.com/disclaimers>
for other important information concerning this message.
 
 
 
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2022 17:09:02 -0300
Subject: RE CBC's latest spin about why we should pity the Poor Immigrants while 
Higgy et al continue to deny my right to Free Health Care
To: David.Zaslowsky@bakermckenzie.com,
William.Devaney@bakermckenzie.com, maura.mckinnon@nbmc-cmnb.ca,
info@ecaair.org, achilds@mikmawconservation.ca, admin@acic-caci.org,
info@equite-equity.com, moncef.lakouas@bgcmoncton.com,
minister-ministre@swc-cfc.gc.ca, Maryam.Monsef@parl.gc.ca,
Matthew.Green@parl.gc.ca, Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca,
sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca, jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca, "barbara.massey"
<barbara.massey@justice.gc.ca>, JIM.HOLLOWAY@bakermckenzie.com,
"erin.otoole" <erin.otoole@parl.gc.ca>, "jagmeet.singh"
<jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore@parl.gc.ca, "John.Williamson"
<John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, "barb.whitenect"
<barb.whitenect@gnb.ca>, "Ross.Wetmore" <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>,
info@susanholt.ca, hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca, susan@susanholt.ca,
"Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, info@donaldarseneault.ca,
info@tjharvey.ca, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre
<andre@jafaust.com>, andrew <andrew@frankmagazine.ca>, briangallant10
<briangallant10@gmail.com>, "bruce.fitch" <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>,
"robert.mckee" <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, "robert.gauvin"
<robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, "kris.austin" <kris.austin@gnb.ca>,
david.coon@gnb.ca, "Roger.L.Melanson" <roger.l.melanson@gnb.ca>,
"benoit.bourque" <benoit.bourque@gnb.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>,
"Katie.Telford" <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "Arseneau, Kevin (LEG)"
<kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>
Cc: motomaniac333@gmail.com, moncef.lakouas@nbmc-cmnb.ca,
"Dr.France.Desrosiers" <Dr.France.Desrosiers@vitalitenb.ca>,
johannelise.landry@ccnb.ca, johannelise.landry@vitalitenb.ca

 
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Desrosiers, Dr. France (VitaliteNB)" <Dr.France.Desrosiers@vitalitenb.ca>
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2022 05:25:37 +0000
Subject: Réponse automatique : At least your lawyer Tim Ross can never
deny that I am still alive despite the fact I have been denied Heath
Care since 2008 when a doctor directed 3 members of the RCMP and two
hospital security guards to assault me CORRECT?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

Je suis à l'extérieur du bureau jusqu'au 10 juillet.
Pour toute urgence, veuillez contacter M. Stépahen Legacy jusqu'au 7
juillet, puis, Dre Natalie Banville.

I'm away from the office until July 10th.
For any emergency, please contact M. Stephane Legacy until July 7th
than, Dre Natalie Banville.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/newcomers-waiting-medicare-card-1.6541090

Newcomers waiting up to 9 months for N.B. medicare card

N.B. Multicultural Council president Moncef Lakouas said government needs to make sure it has enough resources

While wait times for medical treatments are increasing for many New Brunswickers, some newcomers are struggling to even get a medicare card.

New Brunswick Multicultural Council president Moncef Lakouas says he's hearing about cases where newcomers are waiting up to nine months to get one — and said it's having a snowball effect.

"If they're sick, they can't access work, and if they can't access work, they cannot afford to pay rent and they can't provide for their families, which is very, very dangerous and very serious," he said.

Looking to province

Newcomers moving to New Brunswick from outside Canada are eligible for medicare on Day 1 of their arrival, according to the province, as long as they "meet the eligibility requirements and are deemed … to have established a permanent residence in New Brunswick."

In a statement to CBC News, the province said the medicare team is currently hiring more staff to reduce waits times. 

The province said it currently takes about 15 weeks to process an application, but those waiting for a medicare card should not avoid or delay medical care. 

"Individuals awaiting a medicare card should know that if they are approved the effective date for the card can be backdated to their arrival in New Brunswick or the effective date of their valid Immigration, Refugee Citizenship Canada status in Canada document, whichever is latest," said Michaela Power, a spokesperson for the Department of Health. 

The province said there is a process for those who require immediate medical attention and do not yet have a physical medicare card. 

"These cases are identified, and their files are subsequently prioritized for processing," she said. 

Lakouas says if the province wants to attract more newcomers, they need to make sure they have access to health care.

New Brunswick Multicultural Council president Moncef Lakouas said he’s hearing about cases where newcomers are waiting up to nine months to get a medicare card. (CBC/Radio-Canada)

He says the system set up for dealing with requests in the past doesn't fit today's need — or numbers.

"What we used to welcome back then in terms of the number of immigrants, which [was] a couple thousand a year, is not the case anymore," said Lakouas. 

"We're welcoming more than 6,000 immigrants a year. We have the intention to increase that amount to 8,000 to 10,000 immigrants a year. We need to make sure that they're provided with their medicare and medical attention as soon as possible."

Problems and solutions

Lakouas says there's no financial help for newcomers without a medicare card, so many of them have to pay out of pocket for treatment.

He says this can be difficult for people who just moved to Canada.

"Just getting access to … emergency rooms just for consultation could cost a little fortune for someone who just arrived here, who doesn't need to disperse this money for something that they're supposed to get for free," said Lakouas.

Lakouas said some newcomers have had to pay out of pocket for treatment, which is expensive. (Zoom)

Lakouas says they need a solution.

"It could be a process as simple as just getting access to your social insurance numbers, you get that number right away," said Lakouas. 

"When immigrants are coming to the province, they could get that number right away, which allows them to get the medical attention that they need."

With files from Information Morning Summer Edition

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2020 23:46:54 -0300
Subject: Fwd: CBC's latest spin and malicious control of the narative
on "New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity" and "Immigrants left in
limbo as permit processing takes months" and "COVID-19"
To: David.Zaslowsky@bakermckenzie.com,
William.Devaney@bakermckenzie.com, alex.leblanc@nbmc-cmnb.ca,
info@ecaair.org, achilds@mikmawconservation.ca, admin@acic-caci.org,
info@equite-equity.com, moncef.lakouas@bgcmoncton.com,
minister-ministre@swc-cfc.gc.ca, Maryam.Monsef@parl.gc.ca,
Matthew.Green@parl.gc.ca, Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca,
sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca, jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca, "barbara.massey"
<barbara.massey@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, JIM.HOLLOWAY@bakermckenzie.com,
"erin.otoole" <erin.otoole@parl.gc.ca>, "jagmeet.singh"
<jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, rob.moore@parl.gc.ca, "John.Williamson"
<John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2020 02:44:13 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: CBC's latest spin and malicious control of
the narative on "New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity" and
"Immigrants left in limbo as permit processing takes months" and
"COVID-19"
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

Due to the high volume of emails that we receive daily, please note
that there may be a delay in our response. Thank you for your
understanding.

If you are looking for current information on Coronavirus, please
visit www.gnb.ca/coronavirus<http://www.gnb.ca/coronavirus>.

If this is a Media Request, please contact the Premier’s office at
(506) 453-2144.

