Canadian Cancer Survivor Network poses questions to the parties and candidates of the 2019 Newfoundland and Labrador election campaign.
Our Network asks questions on healthcare and cancer care to prospective policy-makers during Federal and Provincial election campaigns to better inform voters about their positions. We hope this information will help you direct your concerns to your provincial public representatives.
Candidates’ responses will be posted in this section as we receive them.
To become involved in our political advocacy campaigns, contact Canadian Cancer Survivor Network President and CEO Jackie Manthorne at jmanthorne@survivornet.ca .
Questions:
Question 1: National Pharmacare: Canada’s universal healthcare system does not include access to prescription medicines. The result is a provincial /territorial patchwork of public and private
insurance plans that are costly, ineffective and do not guarantee access to prescribed drugs. The federal government has set up an Advisory Council on the Implementation of Pharmacare to look at how access to prescription drugs can be improved in our healthcare system. Patients throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are concerned that national pharmacare will lead to a list of
covered drugs that only meets the lowest common denominator.
– If elected, will your government support the implementation of a national pharmacare program that guarantees access to prescription medicines and a plan that goes beyond a formulary that meets the lowest common denominator?
– If not, please explain how your party will ensure that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have timely access to prescription drugs.
Question 2: Information on Breast Density Over 40% of women over the age of 40 have dense breasts. Having dense breasts can make it more difficult for radiologists viewing mammograms to
spot cancer because dense breast tissue shows up as white, which is the same color as a cancerous tumor. Dense breasts often cause breast cancer to go undiagnosed in the early stages, and therefore increases an individual’s risk of developing later stage breast cancer.
– If elected to government, will you commit to ensuring that women are notified about their breast density as part of their mammogram reports?
– If elected to government, will you support a campaign to raise public awareness and improve education on breast density?
Question 3: Second Hand Smoking: Exposure to second-hand smoke is a great health risk for patients with compromised immune systems and health conditions. According to Health Canada, the chemicals inhaled by a smoker through their cigarette makes up the same chemicals inhaled by those exposed to second-hand smoke. The province’s Smoke-Free Environment Act 2005 does not establish perimeter bans around all public buildings to protect residents in multi-unit dwellings by declaring a 100% smoke-free policy in all multi-unit dwellings.
– If elected, what steps will your party take to address perimeter bans on second-hand smoke around buildings?
– If elected, what steps will your party take to address drifting smoke in multi-unit buildings?
Official Party Platforms
Official Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador Response
Question 1 response:
Our Government is encouraged by work underway on a national pharmacare program. If done correctly, such a program has the potential to improve access to medicine that residents use to treat illness and restore their health, particularly newly-developed and expensive therapies for illnesses such as certain cancers. We look forward to working further with our federal partners to determine whether, and how, such a national program could benefit our residents, along with all Canadians.
Question 2 response:
The impact of breast density on detection of breast cancer is an emerging research area. We all need greater clarity on the best course of action and would be interested in speaking with you further about this. We understand Breast Screen Australia and the UK’s National Health Service have not recommended routinely providing women with information about breast density and do not recommend supplemental screening. The US Preventative Service Task Force concluded there is insufficient evidence for adjunctive screening in women with dense breasts. Some jurisdictions have moved forward with adjustments to screening relating to breast density, but the approach has been inconsistent. In light of this emerging issue, we are ensuring the Department of Health and Community Services and Eastern Health engage clinical experts to review evidence relating to breast density notification and screening, and provide recommendations for the provincial cancer program. We very much welcome your input on this.
We are committed to working across all provincial jurisdictions to develop a national approach on this issue. If a public campaign proves to be warranted your provincial liberal government would be at the forefront of providing such awareness programs.
Question 3 response:
Your Liberal Government does have a policy in place that addresses a smoking perimeter ban at the entrance to public buildings. Smoking within 30 feet of the entrance to the Confederation Building and the Motor Vehicle Building in Mount Pearl, for example, is prohibited and government has included all health authorities, the English School District, Memorial University campuses and College of the North Atlantic. Over 90 municipalities have put in smoking restrictions associated with the entrance and exits of buildings. Expanding the perimeter ban will require a review of our current ability to enforce the ban and provide proper oversight. As you are aware there are many issues related to smoking from a prevention, protection and cessation perspective. The issue of perimeter bans is being considered within the broader government initiative as a means of reducing smoking in our province by a further 4% by 2025.
Question 4 response:
It should be noted that under the Smoke Free Environment Act the question of residential buildings is addressed in section 4 which indicates that smoking in defined common areas is prohibited.
