The Dennis King government’s first capital budget is pretty much what Islanders expected.
Tabled on Friday, the $156 million capital budget – the same amount allocated last year by the Liberals – is prioritizing health care and mental health infrastructure as well as building new schools in Stratford and Sherwood, and renovations to three other schools in the province. There are also significant investments planned for parks and social housing.
Groups looking for climate change initiatives are likely disappointed with funding for only one electric bus even though the number of charging stations on P.E.I. is increasing.
But the capital budget also highlights an underlying challenge facing the province. It’s a lot like a line from the movie Field of Dreams – “if you build it, they will come.”
Well, the government’s capital budget is committed to building, especially replacing the Hillsborough Hospital. And the PCs are putting our money where their mouth is by increasing spending for mental health facilities from $100 million in the previous capital budget to $147 million.
The question is: will they come? And, by “they,” we mean can the government get those health care and mental health professionals to come to the Island and deliver those programs and services? The same can be said for the plan to create rural health-care hubs. Great idea, but let’s make sure we have the health professionals in place to make them work.
Of course, spending on health care and mental health professionals is a matter for the operating budget. But the capital budget spending priorities are a reminder that we need to make sure we have the resources needed to deliver on those priorities.
The Hillsborough Hospital desperately needs to be replaced. It won’t be done “immediately” as the campaigning PCs said leading up to the provincial election. But let’s hope it gets built sooner rather than later because P.E.I. clearly needs better mental health services and facilities.
The government is also planning to spend money on an electronic and digital medical record system. Again, great idea. But as Green Party finance critic Michele Beaton reminded everyone during question period, there is something we need to do first – improve internet service in the province, especially in rural areas. There isn’t much point in having electronic medical records if it takes rural doctors a painfully long time to upload them. At the very least, this should be motivation for the province to finally improve rural internet service.
Overall, it’s a good, safe capital budget that checks a lot of boxes. It’s hard to argue that spending money on schools, social housing, health care and mental health services and facilities isn’t a good thing. And in fact, over the budget’s five years, the province is planning to spend $75 million more to improve the lives of Islanders compared to the previous capital budget.
But the budget also points out that the province still has a lot of work to do in order to make those budget promises realize their potential.