Thank you.


Bonjour,

Nous vous remercions d’avoir pris le temps de nous écrire.

Tenant compte du volume élevé de courriels que nous recevons
quotidiennement, il se peut qu’il y ait un délai dans notre réponse.
Nous vous remercions de votre compréhension.

Si vous recherchez des informations à jour sur le coronavirus,
veuillez visiter
www.gnb.ca/coronavirus<http://www.gnb.ca/coronavirus>.

S’il s’agit d’une demande des médias, veuillez communiquer avec le
Cabinet du premier ministre au 506-453-2144.

Merci.


Office of the Premier/Cabinet du premier ministre
P.O Box/C. P. 6000
Fredericton, New-Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick
E3B 5H1
Canada
Tel./Tel. : (506) 453-2144
Email/Courriel:
premier@gnb.ca/premierministre@gnb.ca<mailto:premier@gnb.ca/premier.ministre@gnb.ca>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Premier of Ontario | Premier ministre de l’Ontario <Premier@ontario.ca>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2020 02:44:13 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: CBC's latest spin and malicious control of
the narative on "New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity" and
"Immigrants left in limbo as permit processing takes months" and
"COVID-19"
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Thank you for your email. Your thoughts, comments and input are greatly valued.

You can be assured that all emails and letters are carefully read,
reviewed and taken into consideration.

There may be occasions when, given the issues you have raised and the
need to address them effectively, we will forward a copy of your
correspondence to the appropriate government official. Accordingly, a
response may take several business days.

Thanks again for your email.
______­­

Merci pour votre courriel. Nous vous sommes très reconnaissants de
nous avoir fait part de vos idées, commentaires et observations.

Nous tenons à vous assurer que nous lisons attentivement et prenons en
considération tous les courriels et lettres que nous recevons.

Dans certains cas, nous transmettrons votre message au ministère
responsable afin que les questions soulevées puissent être traitées de
la manière la plus efficace possible. En conséquence, plusieurs jours
ouvrables pourraient s’écouler avant que nous puissions vous répondre.

Merci encore pour votre courriel.



 https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies


David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos  @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks everybody in CBC knows that Tammy Scott-Wallace the minister
responsible for women's equality should also review the emails she
requested of me 5 years before she was elected Nesy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/10/care-workers-suffer-pay-gap-of-up-to-10.html

#cdnpoli #nbpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/pay-gap-care-workers-1.5781888

Care workers suffer pay gap of up to $10 an hour, says coalition
New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity says workers in women dominated
industry paid less than they should be
CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2020 2:43 PM AT


23 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

David Amos
"In a statement to CBC News Tammy Scott-Wallace, the minister
responsible for women's equality, said she appreciates the work that
has gone into the report and will review it."

Methinks Scott-Wallace should also review the emails she requested of
me 5 years before she was elected Nesy Pas?

David Amos
If anyone bothered to follow the crumbs offered within this article a
course Political Science is not required to understand that everything
political is always about the money and that governments always use
our taxpayer funds to court support for one political party or the
other for their benefit not ours. Methinks many ladies would agree
that making things a gender issue is just plain dumb N'esy Pas?

Group gets $335,000 federal grant to study pay for caregivers
Ottawa gives New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equality money to study
pay inequity and educate workers
Tori Weldon · CBC News · Posted: Nov 13, 2018 5:52 PM AT


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/pay-equity-care-givers-private-new-brunswick-coalition-1.4903927







 https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos  @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks whereas I am very tired of her constant bullshit about me
perhaps Higgy et al should explain real slow my status as an American
resident to Lou their evil and very mindless spin doctor N'esy Pas?

 https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/10/immigrants-left-in-limbo-as-permit.html

#cdnpoli #nbpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/immigration-permit-nb-1.5782802

Immigrants left in limbo as permit processing takes months
Lauren Bird · CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2020 7:00 AM AT


18 Comments


David Amos
Content disabled
Methinks whereas I am very tired of her constant bs about me perhaps
Higgy et al should explain to their spin doctor little Lou real slow
my status as an American resident N'esy Pas?





David Amos
Content disabled
Methinks whereas I am a Canadian Citizen born and raised who ran for
public office 7 times thus far and even sued the Queen while Higgy et
al keeps a "Stay" on my right to have Medicare card Alex LeBlanc
should mention my name to somebody ASAP N'esy Pas?

Lou Bell
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: You claimed you were a dual citizen . Did trump
revoke your Obamacare ?

David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Lou Bell: Everybody knows I am no such thing





Lauren Fisher
@Jack Rodnies-Or how about you leave and make room for them who are
clearly better people.

Jack Rodnies
Reply to @Lauren Fisher: how about no i was born here and have no
doctor or heathcare mysrlf

David Amos
Reply to @Jack Rodnies: At least you have a medicare card



 https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos  @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks there would be very different twist on things today if a few
members of Higgy's Police State had won some seats in up in the
Campbellton area N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/10/nb-covid-19-roundup-4-new-cases.html

#cdnpoli #nbpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-oct-29-higgs-russell-1.5781528


N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 4 new cases, outbreak at special care home in Balmoral
New isolation rules for travelling workers
CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2020 1:15 PM AT



203 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


PHIL INNIS
Content disabled
The only isolation should be for people who are worried about getting
it. 99% survival rate

BuT WhAt aBoUt YoUr GrAnDpArEnts ?.............they had a good run.
Stay inside or die from fear

Nicholas Rioux
Content disabled
Reply to @PHIL INNIS: Did you know that 20% of seniors live in
households containing non seniors? And that 25% of households have
someone with a disability? Granted not all disabilities will mean
someone at risk but then none of this includes people with chronic
conditions that ARE at risk but don't count as disabled.
So that's very likely half or more households containing elderly and
other at risk people with those of little risk.
Can you tell us how you would isolate all those folk who are at risk
but sharing the same homes as the others?

David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @PHIL INNIS: I would leave it up for the old folks such I to
decide whether they wish to live in fear or not

PHIL INNIS
Content disabled
Reply to @Nicholas Rioux: I wouldn't isolate them at all and have a
family discussion about the pitfalls of life. Instead of THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE being out of work and having children starve, we use logic and
let nature run its course. Its crass I know but its more than fair.

PHIL INNIS
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: exactly









Les Cooper
So is this proof that masks are not working?
I dont know why province doesnt set up Covid testing at the airports .
Would save a lot of covid issues. Make it mandatory to leave airport
when arriving

David Amos
Reply to @Les Cooper: Methinks a virus doesn't follow Higgy's orders
the passenger may leave as ordered however the pesky little thing may
stay if it wishes N'esy Pas?

Bill Henry
Reply to @Les Cooper: they aren’t sick when they are flying in. Just
have the virus in the easy bake oven. That is why the spread is
happening. It gets shedding days later, and then they say, oh, I guess
I brought the virus back with me from my travels.

Mary Smith
Reply to @Bill Henry: That's why we need multiple tests - along with
isolation - so that cases can be identified asap so contact tracing
can jump ahead and we can ensure the virus is contained.

People are traveling among the Atlantic Bubble on planes with people
who are going to quarantine once they land. This is a big risk. If you
fly, it should be mandatory for testing to occur multiple times to
catch cases asap. Maybe this would be a good use for the rapid
testing, for those who are traveling.

