Vandal wants explanation for long testing lineups

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This article was published 22/09/2020 (1458 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, Manitoba’s senior Liberal MP, said he was “unpleasantly surprised” that Winnipeggers have experienced long lines and delays in getting COVID-19 testing after Ottawa provided more than $100 million to Manitoba to expand capacity.

With Premier Brian Pallister still in Ottawa, Vandal posted a chart on Twitter that showed federal support for COVID-19 testing should have tripled the total number of tests performed in Manitoba each day. Vandal said he got that information from a letter sent to Ottawa by the Pallister government.

Vandal noted the federal government is providing $380 million to Manitoba through its $19-billion “safe restart” program. Out of that total, $109 million is dedicated to expanding testing capacity.

“I’m always of the opinion that there is room for improvement no matter what level of government,” Vandal said. “When I see the (testing) lines becoming longer and longer, rather than shorter, and I get complaints from constituents about testing lines becoming too long, then that is surprising for me. It’s an unpleasant surprise.”

Vandal’s tweet and comments come on the heels of a prolonged visit to Ottawa by Pallister that started with a mini premiers summit last week during which demands for increased health care transfers were made. Pallister was joined in Ottawa by Quebec Premier Francois Legault, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. The other premiers either ignored the gathering or joined by video conference.

The premiers asked for a $28-billion top-up to annual transfers to increase the federal government’s share of total health care costs to about one-third. Right now, the premiers claim Ottawa pays less than one-quarter of the total annual cost.

The premier travelled to the capital on Sept. 15; a week later, his staff still won’t confirm a date for his return.

A spokesman for the premier said that while the federal contribution is appreciated, the work to expand testing capacity began well before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the safe restart funding for projects. He added that the province had already started talks with Dynacare, an Ontario-based private lab, to open additional COVID-19 testing sites in Winnipeg.

Those efforts will allow an additional 1,400 tests per day, with the ability to increase to 2,600. “Once it has been delivered to Manitoba, federal funding will be applied to support increased testing capacity as outlined in the “safe restart” agreement,” the spokesman said.

Notwithstanding those comments from the premier’s office, concerns remain about long lines at testing facilities that have led to major delays and rampant frustration, particularly with schools having reopened. The province has promised to increase capacity for weeks, but there is little evidence it is succeeding.

Vandal said the federal Liberal government has attempted to be as receptive as possible to provincial demands but at some point, it needs to see results.

“The prime minister and the deputy prime minister have met with premiers 18 times since the pandemic began,” Vandal said. “In every meeting, they have talked about the importance of getting results for the investments that we are making. We’re basically looking for results from the investment the federal government is making in the health care system. Winnipeggers and Manitobans deserve nothing less.”

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca