Health care is improving, says Carbonear Liberal candidate

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Carbonear teacher Danielle Doyle is hoping her two terms on council will help springboard her effort for a seat in the House of Assembly as the Liberal Party candidate in Carbonear-Trinity-Bay de Verde district. 

Like all the candidates running for the two mainstream parties this election, she is part of a team promising hundreds of millions of dollars in additional spending against a provincial budget that is already some $400 million to a billion dollars in deficit, depending on who you ask. But she isn’t worried by that.

“We’re fortunate that we have people who work in our government departments and agencies who are able to find money within our budgetary system that we can commit to the promises that we are making in this election,” Doyle said.

If the Churchill Falls deal with Hydro Quebec is approved, she added, there will be additional cashflow to run more enhanced programs for the benefit of residents. 

Regarding criticism that has been voiced about the deal, Doyle said she can understand why people are cautious. 

“We have been burned before, twice,” Doyle said. “But we’ve learned from that, and we’ve become more educated on contracts. We are seeking all kinds of different advice and consulting with all kinds of people in a variety of industries and different levels of government.” 

Doyle said she has discussed the deal with people with backgrounds in engineering, economics, law, and more, and feels it would be good for Newfoundland and Labrador. IT will even bring down the deficit, she wagered.

“The deficit also accrues interest, so trying to eliminate some of that would be one of the most important things I think we could do for the population,” Doyle said. “And the Liberal government has already started to bring it down through the balanced approach that they’ve been working on for the past couple of years.”

When it comes to healthcare, Doyle thinks there is a lot of room for improvement. She said the difficulty in seeing a doctor is a problem nation-wide. 

“The Newfoundland government is offering incentives for providers and some of those incentives are the best in the country,” she said. 

Doyle said the focus should not only be on doctors, but on primary care teams, as well. “Sometimes instead of seeing a doctor, there are things that pharmacists can prescribe,” she said. “People have better access right now to nurse practitioners that they didn’t have this time last year. There are other options available to people besides going to an emergency room.”

Doyle said things are improving locally, such as an increase in joint replacements at Carbonear General Hospital, and the beginning of hiring for a mobile mental health unit. The Province has hired 140 physicians since April 2023, said Doyle, and there are plans for 10 more mobile primary care teams, and 14 more family care teams. 

“These primary care teams are doing great work,” said Doyle, adding she saw them at work at Carbonear Academy when it served as an evacuation centre for people displaced by the Kingston fire.

As for the growing concern across the country about the record levels of immigration and the effect it is having on housing availability and unemployment levels for Canadian citizens, Doyle said the case of every person coming into the country is different and should be looked at on a situation-by-situation basis. She argued that some of the larger companies in her district would not be able to operate without the foreign worker program. 

“Them not being able to operate would be detrimental to our industry and our whole region,” Doyle said. She added that Newfoundland has an aging population, and there are gaps in employment that need to be filled quickly. Young Newfoundlanders need more opportunities to work, she allowed, and suggested the education and employment systems could work together to help students find their way into the workforce. 

“I think we have to support all our residents in career opportunities because, at the end of the day, we want a productive society where everybody contributes in whatever way that they can and that leads for a better, sound province,” she said.

Among the issues most in need of address within the district, Doyle cited the need to hire more RCMP officers, and the need to help North Shore residents rebuild and get back in their communities.

The cost of living is another concern. 

“We need to continue to try to find ways to make things more affordable for people,” she said. 

Doyle said her eight years on council have provided experience that would benefit her as an MHA. 

“I have some feet-on-the-ground experiences from municipalities, to education, from the evacuation centre,” she said. “I’ve been on the board at the Trinity Conception Business Development Corporation for over 10 years. I’ve got some great experiences in rural development and promoted the rural areas of our province.” 

But Doyle admitted she is still learning, particularly about sectors such as the fishery.

“In order to represent the people to the best of my ability, I need to learn about the different resources that are in the region,” she said.