Testing should not release you from work-isolating or from quarantine
too early - because that isn't the most important thing - it should be
used to identify cases sooner so contact tracing can happen in a
timely manner to get ahead of the virus to break the chains. The
sooner this can happen, the smaller the cluster, the less likely it
will spread via community transmission. If you can link all cases to
travel, we all are better off. Once you can't track the source of
infection, it does not bode well and you cannot predict where the
virus is heading and you're left fighting blind, with the only option
to assume the entire community has it - because they could - and we
all have to be still. It's better to be proactive, than reactive.

If you have multiple tests within x amount of days, it could be shown
that most cases are identifiable within 10 days, rather than the full
14 days it could take for symptoms to show. It's hard to say. This
article is really good and explains how doing anything for these
exemptions would be infinitely better than what we were doing. There's
still risk there, but it's much, much better than what we were doing,
which was simply not enough.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/province-should-reimpose-quarantine-1.5765694

Les Cooper
Reply to @Bill Henry: so we get tested right away anyway








Brian Robertson
Campbelltown, Campbelltown. Why is it always around Campbelltown?

Oh yes.
That's where they opened the bubble to a part of Quebec; an area over
which we had NO control.

Who thought that was a good idea?

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Brian Robertson: It's always around Campbellton because
that''s the zone that's had the most cases and the most death -
despite not having anywhere near as many residents as some other
zones. Now as to why that would be, that's still an open question. The
bubble with Avignon is certainly one of the possibilities. But the
bubble also included Zone 4 (Edmundston) and Temiscouata. So why
didn't the bubble cause a similar rise in cases in Zone 4?

Luke Caissy
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Why zone 5 and not zone 4? The best theory
is because Campbellton sits 40 minutes away from Carleton QC. Carleton
is the Gateway to the Gaspe and is a favorite vacation spot for Quebec
City, Montreal and the Eastern Townships. With travel restrictions
this summer and fall, Carleton was overflowing with Quebec Tourists.
Carleton is also frequented by NB residents and was open for day
passes all summer. When this is all over you should really visit the
area. Great beaches with friendly bilingual service.

Wayne Wright
Reply to @Brian Robertson: C-a-m-p-b-e-l-l-T-O-N.

Bob Smith
Reply to @Luke Caissy: It's also an area where government rules and
regulations are given lip service, at best, by many residents.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Luke Caissy: That makes more sense than any other theory
I've heard to date. Any skiing tourism, or can we expect a drop in
tourists come the winter?

Wayne Wright
Reply to @Luke Caissy: if one likes rocky beaches vs the nice sand
beaches of southern NB or PE. But there is 'nude' bathing at Carleton
not far from Bleu Heron restaurant.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Bob Smith: Is that true of the Campbellton area more so than
the Edmundston area?

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Wayne Wright: Well, that would certainly be a draw for some!

David Amos
Reply to @Wayne Wright: Cry me a river The folks up in Campbellton
have done nothing wrong at all. Methinks there would be very different
twist on things today if a few members of Higgy's Police State had won
some seats in the region recently N'esy Pas?

Bob Smith
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Campbellton area. Terms like "squatters",
"bootleggers" and other terms are still heard in areas like
Robinsonville and such.

Luke Caissy
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Snowmobiling is huge on the Gaspe, but the
main draw for Carleton is the water.









SarahRose Werner
"they will be able to access: necessities of life and supporting
services, health care, goods and services required for work, banking
and financial services, transportation, child care, animal care, and
funeral or visitation services for members of their immediate family."
- Maybe if the government had listed what people *can't* access during
modified self-isolation, it might be a shorter list?

Emery Hyslop-Margison
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: it’s a global pandemic. New Brunswick has
done remarkably well. Hang in there girl a few more months.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Emery Hyslop-Margison: Agreed that NB has done remarkably
well. Let's keep doing well! :-) I think it's going to be more than a
*few* more months, however. I'd love to be wrong.

Emery Hyslop-Margison
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: You will be wrong - we’re at peak and
numbers will start to decline as the death rate has already done so.
You’re okay Sarah!

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Emery Hyslop-Margison: We might be at the peak of the second
wave. But until we have vaccines and/or treatments that are safe,
effective and widely available, there's nothing to stop us from having
successive waves. Pragmatism has always stood me in good stead. :-)

David Amos
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Yea Right

Bruce Sanders
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Who would ever take a vaccine for a virus
which is clearly not that contagious, less than 0.6% across Canada
have tested positive, nor deadly; = 3.5% of all deaths in 2019. For
this, we destroy peoples lives for generations to come.








Donald Gallant
Perhaps not a good idea to hire across zones might be a thought.

Les Cooper
Reply to @Donald Gallant: there are doctors at the Fredericton
Hospital that commute back and forth from Montreal etc. Will they be
quarantined??

David Amos
Reply to @Les Cooper: Good question

Fred Dee
Reply to @Les Cooper: who??

Les Cooper
Reply to @Fred Dee: several. No names.
They are bilingual and get paid ton to rent in Freddy. 3 in my neighborhood.








Bill Henry
What does it mean when you have a blue circle by your post.

PHIL INNIS
Reply to @Bill Henry: bill gates is going to give you covid

David Amos
Reply to @PHIL INNIS: Oh My My

Dave Cudmore
Reply to @Bill Henry:
You're in danger of becoming a conservative.

Fred Brewer
Reply to @Dave Cudmore: ROTFL









Roy Kirk
Do the new rules apply to people travelling on charter/private
aircraft. If so, how are they keeping track?

David Amos
Reply to @Roy Kirk Go figure











Bill Henry
Geez Lou, you’re posts were the only sensible ones on here. Now you
sunk down to the rest of us

David Amos
Reply to @Bill Henry: Methinks folks must make allowances for
conservative spin doctors not playing with a full deck However they
really should mind their mouth and quit putting their foot in it after
stepping in their own BS or they may wind up awful ill and not from a
pesky virus N'esy Pas?












Marie Buckley
Time to get our " Guy Lafleurs " up North under control.o

David Amos
Reply to @Marie Buckley: ???









Bill Henry
Will be like the us. People will start taking government to court to
prove they cannot restrict Canadians to their houses.

David Amos
Reply to @Bill Henry: Yup

Bob Smith
Reply to @Bill Henry: A bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?

Bill Henry
Reply to @Bob Smith: I think Higgs is reaching outside his powers. May
take a judge to tell him

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Bill Henry: Every province across the country is restricting
people to their houses under specific circumstances and has been doing
so since March. It's not just Higgs.

Bruce Sanders
Reply to @Bill Henry: Who is going to take the time to do this? Be
dragged through the mud, chastized for challenging the government? I'd
have to stay in NB for longer than I care at this time, so it's not
me. I'd rather go home, get stuff sorted out and then leave a few days
later. forced confinement for just a few days every 4 months or so.

Bruce Sanders
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: So that makes it ok then, sure.

Al Clark
Reply to @Bill Henry: No doubt your legal training at DRA Gandalf's
law school mentioned emergency powers???









