CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Green Opposition levelled questions related to addictions programming at several ministers on Tuesday, asking why the subject was not mentioned in the mandate letter for the minister of health.
“Can you explain your rationale for excluding addictions from your mandate letter to the minister of health and wellness?” Green MLA Trish Altass questioned Premier Dennis King.
In response, King noted the nearly $150 million investment included in the province’s recently released capital budget for the replacement of the Hillsborough Hospital mental health facility.
“I think it is one of the more important things that we will do,” King said of the investment.
The mandate letter for Health and Wellness Minister James Aylward included a commitment to “address the mental health care challenges” through investment in the replacement of the Hillsborough Hospital, which would be able to deal with mental health emergencies.
The letter also tasked Aylward with the development of other mental health initiatives, including launching a mental health app.
The word "addiction", however, does not appear in the letter.
"Either the premier carelessly forgot to include addictions, overlooking the many Islanders and their families struggling with addictions issues, or a conscious decision was made to omit addictions as a key area of focus for health and wellness in the province," Altass said.
"Did you simply forget about addictions? Or did you intentionally exclude it as a key focus?"
In response, King said some responsibilities are often not contained in mandate letters.
"We wouldn't outline every last one, Mr. Speaker, but I do think it is indicative of our desire to actually do something different to make a tangible solution for this issue going forward in the fact that we actually made an initial investment in the capital budget," King said.
In an interview with The Guardian, King said addictions programming is being given a high priority.
"It's a general assumption in and around health that mental health and addictions go hand in hand," King said.
"I would say it would be fair to classify it as an innocent oversight."
The exchange occurred after the Opposition asked several ministers, including Justice Minister Bloyce Thompson and Aylward, questions related to mental health and addictions.
Aylward was asked by Altass what his department would be doing to co-ordinate addictions services on P.E.I.
“One of the most common barriers to cross-departmental collaboration is the inability to link and share information within and between services," Altass said.
In response, Aylward said Opposition MLAs would have a briefing from experts in his department working on mental health and addictions programming on Friday.
“This is something I feel very passionate about, I’m very serious about,” Aylward said.
In response to the questions, the premier acknowledged that not enough is being done to help individuals struggling with addictions.
“Absolutely we could do better,” King said.
