ALBERTON
Government needs to invest more in public housing says the new leader of the Island New Democratic Party. Joe Byrne made the observation following a day of meeting with community leaders throughout western P.E.I. on Monday.
“All of the communities we visited today are looking for investments in public housing,” Byrne said.
“Clearly, there is a role for the private sector in this, but we can’t rely on the private sector to meet the requirements of the public good all the time,” said Byrne. He said the public sector needs to address community integration and insure that facilities are available where they’re needed.
“At present, without the number of long-term care beds in our rural communities, what we’re asking our seniors is to give up their house, give up their community, move to places where they don’t know anybody and don’t know how they are connected. That is not the best way to approach this,” he insists.
He said the rural communities, with some government support, can put up the infrastructure and care for the seniors who wish to remain in their communities. Without appropriate housing in the rural communities, Byrne said some seniors are being cared for in hospital beds.
“The most expensive care for people is in the hospital,” Byrne noted. “When it is needed, we should spend it, but long-term care is not hospital care. It’s about sustainable long-term care which allows people the dignity of their life but also encourages their own contribution to the community that they’ve lived in. We can do that. In this province, we can do that, but that’s a political decision.”
Another common theme during the tour, which included stops in Wellington, Lennox Island, O’Leary, Alberton and Tignish, was the new Municipal Government Act. He feels the act was imposed without adequate consultation from the communities that have to live with it.
“The onerous requirement for planning an implementation of structures just seem excessive from what we’ve heard from the communities,” he summarized. “From my perspective, if you want good legislation, who do the consultation before you implement the legislation.”
Byrne, who took over as party leader on April 7, said he has been following the proceedings in the provincial Legislature and feels issues are not being debated fully. “I think an NDP presence in the house would be absolutely focused on how the minister made the decision to spend money on this issue and not on others.” He said the NDP would put its focus on the elimination of poverty, including looking at how to make sure everyone has access to adequate food and housing.