Bill Henry
Terry Tibbs or Amos, do these changes help your cause?

David Amos
Reply to @Bill Henry: What cause?

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Bill Henry:
What changes?
Nothing specific has been said and we both know what a politician's
promise is worth?

Bill Henry
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: ok, I’m reading the same. Nothing has changed.
What is a modified self isolation.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Bill Henry:
Exactly what is supposed to exist, but doesn't. It's a shell and pea game.

Randy McNally
Reply to @Bill Henry: I'm still trying to figure out what a modified bubble is









Bill Henry
So no change then. What a joke.

David Amos
Reply to @Bill Henry: Figured it out have ya?









Nick Papagorgio
It's absurd to have stricter isolation rules for people traveling
outside the bubble for work. Does the government not care about the
economy and mental health? These restrictions should only come into
effect when the hospitals are at capacity. People are losing their
jobs and businesses because of the restrictions put forth by the
government. A perfect example is WestJet cancelling all routes in and
out of NB - the bubble is to blame. That's only some of the jobs that
were lost, I can't imagine how many more there are.

Bill Henry
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: there is absolutely no change

David Amos
Reply to @Bill Henry: Methinks plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose
N'esy Pas?

Les Cooper
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: Air Canada will be next. Then essential
workers will be unemployed and collecting EI cheques from NB. Lol

Mary Smith
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: NS and PEI have similar policies in place
for weeks or months now. The idea is that the exemptions to the
quarantines are the weak links. If the virus is not here in the
Atlantic Bubble then that means that not all people coming in will
bring it in, but that it MUST be brought in from outside the Atlantic
Bubble.

It is better to be proactive in a pandemic than reactive. It is better
for work, the economy, hospitals, mental health, etc if we focus on
the weak links ..

Wayne Wright
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: "...come into affect when hospitals are at
capacity..." A large reason for the the plan is to keep the system by
waiting until at capacity when it would be hell.

Fred Brewer
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: So Nick, where do you travel for work?

Bruce Sanders
Reply to @Nick Papagorgio: Nope, they do not care about people, and
they do not understand the science either. But, the majority of the
voters wanted this, so there you are. I wonder how many of these
workers voted for Higgs?






Stephan Sommers
The two of them are going to restrict NB into poverty. But hey it’s in
the name of health right.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Stephan Sommers:
How so?

Lou Bell
Content disabled
Reply to @Stephan Sommers: Oh, just let in the diseased is the best
policy ? Let's take a vote on who's got / made the best decisions ,
you , or the 2 you refer to ! You lose 100 times outta 100

Stephan Sommers
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Where is westjet or via rail or tourism at
these days? What else is NB’ers willing to give up in the name of
health. By the time this is over the east coast will be in a real bad
spot. I hope I’m wrong because I love living here.


David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: You don't know?

Stephan Sommers
Reply to @Lou Bell: we could just test people two day prior and again
when they have been here for 24 h then all is well. Look at Bermuda,
they do that with all foreign workers and tourist. Nice try.

Lou Bell
Reply to @Stephan Sommers: Better than letting the positive tested in
. But you can get out if you'd prefer , nothings holding you from
leaving, other than if other places let you in . But go ahead , we
sure won't hold you back !

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Stephan Sommers:
Westjet and Via are just pandering for government money.
Tourism is, for the most part, poorly paid, benefit free, seasonal
work, no great loss. Hopefully those folks find real jobs and the
operators go under.
Clearly you didn't get the memo? Immigrants are going to save us.

Stephan Sommers
Reply to @Lou Bell: So you got nothing right on.

Stephan Sommers
Reply to @Lou Bell: I think my NB employees would prefer I keep
business here. That being said I also have a rental in ON and FL.

Wayne Wright
Reply to @Stephan Sommers: VIA Rail hasn't served anywhere east of
Quebec City are from beginning & won't for immediate future. For that
VIA I don't know why they put on service from C'ton to Halifax since
the bubble began.

Bruce Sanders
Reply to @Stephan Sommers: It's not even in the name of health now.










Jake Quinlan
"Because the vast majority of the province's cases originate outside
the Atlantic bubble"

No, in the Atlantic provinces, they all do, ultimately. We (the 4
provinces) "got to zero" multiple times. We never had "embers of
virus" burning all summer long like other provinces. Now (last several
weeks) of course, we can say not all cases originate from outside
bubble - we have community spread in places.

Lou Bell
Reply to @Jake Quinlan: If you want to get technical , ALL cases in
the world , except for the country of origin of the 1st cases are
travel related cases ! Does that make you feel better ?

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks you must feel better now that you got
that off you chest N'esy Pas?

Jake Quinlan
Reply to @Lou Bell: Don't feel better (or worse) as I already had
figured out that all cases outside China are "travel related".









Ian Scott
Took a while but finally learned that having contract workers come and
go from hots zones not a good idea. Public has been saying it for 2
weeks. Yes we realize that they are needed , maybe.But not when going
into publics spaces with close contact quarters or LTC's. You could
see it coming. Now 6 dead and positives continue. Wonder about all the
airline folks that came in with Freddy and Moncton dudes.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Ian Scott:
When you make your living telling tall tales you tend to discount
everything anyone else says.

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Oh So True

Nicholas Rioux
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Telling tales? You're the one that said they
had stopped making references to cases being travel related when all
that happened was having all that mass testing to deal with and the
next day's report they used travel related again.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Nicholas Rioux:
It isn't me "playing hard and fast" with the truth in this province.

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Nor I

Nicholas Rioux
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: But you said something that was disproven the
very next day. Face it, you thought "conspiracy" when it was just a
delay.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Nicholas Rioux:
There are several active conspiracies around covid 19, you should
start paying attention, they can't even keep their stories straight
from day to day.

Lou Bell
Reply to @Ian Scott: Who brought in the cases and who did they infect
? Most of us don't know , but it appears you know it all ! Please
entice us with all you know , oh great one .

Lou Bell
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: You should know if anyone here would . But we
've come to recognize your frailties

Lou Bell
Content disabled
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: There's one big conspiracy , and it's yours









Fred Sanford
It`ll be interesting to see how they make the "modified" isolation
work. NB has a lot of people that work in other provinces and return
home for 1 week on a 3 or 4 week rotation. Even if they restrict
themselves to their home (unlikely), they can still theoretically pass
any infection along to their family members who are not isolating.
Lots of holes here.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Fred Sanford:
Of course, they are the same holes that have been there all along,
with the increase in cases elsewhere it is only natural that more is
being brought home for supper. They attempted to plug these holes by
making us all wear masks, which of course, was never going to fix
anything.

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I concur

Les Cooper
Reply to @Fred Sanford: I plan to do lots of overtime to avoid flying
to NB. If the out of province workers not flying to NB which are the
ones helping keep airports and flights going in NB then I can see
flights getting canceled.









Toby Tolly
jacques got the last question in on this video conference
totally unrelated but stirring the language issue

David Amos
Reply to @Toby Tolly: Welcome back to the circus

Lou Bell
Reply to @Toby Tolly: Jacques took the election loss really hard !
Like most Liberals , they've never recovered . They're still wired in
the " what about me " mode !










Joseph Carrier
Balmoral is 40 km from Campbellton BTW...

