On September 10 I asked the Minister of Health and Wellness to tell us what the public is getting for the $120 million thee government is spending on the Shannex Hogan Court facility. Below is our exchange:
SUSAN LEBLANC : My question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. In March of this year, representatives from the Nova Scotia Health Authority said that agreements with Shannex over the sale of the Hogan Court hotel were ongoing and that it would be finalized in a matter of weeks. At the time, full costs were still unknown. Shannex's rate was being negotiated and consultants were still being paid for the work on the project. My question is: Can the minister confirm if a final agreement is in place and what is the total cost to Nova Scotians?
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON : Certainly, we continue with this exciting project that we are happy to partner with Shannex on: Parkland West Bedford , a state-of-the-art transition to care facility. While they have taken over the property itself, we continue to work with them and more details will be available.
SUSAN LEBLANC: That's a disappointing response, actually. The Auditor General's February report on the facility raised serious questions about this government's use of untendered agreements, even with Shannex themselves, and despite this criticism, the government's tender database shows a June 13th approval of a startling $120 million untendered contract to Shannex. My question is: Can the minister tell us what this $120 million is getting us, and why, despite the warnings and criticisms from the Auditor General, this government is still spending massive sums of taxpayers' dollars in the dark?
MICHELLE THOMPSON: The building and the model that has been innovated and imagined in Nova Scotia at West Bedford is something that we should all be very proud of. We have world-class experts who are going to be providing care to frail, elderly people who are in hospital currently, who are transitioning to a home that is going to provide state-of-the-art elder care, which we need in this province. We are so fortunate to have that and we will continue to work on innovative ideas. It does happen through an alternative procurement offer which allows us to be nimble. We are either too fast or we are too slow, but on this deal, I think we are just right.