Inconsistencies and poor judgment follow Minister

HALIFAX, NS – Progressive Conservative Community Services critic Keith Bain says the NDP’s Community Services Minister is lurching from one bad decision to another.

Today at the House of Assembly, when asked by media about her actions at Talbot House, the Minister said she received “a letter from a complainant and we went to the board.”  She continued on to say, “It is our duty to go to the board of directors.”

This is the complete opposite of the Minister’s actions in the case of the East Preston Day Care. In that matter, the Minister was alerted to an alleged abuser employed at the daycare but the Minister chose not to inform the daycare’s board of directors. They found out about the situation eight months later through the media.

“The Minister has treated the board of directors at Talbot House and Father Abbass in a disrespectful way,” said Bain, noting that the Minister’s department published allegations against Father Abbass on the department’s website.

The report on the website was confidential and has a disclaimer that says “The report contains confidential and identifiable personal information.”  

“How can she say one week that it isn’t her duty to inform the board of directors, as was the case with the East Preston Day Care, but this week she informs the whole world about the allegations that were falsely leveled at Father Abbass?” charged Bain.

Bain and PC leader Jamie Baillie questioned the Minister on her actions in the House of Assembly today.

“The Minister’s flip-flopping and inconsistency only serve to raise even more questions,” said Bain.

The PC’s have been demanding answers from the Community Services Minister about her department’s handling of the case of an alleged abuser working at the East Preston Day Care. Bain says the Minister’s refusal to acknowledge the mistake increases the risk that a similar occurrence could happen again.

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