Dave Shimla
Reply to @Joseph Carrier: 24 kms according to googly earth

David Amos
Reply to @Dave Shimla: Survey says?

Dave Shimla
Reply to @David Amos: 27 if you take the long way lol











Ian Scott
Tough place to be. Dr. Russel handles things well. Her French
capabilities are also extraordinary. A premier in making.?

Ian Scott
Reply to @Ian Scott: But so much for simultaneous translation ,so half
of conference useless for most given questions.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Ian Scott: Not sure she can or would want to deal with all
the game-playing that goes on in politics.

James Edward
Reply to @Ian Scott: I hope not.

Toby Tolly
Reply to @Ian Scott: the simultaneous translation is usually horrible
anyway as they miss the start of every language switch.

Michel Forgeron
Reply to @Ian Scott: Her French is quite good really, but I would not
call it extraordinary - she has to grasp for words sometimes.
certainly her effort is extraordinary.

Justin Gunther
Reply to @Toby Tolly: I really wish they'd release complete
transcripts in both languages in a simple plain text format so pains
like me can quickly search through it.

David Amos
Reply to @Michel Forgeron: Who cares?








James Edward
The Joose isn't worth the Squeeze

David Amos
Reply to @James Edward: C'est vrai









James Edward
the game is still going? hmmm I don't know anyone who's died or been
hospitalized...I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but it's not worth
shutting everything down for.

Renee Garry
Reply to @James Edward: well I'm not starving, neither is my familly.
Famine is a hoax

June Arnott
Reply to @James Edward: you are lucky then You think it’s a conspiracy?

June Arnott
Reply to @Renee Garry: good one, hope he gets it

James Edward
Reply to @Renee Garry: did i say famine? no. We are going thru a
global social and financial reset. It won't end well for most of us.

David Amos
Reply to @James Edward: True

Justin Gunther
Reply to @June Arnott: Hope he gets what exactly?

Fred Brewer
Reply to @June Arnott: "good one, hope he gets it"
Nope, he missed it completely.

James Edward
Reply to @June Arnott: good one, hope She gets it







Ian Scott
It would be nice to know if these outbreaks were related to work
travel. And if so how the policy is to be changed to prevent it
happening over and over. Then the rest of us could relax again instead
of wondering if the dude that flew in yesterday from TO is out
wandering about with covid (about to become active) with his kids and
out for Halloween.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Ian Scott: Agreed. We need fewer exemptions from the
self-isolation rule and better enforcement of that rule.

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @SarahRose Werner:
For starts: how about 100% fewer exemptions?
Otherwise, all we have to look forward to is another episode of
Groundhog Day "a la Higgs".

Dale MacFarlane
Reply to @Ian Scott:
How many travellers from Quebec?

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Dale MacFarlane: Quebec isn't the source of all COVID cases.

Dale MacFarlane
Reply to @SarahRose Werner:
Agreed but i have a relative in NB and he says there are quebec plates
everywhere....me, being in ontario we have spiked in cases.

SarahRose Werner
Reply to @Dale MacFarlane: It depends on what part of NB you're in.
I'm in southwestern NB and no, we don't have Quebec plates everywhere.
Up north, where people commute back and forth daily over the Quebec/NB
border to do essential work? Yes, there's almost certainly more Quebec
plates. That said, according the grapevine the recent outbreak in the
Moncton health zone (#1) was caused by someone visiting from Ontario
who failed to self-isolate as required. Also, we have two health zones
(#4 and #5) that border Quebec. Zone 4's had very few cases, Zone 5's
had more than any other zone. So it's not as simple as Quebec border =
lots of cases, because that's just not true. Some people would like it
to be that simple, but it's not.

Dave Shimla
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: southeastern NB/Dieppe is full of quebec
plates, and most are not rentals, unless rental companies started
pimping up their cars

Amajor Hall
Reply to @SarahRose Werner: It essentially doesn't matter, there are
NOT a lot of cases anyways no matter travel or otherwise...and they
are decreasing as we speak...15 new cases in the last week, but 65
recoveries in the same period...

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I am fond of Groundhog Days

Dan Lee
Reply to @David Amos:
Somehow it doesnt surprise me............

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks the Irving Clan would love to know
that during Groundhog Day Gale in 1976 my number man and I were
betting on which letter of the huge Irving sign across the road from
my bike shop was gonna come down next Most Maritimers in my neck of
the woods would agree that was quite a storm N'esy Pas?

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @David Amos:
This Groundhog day:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)

David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I know what you implied but thats Yankee
fiction what i said really happened in the Maritimes

Randy McNally
Reply to @David Amos:I recall that It warmed up to around 65 degrees F
in the afternoon, the sun was melting the snow in the fields, water
was running everywhere,. Then it blew in a rain on a warm south
westerly wind that quickly shifted to a brisk north wind as the rain
switched to snow. The wind continued to blow gusting over 70 mph
through the night, as Atlantic Canada and Northern New England plunged
into a deep freeze of minus 25 and change. By morning everything was
frozen solid and wind damage everywhere. I think it may ahve taken out
the pier at Old Orchard Beach in southern Maine.

Randy McNally
Reply to @David Amos: I remember it well.




https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-covid-19-cases-1.5783510

New Brunswick reports one new case of COVID-19
Potential public exposure at Moncton gym, people asked to self-monitor
CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2020 1:32 PM AT


46 Comments


David Amos
Content disabled
Methinks we are all waiting with bated breath for Al Clark and his
buddies little Lou, Tiny Tim Harvey Baby, Johnny "Never Been Good"
Jacobs and of course the all knowing shill Mr Oliver to make an
appearance and begin offering their two bits worth about their hero
Higgy's circus today N'esy Pas Mr Tibbs???

Ben Haroldson
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos:(He said something twice but it was gone by the
time I rebooted my computer)

Ray Oliver
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: cool nicknames. Did you put that together during
a group visit with the rest of your "friends" at the restigouche
hospital?

David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Ray Oliver: Cool nicknames?? Yea right
Methinks turnabout is fair play hence you should enjoy a little Deja
Vu from earlier today N'esy Pas?

Al Clark
Reply to @Bill Henry: No doubt your legal training at DRA Gandalf's
law school mentioned emergency powers???

Harvey York
Content disabled
Reply to @Ray Oliver: it's like a 6 year old unloved boy trapped in an
old man's body

Lou Bell
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: Surprise ! Surprise ! Surprise !