4. (1) a person shall not smoke in
(q) A common area of a hotel, motel, commercial building or multi-unit residential building, including a corridor, lobby, stairwell, elevator, escalator, eating area, washroom or restroom;
Landlords also have the right to limit or eliminate smoking in their units if they want to add such a clause in their leasing documents.
Your Liberal Government is amenable to looking at this issue, including the legal questions on offer which include the rights of a renter. Certainly a collaborative evidence based approach is vital if we are to reduce smoking and address the intrusion of second hand smoke as part of a reduction strategy. For each of our government decisions, whether for new legislation, policies or spending, the focus must be on the full impacts and we have to avoid unintended consequences where possible. Having input from groups such as the Cancer Survivor Network is critical to our decision-making process and we appreciate the opinions being expressed.
Ches Crosbie, Leader of the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador
Question 1 response
Yes.
Newfoundland and Labrador's needs are greater, o n a per-capita basis, than those of other provinces because our population is more thinly dispersed and its age profile is older (meaning costlier, from a care perspective) than those of other jurisdictions. We will fight to secure greater funding on a "needs" basis rather than on a "per-capita basis"
under the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer. We will press the government of Canada and other governments to cooperate on national programs - such as Pharmacare - that will reduce health care costs for provinces. We will fight to ensure any such program recognizes the particular needs of our province, with its relatively high proportion of seniors, who generally require more health care and medications. Through the Council of the Federation and First Ministers' Meetings, we will press for other initiatives that would benefit our province and the country, including long-term care and child care strategies, labour market agreements, immigration strategies, innovation and infrastructure strategies, and so forth.
We will adjust the provincial drug coverage program to be in line with established clinical guidelines and standards.
We will educate health care providers and patients about the appropriateness of various tests, procedures and treatments to minimize waste and harm in the health care system. Our efforts will complement the work of Choosing Wisely Newfoundland and Labrador (CWNL), which launched in October 2016. CWNL is coordinated by the Translational and Personalized Medicine Initiative at Memorial University, and works in partnership with all
provincial Regional Health Authorities, the Newfoundland Labrador Centre for Health Information, the NL Medical Association and the Patient Advisory Council. CWNL is working to reduce unnecessary testing across the province. We will support the efforts of CWNL to reduce waste and improve our health care system.
We will establish a NL Quality Health Council. When decisions about treatment are made on a foundation of solid evidence, patients benefit and health care funding is used more effectively. This Council wil be responsible for interpreting evidence and proposing follow-up actions to ensure the province's health care investment decisions are made in the best interests of patients. The Council will be an independent body that consistently reports on outcomes, similar to the financial Auditor General but focused on clinical outcomes. Patients are better served when we minimize waste and harm in the health care system. Supporting the objectives of the collaborative effort between Quality of Care NL and Choosing Wisely NL, the Council will focus on ensuring the right treatments get to the right patients at the right time.
Question 2 response
We will maximize the use of e-technology to better integrate and modernize the health care system. We will advance the use of the Electronic Medical Record to improve the flow of information among health care providers. In this regard, we will employ technologies such as eConsult, which improves the management of patient referrals. We will maximize the implementation of electronic tools to remind patients of appointments, thereby reducing the large volume of missed appointments.
We will improve communication among all health care providers so that allied health care providers are efficiently using Electronic Medical Records to track patient care. This will minimize errors and avoid needless duplication.
We will improve telehealth so patients can have better access to health care providers. By adapting the rules regarding provider payment for telemedicine consultations, we will reduce the travel costs for patients and the cost burden to the system.
We wil provide patients with better access to their own medical record by working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information (NLCHI). This technology wil enable patients to access their blood work results, scans, clinical notes, etc. We will improve preventative medicine efforts through effective marketing that teaches people to adopt healthy lifestyles, engage in physical activity, eat healthier and reduce stress.
We will enable health care providers to spend more time with their patients by providing a more flexible fee structure. Patients benefit when their health care providers can take the time to provide education about healthy lifestyle choices.
Question 3:
We will open up a conversation about strengthening the enforcement of smoking prohibitions to reduce expose to second-hand smoke. Public buy in is needed to make such policies enforceable. We encouraging you to support the conversation by helping to spread the facts about the consequences of exposure to second-hand smoke. These
have been said time and again, but without continual reinforcement, the message loses its urgency for many. This may be particularly true at a time when the country is adjusting to new laws permitting the smoking of marijuana and the growing prevalence of vaping - both of which are essentially smoking behaviours that acclimatize people to
the behaviour. Hopefully this will not turn back the clock on gains we have made in smoking reduction.
We will do our part to encourage people not to smoke. We will improve preventative medicine efforts through effective marketing that teaches people to adopt healthy lifestyles, engage in physical activity, eat healthier and reduce stress. We will enable health care providers to spend more time with their patients by providing a more flexible fee structure. Patients benefit when their health care providers can take the time to provide education about healthy lifestyle choices.
