Liberals keep controversial Medavie deal under wraps until signing

Health Minister Benot Bourque says New Brunswickers won't get details of the Liberal government's contract with Medavie to run extramural care until after the deal is signed.

Bourque told the CBCNews politicalpanel that the contract is being worked on.

"Anyone of us who negotiates our salaries, or contracts or benefits for any unions will not go in front of people saying, 'This is what we're negotiating,'" he said.

'The minister has a solution looking for a problem.We don't have a problem with extramural. It's working well.'- David Coon, Green Party MLA

In September, the BrianGallant government announced it would be privatizing the management of extramural nursing and Tele-Care, putting them under the control of Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, a not-for-profit private company.

Although the extramural program was highly regarded within and outside New Brunswick, the Liberals started talking more than a year ago about turning it over to Medavie.

The government chose Medavie without issuing acall for proposals.

Bourque wouldn't reveal how far along negotiations are with the company but said the contract will be signed before Jan. 1, when the deal is to go into effect.

The estimated cost for the first year of a proposed 10-year contract is $4.4 million.

It was the government's decision not to call for proposals that concerned Progressive Conservative MLA Brian Macdonald.

"It's not fair for them to say, 'Oh, we talked about it or we mentioned it in the speech from the throne," he said during the panel discussion.

"Companies are waiting for a request for proposal. It's a specific process."

Questions purpose

Green Party Leader David Coon said he doesn't understand why the changes to extramural are necessary in the first place.

"The minister has a solution looking for a problem," said Coon.

"We don't have a problem with extramural. It's working well."

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin expressedconcern about accountability, saying it's hard enough to get information out of Crown corporations such as Opportunities NB.

He thinks Medavie will be much the same.

Finds ambulance a mystery too

"It seems like the more you privatize these essentially private services, the less information you're going to get out of them,"

"Look at Ambulance New Brunswick. Try to get information on that."

The decision to payMedavieto take over extramural managementhas baffled patients and people in health care, andBourqueand Gallant havenot explained why it is necessary except to say it isn't to save money.

They also haven't explained howMedaviewill do a better job than current managers of extramural services.

But Progressive Conservative Leader BlaineHiggs, who is opposed to the Medavie plan, has said it might be hard to scrap if it's airtight. He'sbeen tryingto find out more about it.

He has asked in thelegislature, for instance, whether the government will be able to walk away from the deal ifMedaviemisses performance targets.