SYDNEY, N.S. — NDP Leader Gary Burrill took Premier Stephen McNeil to task for some comments he made last week during a stop in Cape Breton, particularly relating to complaints of a fiscal inequity between the island and the Halifax area.
During an event with the Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, in response to a question, McNeil said local complaints about the amount of equalization received by Cape Breton played zero role in his deliberations leading up to the budget his government unveiled this week.
Referring to the comment during question period Thursday, Burrill went on to say that the life expectancy today for someone living in Cape Breton is three years less than for people living in the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s central zone, and noted that Cape Breton also has the highest level of diabetes in Nova Scotia and the highest rates of high blood pressure in the province.
“Does the premier, Mr. Speaker, also think it is a waste of his time, a matter of zero consideration, to think about the disparity in health outcomes for the people in Cape Breton?”
McNeil took issue with Burrill applying his comments about equalization to health care.
“That is a big stretch, Mr. Speaker, to take the answer to a question about equalization and move it into the health-care issue,” he said. “The reality of it is … we’re making investments in Cape Breton Island right now. We’re improving … the regional hospital, doubling the cancer care opportunities there … at the same time building new collaborative care and long-term care facilities in New Waterford ... and in Northside.”
He said the government is improving infrastructure needed to provide primary care.
Burrill also referred to comments the premier made about child poverty, noting that about one-third of children in Cape Breton live below the poverty level.
McNeil countered that the budget includes investments for children living in poverty.
“The child poverty rate in Cape Breton is too high, as it is in this province, this budget is making those investments,” McNeil said.
