An opposition MLA is questioning the accessibility of Health P.E.I.’s board meetings and whether they are truly open to the public.
Morell-Mermaid MLA Sidney MacEwen had pressed the province during Wednesday’s sitting of legislature to make the board meetings public, since the province is now amending the Health Services Act, which dictates the terms of reference for board members.
However, following question period it was reported Health P.E.I. meetings actually are open to Islanders. While the meetings are not advertised, Islanders can call Health P.E.I. ahead of time to get the date and location of the next board meeting.
MacEwen said he did not feel that constitutes a public meeting.
“The fact the minister doesn’t know they’re public and you have to call a number and request to attend a meeting, that’s not my definition of a public meeting at all,” said MacEwen. “This bill came to the floor last week and we debated it again (Wednesday) and both times the minister explained why they can’t have public meetings.”
In the board’s governance policies, which are available online, a section titled “public attendance at board meetings” simply states: “Health P.E.I. may determine from time to time to hold meetings of the board of directors which are open to the public to attend.”
The Guardian reached out to Health P.E.I. for clarification but did not receive a response by deadline.
Health P.E.I.’s policies also state proceedings from board meetings will be released to the public within 30 days of the approval of the meeting’s minutes. However, the section also included a number of matters that can be excluded from public release.
Health Minister Robert Henderson himself appeared to be unaware during question period on Wednesday that members of the public could attend Health P.E.I. meetings.
Henderson said he would leave the decision to make meetings public up to the board and also said Health P.E.I. seeks public feedback through community health engagement committees.
“As far as open and public meetings, I’ll leave that to the Health P.E.I. board itself to decide,” Henderson said during question period.
The amended act will also include term limits and requirements for member attendance at meetings.
MacEwen requested remuneration and attendance records of board members be made public.
“The board oversees $664 million in our budget, I think the public deserves to know how many times they’re meeting and who’s been at these meetings,” said McEwen, who also questioned the underlying reasons for the amendments. “We’re making changes to the act for some reason… there are obviously issues.”
Henderson said he would try to get both of those items to table in the legislature.
He said there was “no sense of cynicism” of the board in amending the act.
“It’s just simply a case where we feel there should be term limits,” he said.
