Mr. Speaker, the people of Caraquet, Dalhousie, Saint-Quentin and Miramichi are worried and frustrated.
This spring, the Government of New Brunswick announced that it intended to close hospitals and the obstetrics unit in Caraquet serving the Acadian Peninsula. In addition, it plans to reduce the number of beds in certain hospitals.
The federal government can strut around boasting about the health care agreement, but people in the region are still suffering the consequences of the 1994 cuts to health care.
Sick people must travel longer distances to get to an emergency service. Live with your suffering, says the government, because we do not see any problems between birth and death. The only important thing is the cuts. Pregnant women must live with anxiety and pain, since they also must travel farther. Babies may be born in cars. No problem, says the government, the cuts are what counts.
The federal government must ensure that the money it has recently committed via the health care agreement is going to prevent hospitals from closing.