Diana Austin
Those loudly protesting against Covid restrictions and touting instead
letting the virus run rampant to achieve herd immunity overall in
societies have often taken their lead from Sweden’s relaxed approach
to Covid and their guiding epidemiologist, Dr Anders Tegnell. Of
course, as others have pointed out, Sweden has had a much higher death
rate than its Scandinavian neighbours, and recent economic reviews
have shown their economy has not fared much better, either. But the
latest comments by Dr Anders Tegnell in a recent interview with Die
Zeit, a German newspaper (also repeated in the London Times), suggest
that even he has been learning on the job, so to speak. He now says
that the pandemic is approaching a “critical juncture” in Sweden after
the number of daily cases rose by 70 per cent in a week. He does still
defend aspects of his early approach, but to the surprise of many, he
is also now recommending some “mini-lockdowns” in specific areas. Even
more surprisingly, Tegnell has now also said that it would be both
futile and immoral for a state to deliberately pursue herd immunity:
“Throughout history there has up to now been no infectious disease
whose transmission was fully halted by herd immunity without a
vaccine.” So it seems that doctors everywhere are still learning how
much is still left to learn about how this new virus operates and how
societies might best respond

Emery Hyslop-Margison
Reply to @Diana Austin: yawn

Lou Bell
Reply to @Emery Hyslop-Margison: Very informative Diana ! Of course
for the ignorant naysayers , not mentioning any names , this is the
last thing they wanr to hear . True , informative information by
health professionals debunking all the BS we see spread by the
uninformed who get their information from the false narratives of the
conspiracy theorists off social media !!!!!!!!!

Emery Hyslop-Margison
Content disabled
Reply to @Lou Bell: hard at it Lou? I guess you’re not dead yet?

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Surprise ! Surprise ! Surprise !

David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: Methinks whereas I am very tired of her constant
bs about me perhaps Higgy et al should explain to their spin doctor
little Lou real slow my status as an American resident N'esy Pas?

David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks I should remind the RCMP of this comment
of your pal's from yesterday N'esy Pas?

Al Clark
Reply to @David Amos: Well well well! Surprise surprise surprise! I
was convinced that your short list of broken record responses were
produced by pressing a function key. Colour me flabbergasted, like a
chinese mill owner finding a shredded panhead at the bottom of the
boat ;-)

 
 

Holt's 'fresh' message woos Liberals, but is it a winning pitch?

Susan Holt in four-way race to take over as N.B.'s Liberal leader

But it won't be clear until Saturday's result how real — or ephemeral — that support will be. 

Holt is relentlessly promoting social media posts on Twitter by New Brunswickers who describe her as a fresh face, different from conventional politicians.

"I can't say I've even put much thought into why I have this feeling, but she's giving me hope for politicians in general and for government in the province," said Jamie Nason, a resident of Tracy, a rural community outside Fredericton.

Nason is a self-described progressive voter, as is Douglas Mullin, a longtime NDP candidate and volunteer who recently bought a Liberal membership to vote for Holt. 

"For the Liberal Party, what she's presenting is definitely fresh," he said.

J.P. Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said the Holt groundswell on social media doesn't necessarily reflect reality but "these are our best cues to what's going on. … It can be the only information that we can clearly see."

  J.P. Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, said Holt's support on social media doesn't necessarily reflect reality but could be 'our best cues to what's going on.' (Graham Thompson/CBC)

'New' is a common theme

All four candidates in the leadership race are promoting themselves as new in one way or another. 

Former MP T.J. Harvey is posting messages of support on his Facebook page from ordinary New Brunswickers. Liberal MLA Robert Gauvin's history as a former Progressive Conservative underscores his own unique form of newness.

Even former Liberal cabinet minister and MLA Donald Arseneault is arguing he purposely built a campaign team made up of people from outside the party's old guard.

But Arseneault is warning that the temptation to choose a brand-new leader has caused the Liberals grief in the last two provincial elections. 

Holt is "definitely a strong candidate. She does have a lot of qualities that would make her a great leader," Arseneault said.

But "we went with fresh faces in the past. The last two [leaders], we went through fresh faces, and look where we are now." 

Former premier Brian Gallant, left, and former Liberal leader Kevin Vickers. (James West/The Canadian Press (left) and Mike Heenan/CBC (right))

He was referring to former premier Brian Gallant, who failed to win a second majority in 2018 and lost power, and to Kevin Vickers, a political newcomer who failed to unseat the Progressive Conservatives in 2020.

Nason couldn't identify a specific policy or issue that Holt has raised that won her over.

"It's the fact that she's acknowledging that people have concerns at all," she said.

"I can't even say that there's any specific issue that she's come out on where I've said 'That thing really needs taking care of.' It's more general than that — that she's talking about people at all. … It feels different, at the very least."

Leap of faith

Mullin said he knows NDP-leaning voters have been persuaded to cast strategic votes for Liberals in the past, only to be disappointed.

But he said he's known Holt for more than a decade, so he's taking a leap of faith she'll live up to what she's promising.

"I believe what's she saying in the moment. So in the moment I'm putting my trust in that."

We know she's definitely not the first politician to say they're going to bring a fresh approach to politics
- J.P. Lewis

But the new interim leader of the New Brunswick NDP, Alex White, said it's unlikely Holt would really break the mould.

"Regardless of the leadership of the Liberal Party … the policies have very rarely changed or brought improvements to the lives of everyday Canadians," White said.

Lewis called Holt's message "pretty abstract, and we know she's definitely not the first politician to say they're going to bring a fresh approach to politics." 

Nason said she doesn't personally know people who are as excited as she is by Holt, though she sees a lot of them online, especially on Twitter. 

"Maybe it's just because she's been smart enough to have a heavy social media presence," Nason said.

"It's worked before. Social media stardom has taken politicians where they wanted to go. Maybe that's all it is. But it feels different. … It feels like she is what I want a politician to be." 

Lewis said the wavelet of enthusiasm for Holt can't be ignored, even if it may dissipate between now and the next election in 2024 — and that's assuming Holt wins at all.

If Holt doesn't win, it's not clear the people she has attracted to the party will want to stick around for a different leader. Mullin said he hasn't decided what he'll do if that happens.

Arseneault said while "new blood" is important for a political party, long-time party supporters can't be taken for granted. 

"We can't just shove them aside," said the former cabinet minister, who argues election campaigns are major efforts that are complicated to organize. "It takes people with experience as well."

Holt has also been endorsed by a large number of old-guard Liberals, including former cabinet ministers Aldéa Landry, Bernard Thériault, Bernard Richard, Roly MacIntyre and Mary Schryer. 

She also worked in former premier Brian Gallant's government.

Still, Lewis said the buzz about Holt from non-Liberals is a positive sign for a party that hasn't enjoyed much good electoral news since 2014.

"The New Brunswick Liberal Party needs any excitement it can get," Lewis said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.

 
 
 
 
 66 Comments
 
 
 
Simply Crazy
Marijuana, abortions, and renaming everything they can. Susan will have NB looking like downtown Vancouver before we can blink. Meanwhile most NBers just want someone to let us live our lives without too much government taxing and spending and without completely changing our province forever.
 
 
 
 
 
Bob Smith
So the Liberal back room powers want to anoint Holt as the next leader. Given her history of advising Gallant during that tenure, folks should know what they're getting if she gets to be premier.
 
 
Simply Crazy
Reply to @Bob Smith: His big economic plan for NB was marijuana! That’s says it all!
 
 
 
 
 
Lorelei Stott
doesn't matter for me ... can you say EMA.... just for that I will never vote liberal as long as I am breathing

 

 

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2022 19:08:48 -0300
Subject: Attn Susan Holt I just called and left a voicemail after you
made another splash in CBC Now why not ask Higgy et al about my right
to Health Care???
To: info@susanholt.ca, hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca, susan@susanholt.ca,
"Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, info@donaldarseneault.ca,
info@tjharvey.ca, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre
<andre@jafaust.com>, andrew <andrew@frankmagazine.ca>
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "blaine.higgs"
<blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, briangallant10 <briangallant10@gmail.com>,
"bruce.fitch" <bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>, "robert.mckee"
<robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, "robert.gauvin" <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>,
"kris.austin" <kris.austin@gnb.ca>, david.coon@gnb.ca,
"Roger.L.Melanson" <roger.l.melanson@gnb.ca>, "benoit.bourque"
<benoit.bourque@gnb.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "Katie.Telford"
<Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "Arseneau, Kevin (LEG)"
<kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>

---------- Original message ----------
From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2021 20:51:13 +0000
Subject: RE: Attn NORMAN J. BOSSÉ Q.C. RE My right to Health Care I
got a call yesterday at about 4 PM from private number claiming to
speak for YOU True or False??
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to write.

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https://www.facebook.com/susanholtNB

Susan Holt for NB Liberal leader
Susan Holt - candidate à la chefferie libérale

    Page · Political Candidate
    New Brunswick
    (506) 238-0583
    info@susanholt.ca
    susanholt.ca

I'm excited to be on CBC New Brunswick Info AM Fredericton this morning to talk politics and leadership with Colleen Kitts-Goguen. Tune in around 7:35 am!
 
  
SERGE ROUSSELLE: As a Tracadie-Sheila deputy and minister, I had the opportunity to be beside an intelligent, authentic and dynamic woman who has continued to impress me with her understanding of the important issues of our province and her voice constantly eager to find innovative solutions.
 
This is why I’m excited to support Susan Holt for the leadership of the New Brunswick Liberal Party and encourage you to do the same.
- - - - - - - - - - -

May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'SERGE ROUSSELLE IS WITH SOUTIENT H HOLT SUSAN'

 
As MLA for Tracadie-Sheila and Minister, I had the opportunity to work alongside an intelligent, authentic and dynamic woman who never ceased to impress me with her understanding of the important issues facing our province and her constant desire to find innovative solutions.
 
That is why I am pleased to support Susan Holt as the leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick and I encourage you to do the same.

1 Comment

 
 
 
 
 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/susan-holt-liberal-leadership-race-1.6538586

Susan Holt emphasizes health care in Liberal leadership campaign

Susan Holt is the first woman to seek leadership of New Brunswick Liberal Party

The first in a series of stories this week on the four New Brunswick Liberal leadership candidates

Liberal leadership candidate Susan Holt says one way to attract and hold onto doctors in New Brunswick would be to eliminate mandatory hospital rounds. 

Holt said the amount of time family doctors in the province must spend at local hospitals takes them away from their practices.

She said this system is slowly being replaced with another model, in which physicians known as hospitalists work solely in the hospital.

But Holt said she's spoken to new physicians who find the hospital rounds that are still required are a deterrent. 

Holt has made health care a key part of her campaign for the leadership, which the party will decide this coming Saturday.

She said recruitment of doctors and other health-care workers is only part of the solution to the shortages in the New Brunswick system.

Medical professionals also need to be able to practise using all of their skills, she said in an interview on Information Morning in the Summer. 

"It's not just a recruitment solution because if we're recruiting people in, but they're exiting on the back end, we have to fix the culture and the reasons why people are leaving the system," said Holt.

Advised Brian Gallant

Holt was a top adviser to Brian Gallant, who was premier for four years until Blaine Higgs and the Progressive Conservatives took power in 2018. 

"I think I bring a fresh perspective and energy and a real focus on transparency and accountability [and] that is what the people in New Brunswick are saying that they want from government," she said.

But Holt said she doesn't think she would reverse Higgs's decision last month to fire Horizon Health Network's CEO and dissolve both health authority boards.

She said she'll be watching the impact of those decisions over the next few years.

Favours role for public

"I don't love our knee-jerk reaction to just reverse what previous parties or governments have done, so it's something I think that would take careful thought," she said.

"But I do think having great leaders in the health-care system is important. But I also think having the public's participation in those elected roles on boards is important."

In addition to health care, another challenge "near and dear" to Holt's heart is New Brunswick's carbon footprint. 

She said the climate crisis has been looming, changing the world in the process.

But the government can do a few things to help, Holt said, such as going green with its own operations, including transportation, government buildings and procurement. 

4 seeking top job

The other candidates in the leadership race are MP T.J. Harvey, former MLA Donald Arseneault and current MLA Robert Gauvin. 

Roger Melanson, MLA for Dieppe, has been serving as interim party leader since shortly after the 2020 provincial election, which the Liberals lost under the leadership of Kevin Vickers. Vickers resigned on election night after the party won only 17 of 49 seats in the legislature. 

Holt is the first woman to run for the provincial Liberal leadership, though Saint John Liberal MLA Shirley Dysart was interim leader of the party in 1985.

Holt ran for the Liberals in Fredericton South in the 2018 election but came second to Green Party Leader David Coon.

She said an ideal situation if she won the leadership race would be to have a byelection and be elected to lead the party from a position in the legislative assembly. 

She said she's not sure yet where she'd run in 2024 if she became leader, or whether she'd run for a seat if she didn't win.

Holt said she's been drawn to politics for many years, so she doesn't think that feeling will go away, but she also said the decision to run for leadership was a big one for her family. 

"I can't quite predict where the five of us will be in two years and whether my husband will be on board for going through this again," she said. 

"I really believe that this is the time for a change in politics and government. We need to do things differently at a personal level."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Rudderham is a journalist with CBC New Brunswick. She grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and moved to Fredericton to go to St. Thomas University in 2018. She recently graduated with a bachelor of arts in journalism. You can send story tips to hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca.

With files from Information Morning in the Summer

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
 
15 Comments 



William Henry
Lord help us if thats the best idea she has. There are so many more systemic issues wrong with the healthcare system than this itsy bitsy tiny one. I can see now why we are in such horrible shape. Ive got about 20 ideas that would make a bigger impact than that gem of an idea. 
 
 
 
 
Buford Wilson
Unfortunately the seeds of today’s problems were sown on Brian’s watch.
Reply to @Buford Wilson: They were sown LONG before that. And each successive government has ignored the issues.
 
danny rugg
Reply to @Buford Wilson: At least Premier Gallant could walk and chew gum at the same time.
 
 
Dianne MacPherson
Reply to @danny rugg:
Not saying much about Gallant !!
I was surprised Ms. Holt was a " top advisor"
to Brian Gallant !!
It's true....he only took advice from Ottawa !!
 
 
Jim Lake
Reply to @Dianne MacPherson: And you know this how? 
 
 
 

It seems to me that the squeaky wheel gets the grease EH Mr Jones?
 

 

Family demands answers after Fredericton ER sends man home hours after he broke neck

Motorcycle crash left John Barnet with broken neck vertebra, broken sternum

Now his family is demanding answers as to why the 41-year-old man was discharged from the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton hours after crashing his motorcycle, and with little in the way of followup care for injuries that could have long-term effects.

"It's unacceptable," Taylor Grandy, his wife, said in an interview Friday.

"He should still be in the hospital. He really should be, you know, at least for a week or more."

