Statement from Peter Bevan-Baker on Mistreatment of Island Nurses by Dennis King

Dennis King and his Conservatives do not care about our frontline healthcare workers. They do not care about those Islanders working on the frontline and holding our system together.

Island nurses have been without a contract for two years, and now Dennis King has again delayed negotiations on a new contract. During that time, nurses have stepped up time and again to fill the gaps in our crumbling healthcare system. They have given up vacation, they have given up time with friends and family, they have sacrificed so Islanders can receive healthcare.

No one but Dennis King decided Islanders should go to the polls a full seven months before the fixed election date. This decision to call a snap election was only about his party’s political ambitions.

Now Island nurses are left without a contract while the Premier stumps on the campaign trail about how he would be good for healthcare workers. Health PEI says because of the election, the earliest a contract can be negotiated will be sometime in June. Instead of doing the work when he needed to more than two years ago, Dennis King simply expects and demands our already overworked frontline healthcare workers to wait longer and continue to show up to fill the gaps.

We are losing healthcare workers, including nurses, every day on PEI. How does Dennis King expect to attract new healthcare workers when this is how he treats the ones we have?

In 2019, Dennis King promised he would negotiate collective agreements in good faith and in a timely manner. Like most of his healthcare promises, they were broken before they were even spoken. He has not lived up to Islanders’ expectations or the standard he set for himself.

This is not leadership. This is just another example of the contempt Dennis King has towards the frontline healthcare workers of this province. It is a slap in the face for those who have stepped up, going above and beyond, to provide the healthcare Islanders need.

A Green government will partner with all our frontline workers and their unions and give them the respect and pay they deserve.

Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Green Party of PEI

Green Candidate for D17 New Haven-Rocky Point

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For media inquiries, please contact:
Jonathan Hamel
Director of Communications, Green Party of PEI
Tel: (902) 916-7816
Email: jonathan.hamel@greenparty.pe.ca