During the first Question Period of the fall session, the BC Liberals outlined a list of health-care woes they say is evidence the health minister needs to go.
Kevin Falcon, the Liberal leader, raised the roughly one million British Columbians who don’t have a family doctor, the worst walk-in clinic wait times in the country, and ambulance delays for emergencies, as he asked for accountability.
“Will this health minister do right thing today, accept responsibility for his government’s appalling record of failure and resign?” he asked.
Adrian Dix noted the province has been through two health emergencies – the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing overdose crisis. He added health-care is strained all over the world, and insisted B.C. is making progress. He also pointed to the health-care workers added in the last five years under his watch.
“Since I’ve been minister of health, there are 38,000 more of them – doctors and nurses and nurse practitioners and health sciences professionals and health-care workers,” Dix told the house.
Falcon didn’t let up. He said he’s met with people all over the province, and for all the concerning stories that make it into news reports, there are many more that don’t. He said announcements touted as improvements were “almost insulting.”
“Fourteen months ago, as I pointed out in Question Period, he made a big announcement on paramedics – this was going to solve all the problems, they’re going to hire all these people and do all these things. The system is worse today than when he made the announcement,” Falcon told reporters.
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau and several Liberal MLAs also raised issues around health-care.
