Moore: Remarks just publicity stunt

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This article was published 01/04/2016 (3628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Liberal candidate who advocated for closing hospitals at a recent Brandon debate said it was all part of a ploy to generate media attention.

Brandon West Liberal candidate Billy Moore said Thursday his comments were part of a ruse designed to generate publicity.

“What I said (at the debate) was to get publicity in Brandon West,” Moore said. “I cannot stand by what I said … except to thank people for the comments and publicity which I received, which I was looking for. Now, I can talk to them about health care and I’m 100 per cent supportive of health care.”

On Wednesday at the Brandon Friendship Centre’s debate, Moore said “There are too many hospitals and consequently the cost of it, a wait time is very long.”

Moore, one of several last-minute Liberal candidates, went on to say that if the government eliminated some hospitals that “people won’t want to get sick because they have nowhere to go.”

Less than 24 hours later, he retracted those statements.

“We cannot close hospitals,” Moore said. “The population is exploding so we need health care institutions whereby people can be treated.”

The comments are perceived as another black eye for the Liberals and come on the heels of five prospective candidates being disqualified from running in the April 19 election. Three were rejected by Elections Manitoba due to improper addresses, another missed a deadline, while a fifth was disqualified after it was revealed she worked as an enumerator earlier this year.

At an announcement in Niverville Thursday, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari claimed Moore’s comments were misunderstood.

“What he was trying to say was if we focus on preventative measures, so people don’t have to use hospitals, we won’t use that many,” she said, reiterating that her party’s platform does not include closing hospitals.

Brandon West incumbent Progressive Conservative candidate Reg Helwer, who was at the debate, strongly disagrees with Moore’s comments.

“I deplore the comments about closing hospitals made at (Wednesday’s) debate,” Helwer said. “These comments from my Liberal opponent also underscore the Selinger NDP record of closing over 20 emergency rooms across Manitoba.”

Helwer, who was first elected in 2011, said Manitobans are paying more and getting less under the NDP government.

“In fact, 2,300 doctors have fled since 1999 under the NDP, and Manitoba has the worst record for doctor retention in the country,” he said.

“We can also never forget the NDP promised to fix hallway medicine and failed to do so, giving us highway medicine where too many patients have to leave the province to get needed help. And now my Liberal opponent’s plan would build on that failed record.”

Helwer said a Tory government, if elected, will enhance access to health-care services, investing $160 million over eight years to increase the number of personal care home beds in the province by 1,200.

“We will establish an improved doctor recruitment and retention program with a goal to have the most improved retention rates in our first term, a stark contrast with my Liberal opponent’s belief that we need to close hospitals and the NDP record of closing emergency rooms,” Helwer added.

“As I’ve said since day one of the campaign, NDP waste is threatening essential frontline services and now my Liberal opponent wants to join them in making access to health-care services even worse.”

Brandon West NDP candidate Linda Ross, who was also at the debate, said she was shocked when Moore made his comments.

“Families need to be very concerned about these kinds of statements,” Ross said. “The Liberals saying they’re going to close hospitals and, of course, (PC Leader Brian) Pallister saying he’s going to cut half a billion out of the budget that only hurts services to families.”

The New Democrats are committed to increasing services, including community-based care, according to Ross.

“We can’t close hospitals,” Ross said. “Everyone knows we need more health services not fewer.”

Ross highlighted NDP election promises to bring a QuickCare clinic to Brandon and invest in the Emergency Paramedic in the Community program as evidence the party is serious about reducing wait times.

“There are still problems,” she said. “There have been improvements in wait times for various services … not to say there isn’t room for more improvement, but you just keep chipping away at it one day at a time and you make progress gradually. You can’t solve these problems overnight.”

» ctweed@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

» Twitter: @CharlesTweed