‘I’m laser focused on listening to people,’ says Dinn

By Mark Squibb

Progressive Conservative Paul Dinn said the decision to put his name forward for election in Topsail-Paradise for a third time was an easy one.
“The MHA tends to be a last line of resort for people looking for answers, and I truly enjoy helping people out,” said Dinn. “That’s what I’ve done for a long time, and I hope to continue doing it.”
Like the Liberals, the PCs have made a number of costly campaign promises. Dinn suggested the PCs can redirect ill spent money of the past – such as that spent on travel nurses – towards funding those campaign promises.
“There’s also ways to put money back in the bank,” added Dinn. “One thing I’ve always advocated for is a fully subsidized glucose monitoring program. Diabetes Canada tells us that if we implement that program this province can save up to $100 million per year.”
While there has been some disagreement over the exact size of the deficit the province is saddled with, Dinn estimates it to be in the billions.
“As I’ve said there are ways to save money without making big investments,” said Dinn. “The current government has a Future Fund, and it’s good to have money put away for a rainy day, but the flip side of that is that some of that money could be possibly utilized to pay down the debt. I think we have to have a clear look at the books and see where money can be saved or where investments can be better made to pay down the debt. Right now, it’s ballooned and I believe we need to keep an eye on it and try and reduce it. But we also need to look at essential services. I always say there’s ‘nice to have’ and ‘need to have’ items. We need to focus on the ‘need to have.’”
As for health care, Dinn said some of the issues prevalent today began popping up during the pandemic, and the Liberal government is well behind the rest of country in dealing with them.
Dinn suggested the government could help with overhead costs for private clinics, offer paid work term placements and tuition assistance if a heath care professional decides to stay in the province.
Another big-ticket item this election is the memorandum of understanding between the province and Quebec regarding a new Churchill Falls deal.
While the Liberal Party has hailed the deal as a milestone promising years of plenty and prosperity for all, the PCs have been skeptical, calling for an independent review of the details.
“I’ve read the MOU and sat in the House of Assembly back in January and sat through what they called a debate,” said Dinn. “What I came out of that knowing was that I don’t know enough. I’m not sure enough to tie us into another 50-plus years. There are some issues that I’ve asked questions on, and the answers didn’t give me a clear feeling that it was a good deal… We’ve simply asked for an independent reivew of this MOU. It hasn’t happened. What we’ve seen is an (oversight) committee, and we know that one of those members has left because he questioned the independence of it… I’m not ready to sign off on something that I’m not 110 per cent certain is going to be the best deal for this province.”
On the subject of immigration, Dinn said it is necessary to fill roles in fields such as healthcare across Canada.
“But if people are coming in, whether immigrants or people from other provinces, when they come into the province, we need to ensure that they are set up for success, and we also need to ensure that our own residents receive the same,” said Dinn. “Immigration is needed across Canada, but we have to make sure the supports are there and that it’s not to the detriment of others.”
As for district issues in Topsail-Paradise, Dinn said that Route 60 still badly needs upgrades, an extra water tower is needed in Paradise, traffic congestion remains an issue there too, and the completion of the long promised high school remains high on residents’ wish list.
A former deputy mayor with the Town of Paradise, Dinn was elected in a 2019 by-election and re-elected in 2021. He holds bachelor’s degrees in commerce and education from Memorial University and has worked for over 30 years in the public sector.
When asked how he felt running against Dan Bobbett, a former member of Paradise council whom he had sat at the council table with, Dinn said he isn’t running against anybody, but running for the electorate.
“I’m laser focused on listening to people at the doors,” said Dinn. “I’m focused on helping the people, and that’s been my focus since day one. I always say I’m elected by the people to serve the people… I’m running on my record. I’ve been open, and transparent and easy to access. I’ve been at all the events. There’s no one out there that should feel they cannot contact Paul Dinn if they have an issue.”