Lali Says Campbell Liberals Continue Rural Abandonment
The Campbell government’s refusal to answer questions raised in the Legislature last week about the need for improvements to paramedic services is an insult to smaller communities who depend on stable, reliable emergency services, said Yale-Lillooet New Democrat, MLA Harry Lali.
Harry Lali
“It makes no sense whatsoever to weaken ambulance service in the communities of Merritt, Chase and Oliver,” said Lali. “It shows once again that the Campbell government has lost total touch with the realities of living in small town B.C.”
Chemainus, Castlegar, Chase, Fernie, Invermere, Merritt and Oliver are all rural communities that will have their paramedic services cut. The Minister of Health was questioned repeatedly on plans to replace several full-time paramedic positions with part-time positions and that pay foxtrot (standby) wages of only $10 per hour.
“The downsizing of hospitals means reliance on ambulance B.C. Liberal Government would rather continue to pump more taxpayers’ dollars into the Vancouver Convention Centre boondoggle than support rural communities like Merritt.”
The New Democrats asked the Health Minister to stand up for these communities in rural B.C., and to reinstate the funding to provide adequate ambulance services in the area. Minister Abbott refused to acknowledge their plans would weaken emergency service in affected communities and instead congratulated his own government on “the remarkable improvements” to ambulance service in B.C.
