Fredericton’s Clinic 554 gets visit from Deputy PM, who pledges more pressure on province
Six weeks after she crossed the floor, Fredericton member of parliament Jenica Atwin welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister on a tour of her riding – which began with a visit to Clinic 554.
The family practice has been at the centre of a years-long battle on abortion access in New Brunswick. The clinic’s doctor, Adrian Edgar, has focused his practice on the LGBTQ population and reproductive healthcare.
That includes abortions – a service not funded in N.B. if it happens outside a hospital.
The service is covered by Medicare at three hospitals –the Moncton Hospital, Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital and the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst.
In the days leading up to the last federal election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to sit down with the Blaine Higgs government on the issue.
“We will ensure that the New Brunswick government allows access, paid for access, to clinics that offer abortion services outside of hospitals,” he said during a stop in Fredericton on Oct. 15, 2019.
On Friday, Dr. Edgar said he felt optimistic after meeting with Atwin and Chrystia Freeland.
“There was just a lot of brainstorming,” he said. “We really spent quite a long time thinking about how we can get New Brunswick to be on par with the rest of the country.”
Freeland alluded to having more to say in the future on the issue – but mentioned that Ottawa has taken action, by withholding of a portion of N.B.’s health transfer payment last year.
“The claw back is significant, and we mean what we say about that,” she said. “We’re going to have more to say specifically in the next couple days.”
Premier Blaine Higgs said he’s checked with Horizon Health Authority, and says the Network told him the service is well covered by the three hospitals – but are willing to revisit should that change.
“Let’s not continue to make this a political football,” Higgs said. “Let’s base it on the facts and the facts are that the Horizon Health Network are very prepared to have further discussions to meet the needs if indeed there’s a need required.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.