In my commentary on this topic published in June 2025, I touched on the role that the Civil Service should be playing in finding solutions to those difficult issues in health and long-term care that just keep getting worse.  As we seem to go from bad to worse on these issues that are of such importance to the public, politicians take all of the hits that result in interesting headlines and shots in the legislature as they try to explain issues.  They usually are crises, with each party attempting to pressure the party in power into announcing something.  Just announce something that sounds plausible so we can debate and criticize.

That is the typical process that so often results in disappointment for one side, frustration for the public, and a small victory for whoever won the skirmish.

I have watched this performance in our legislature for 25 years as the key issues of Human Resources, access to primary care, emergency department overflow with long waits, and the backlog for long-term care with all the issues in that sector that have remained fallow for decades.  I have watched as “debates” take place and all too often what I was seeing and hearing was not too impressive.  Often responses to opposition questions would represent, to my ears, information that I honestly knew to be lacking.  Sometimes I would leave wondering where that came from.

Minister Shepherd was a breath of fresh air when she dared to start her budget speech with the line that now resonates with many: “you cannot reform health care until you fix long-term care!”  Knowledgeable people in those sectors took note!

That politicians deserve heat goes without saying; they are the ones who get elected with promises to fix issues that they deem the public to be most concerned with.  And many of them become very skilled at responding to questions.