CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Independent MLA Bush Dumville says Premier Wade MacLauchlan’s chief of staff called him about extra money for paving and told him to keep it quiet because it was only for Liberal districts.
During Thursday’s question period, Dumville asked about a call he said chief of staff Robert Vessey made to him during the 2017 paving season asking if he needed extra recap paving for his district.
“He stated that they had an extra $2 million for paving but to keep it quiet because it was targeted for Liberal-held districts only,” he said.
Dumville asked Transportation Minister Paula Biggar why the call came from the chief of staff’s office and not her department.
Biggar responded by listing spending on several infrastructure projects and pointing to several MLAs on the other side of the house, saying the department spent money in their districts.
“And we will continue to work right across the province with the districts to invest in infrastructure,” she said.
Dumville continued by asking if Biggar would provide extra recap paving to Opposition districts that didn’t receive it.
“I’m just talking about fairness here,” he said.
Biggar said there will be more recap paving in the province as part of the latest capital budget, and she continued to list infrastructure projects, including several in Dumville’s district.
“I’ll continue to work with members right across the Island,” she said.
Dumville said there was a “pattern of troubling behaviour” coming from Vessey’s office.
“Minister, who’s in charge of the Department of Transportation? You or Mr. Vessey?”
Biggar said when calls come in from communities they go to her office, not Vessey’s.
reply back to members and I reply back to residents that have concerns,” she said.
Opposition MLA Steven Myers continued to press the government on the same issue and asked MacLauchlan if he allowed government departments to use departmental money to buy votes.
MacLauchlan responded the government’s objective is to serve the needs of Islanders.
“And I’m proud to say that we’re doing a great job of it,” he said.
Myers disagreed.
“You’re doing a terrible job of it. There’s roads in my district you can hardly walk on let alone drive your car on,” he said.
He then asked why the government isn’t splitting up recap paving based on geography instead of who is Liberal and who is Conservative “like it’s 1950?”
Biggar responded that her department considers a lot of factors when planning, including consultations with Opposition members about the needs in their districts.
“When we put together a plan we have to take into consideration the traffic, the amount of break-up on roads and go from there,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the premier’s office said Vessey was not available to speak to the media Thursday.