Barnet recently purchased a motorcycle and went out for a ride with a friend on Tuesday afternoon, Grandy said.

Shortly after crossing the Princess Margaret Bridge on Route 8, Grandy said, her husband hit some gravel, lost control of his bike and hit the highway median.

Paramedics took him to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital around 8 p.m., where he was treated for a broken C7 vertebra in his neck, a broken sternum, a broken nose, a split tongue and broken teeth.

Grandy said she rushed to the hospital fearing the worst.

A man and a woman sit next to each other.Taylor Grandy has been taking care of her husband since he was discharged from hospital in the early hours of Wednesday. (Submitted by Taylor Grandy)

When she got there, a nurse warned her of the severity of Barnet's injuries before wheeling him back into the emergency room on a stretcher following his CT scan.

"He was in so much pain. So much pain. He said, 'Taylor, I think my back's broken,' and it was just a mess."

Grandy said once the results of the CT scan confirmed the broken vertebra in his neck, staff started giving her instructions for maintaining the brace her husband had around his neck.

Then without explanation, they informed the couple Barnet would be discharged from the hospital later that evening.

"They wanted to sit him up in the bed … to kind of get him up moving, and they were like, 'You can go home tonight'.

"And even John couldn't believe it."

A family sit in their living room.John Barnet and Taylor Grandy live in Fredericton with their five children. He's pictured before the accident. (Submitted by Taylor Grandy)

Grandy said she called Barnet's sister at around 1 a.m. to help get him up and out of the hospital. After a 90-minute struggle to move him without hurting him, they had him loaded into the family minivan with their five children and were on their way back to their home in Fredericton.

Staff sent Barnet home with a few Tylenol tablets, prescriptions for naproxen and morphine, and a referral to a neurosurgeon in Saint John, Grandy said.

It's a decision that, even two days later, still has her perplexed considering the severity of his injuries.

"And the doctor did tell me that if he moves a certain way or if he takes the [brace] off or anything like that, he could be paralyzed."

Grandy also said she's called the neurosurgeon Barnet was referred to the day after, only to find out he's away from work for the next week and a half.

In a statement to CBC News, Horizon Health Network said Barnet's discharge wasn't related to bed availability or staff shortages.

"This patient was medically discharged from our ED after the physician completed their assessment using clinical judgment and consulting with peers," wrote Margaret Melanson, Horizon's interim president and CEO.

Both patient representative services and the hospital have been in contact with the family about their concerns, Melanson said, and a specialist is following up with the patient for further medical assessments.

"Horizon apologizes for any part of the care experience that did not meet their expectation," Melanson said. "We look forward to continuing to provide care to this patient as they recover." 

Grandy is the second person this month to publicly criticize the Chalmers hospital.

John Staples said he witnessed an older man die while waiting to receive care in the hospital's waiting room in the early morning hours of July 12.

It prompted Horizon to launch a review into what happened, and later prompted Premier Blaine Higgs to fire Horizon CEO John Dornan, and replace the board of directors for both Horizon and Vitalité with individual trustees.

Seeking action from premier

Aside from his wife, Barnet's parents are also demanding answers and action in light of the decision to discharge him hours after arriving at the hospital.

A man and a woman sit next to each other.Dave and Nancy Barnet, parents of John Barnet, are calling on Premier Blaine Higgs to look into why their son was discharged from hospital. (Submitted by Dave Barnet)

"The action of the hospital leaves us with disgust and anger," Dave and Nancy Barnet said in a letter they sent to Higgs on Thursday.

"Why was our son not kept for observation for at least 24 to 48 hours after being told he could be paralyzed? Why was he sent home in his condition after six hours?"

In an interview Friday, Dave Barnet said he hadn't heard back from Higgs, adding he's not just looking for an explanation, but action to improve the care offered at the hospital.

"I'm hoping to hear that some kind of statement or news comes out, that they're going to find more money or allocate resources or transfer money and get more nurses and or doctors in the [Chalmers] to resolve this critical situation," Barnet said.

In an email statement to CBC News, Higgs said he has received the Barnets' letter and will be contacting them to learn more about their experience.

"It's not something I will comment further on in the media as I would prefer to speak with them directly," he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aidan Cox

Web reporter/editor

Aidan Cox is a web writer for the CBC based in Fredericton. He can be reached at aidan.cox@cbc.ca and followed on Twitter @Aidan4jrn.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices


1119 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
 

Jonathan Symthe
We were promised that health care would be universally accessible.
Apparently we were never promised that the care would be of good quality.

 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/health-care-new-brunswick-1.6538525

After more hospital complaints, Higgs gets involved in health-care system — again

Nancy Barnet says Higgs, Horizon Health CEO both called after complaints about son's treatment at hospital

Dave and Nancy Barnet had demanded answers last week about why their son John was discharged from the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton just hours after breaking his neck in a motorcycle crash.

Following their public complaints, Nancy Barnet said the premier called her and her husband at their home in Pictou, N.S. 

She said Margaret Melanson, interim president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, also called and arranged to have a doctor examine John at home. He was later taken by ambulance to a hospital in Saint John.

John Barnet broke the C7 vertebra in his neck as well as his sternum, but was sent home after six hours of care in Fredericton. His parents wanted to know why he wasn't kept for at least 24 hours for observation of injuries that could have left him paralyzed.

Nancy Barnet said Higgs called twice over the weekend — first on Saturday and again on Sunday — and left voice messages, as she and her husband weren't home to answer the phone.

A man and a woman sit next to each other.Dave and Nancy Barnet, John's parents, received two calls from New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs after they sent him a letter asking him to look into how their son was treated at the hospital in Fredericton. (Submitted by Dave Barnet)

Not up to Higgs to run health authorities

The move comes after a July 15 news conference during which Higgs, responding to the death of a man in the emergency department waiting room of the same hospital, said it wasn't up to him to run the health authorities but it was up to him "to ensure that the right people are in the positions to do so."

That incident prompted Higgs to fire the former president and CEO of Horizon Health and to replace its board of directors with a single trustee. He also replaced the province's health minister.

Horizon Health didn't answer questions about whether Higgs played a role in the followup care provided to Barnet.

In an emailed statement, Melanson said she felt it was important to personally follow up with Barnet to determine how he and his family were faring, and whether there was anything she could do to help.

Meanwhile, Nancy Barnet said they appreciate whatever the premier did. 

"As a matter of fact, I'm planning to give [Higgs] a call myself today to thank him," she said. "I do believe that without his support, things may not have moved as quickly as they did."

Barnet declined to share what Higgs said in his voice messages.

John Barnet's parents received two missed phone calls from Higgs after they wrote him a letter complaining about the treatment he received at a Fredericton hospital. (Pat Richard/CBC)

She said her son has since been discharged from hospital in Saint John and is back home in Fredericton — in pain, but recovering.

CBC News requested an interview with Higgs about his involvement in the case and is waiting for a response.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aidan Cox

Web reporter/editor

Aidan Cox is a web writer for the CBC based in Fredericton. He can be reached at aidan.cox@cbc.ca and followed on Twitter @Aidan4jrn.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices


33 Comments
 

Mike May
Funny how they only care when it gives them negative press!

 

 

 

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