We will appoint a Chief Wellness Officer for Newfoundland and Labrador. A Chief Wellness Officer is an official who provides strategic vision, planning and direction to the development, implementation and evaluation of initiatives to improve health and well-being outcomes for people; regularly monitors and reports outcomes; raises awareness
and provides education; creates a culture of wellness; and so forth. This official will find ways to make Newfoundlanders and Labradorians healthier so they are more resilient and need less care from the health system in the long run. This work will improve people's lives while reducing costs.
We will implement basic first aid training, including instruction in the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), for every high school student. These courses have been shown to save lives. We believe such a program will have the added benefit of making young people aware of the importance of good health and the fragility of life.
We are also supporting the implementation of the recommendations of the Colins Task Force on improving educational outcomes, some of which regard wellness. We believe such initiatives - if done well - can motivate more young people to avoid harmful behaviour.
I encourage you to read our other policies on healthcare and other matters in our Blue Book - https://crosbie2019.ca/blue-book/
Sincerely,
Ches Crosbie
Leader of the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador
Micheal Holden (PC Candidate: Humber - Bay of Islands)
Question 1 response:
Yes 100%. This needs to happen.
Question 2 response:
Yes 100%.
Question 3 response:
Answer: We will declare a 100% smoke-free policy in all multi-unit dwellings and establish clear perimeter bans around public buildings. This needs to happen.
Question 4 response:
Again, clear boundaries around multi unit buildings
David Brake (NDP: Mount Pearl-Southlands)
Question 1: National Pharmacare
If elected, will your government support the implementation of a national pharmacare program that guarantees access to prescription medicines and a plan that goes beyond a formulary that meets the lowest common denominator?
Response: We have consistently advocated a national pharmacare program.
Question 2:
If elected to government, will you commit to ensuring that women are notified about their breast density as part of their mammogram reports?
If elected to government, will you support a campaign to raise public awareness and improve education on breast density?
Question 3: Second Hand Smoking
Exposure to second-hand smoke is a great health risk for patients with compromised immune systems and health conditions. According to Health Canada, the chemicals inhaled by a smoker through their cigarette makes up the same chemicals inhaled by those exposed to second-hand smoke. The province’s Smoke-Free Environment Act 2005 does not establish perimeter bans around all public buildings to protect residents in multi-unit dwellings by declaring a 100% smoke-free policy in all multi-unit dwellings.
If elected, what steps will your party take to address perimeter bans on second-hand smoke around buildings?
Response: I do not know if the party has a position but I would advocate reasonable perimeter bans consistent with best practice.
If elected, what steps will your party take to address drifting smoke in multi-unit buildings?
Response: I do not know if the party has a position but I would personally advocate a 100% smoke-free policy in such buildings.
Tomás Shea (NDP: Windsor Lake)
First, I would like to thank you for reaching out to myself and other candidates during this election season about such important matters as cancer care/diagnosis. I have lost many members of my family due to cancer and am proud to champion the strength of my Aunt every day as a person who was not only diagnosed and treated for cancer but had a second occurrence of it and has recently been able to ring the bell here in St. John’s. I hope that my answers to your questions below satisfy you and the other members of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network.
Question 1: National Pharmacare
If elected, will your government support the implementation of a national pharmacare program that guarantees access to prescription medicines and a plan that goes beyond a formulary that meets the lowest common denominator?
Answer: Yes, If I am elected to government or my party forms government we will support the implementation of a national pharmacare program that guarantees access to prescription medicines that goes beyond simply satisfying the lowest common denominator
Question 2: Information on Breast Density
If elected to government, will you commit to ensuring that women are notified about their breast density as part of their mammogram reports?
Answer: Yes, this is a simple step that can dramatically improve the level of examination accuracy.
If elected to government, will you support a campaign to raise public awareness and improve education on breast density?
Answer: Yes!
Question 3: Second Hand Smoking
If elected, what steps will your party take to address perimeter bans on second-hand smoke around buildings?
Answer: If elected our party will make aim to issue a revision of the province’s existing Smoke-Free Environment Act changing so as to prohibit smoking around the perimeter of and within all multi-unit dwellings just as it has previously been implemented around other public buildings. Also likely increasing the fines/penalties for smoking-related offices to quickly curtail any people who wish not to abide by the new regulations.
If elected, what steps will your party take to address drifting smoke in multi-unit buildings?
Answer: As per my answer above we will aim to revise the province’s existing Smoke-Free Environment Act and increase the penalties for those who continue to think more about themselves then the health and environment all around them.
Thank you once again for reaching out to me on this matter.