Wednesday, June 04, 2008

MLA's accused of ignoring hospital petition

By Pete McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM

A watchdog group will make sure the BC government gets the the Vernon Jubilee hospital petition---even if no one from the province is on hand to accept it. Tony Stamboulieh of the Vernon Taxpayers Association is critical of Tom Christensen after hearing he and fellow MLA George Abbott won't be attending Friday's announcement about the results. "It behooves them both to pay very close attention on this very important issue of health care because I guarantee both these gentlemen, they will know about it at the next election." Stamboulieh says at the very least, Christensen should show some respect to his constituents, and send a staff member to receive the petition. "They make the case that they don't feel connected to the concerns of the average citizens, and they somehow feel they're better than the rest of us, and they know best." Staff for Christensen, the MLA for Okanagan-Vernon, say he has a previous engagement in Lumby on Friday, while Abbott, BC's Health Minister and Shuswap MLA, has business in Victoria that day. Stamboulieh says "thousands of people" signed the document which calls for more funding for beds, nurses and operating rooms at VJH.

No comments: