For Immediate Release
25 May, 2023
Jordan Brown, NDP MHA for Labrador, voted with his NDP colleagues against Budget 2023-24 yesterday. Brown says the budget offers no solid plan to retain and recruit the healthcare and education professionals desperately needed in the province.
“This budget is a health budget in name only and for this reason I could not support it,” Brown said today. “I am cautiously optimistic that the promised changes to MTAP will improve access for people in my district. However, I see no plan in this budget to address the chronic shortage of healthcare professionals to Labrador West.
“Seniors do not have affordable housing, adequate access to long term care facilities or level 2 primary care beds. After investing their career and life into our communities – in many cases, literally building them – seniors are forced to leave their support network and the place they call home.’
Brown says the government’s continued refusal to develop an affordable housing strategy will continue to hinder Labrador West’s ability to recruit new residents to live and work in the region.
“The future of our district is in its continuity. We must retain who we have by supporting their families as they age, and their children as they grow. This budget does not support a plan to do that,” said Brown. “People considering a move here – or anywhere – want to know: ‘Will I have a place to live? Will my children get the education they need? Is appropriate medical care available to us?’”
Brown says it’s frustrating to watch a government more focused on grabbing headlines than actually doing the hard work required to improve the situation for people in Labrador. “The provincial budget does not address the current shortages of workers in critical industries, there is no plan to address retention and recruitment of education staff, and it puts the future of our region in jeopardy. I can not support a budget from a government that continues to treat Labradorians as an afterthought and does not deal with the needs my constituents are facing.”
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca