Air travel costs, accessibility focus for Labrador MHAs in first week of fall sitting

When the House of Assembly reconvened last week, a pair of Labrador MHAs brought flight-related issues to the forefront.

Lela Evans, who represents Torngat Mountains, spent the week telling the legislature stories of her constituents being bumped off medical flights to and from Labrador’s north coast.

“Why does this government continue to allow Northern Labrador patients to suffer through cancellations and delay in getting to and from their essential medical appointments and treatment,” Evans asked the House on Nov. 4. “Second-class health care?” 

Evans said she had spoken with people who had missed appointments for procedures as serious as chemotherapy.

She repeatedly pressed Minister of Labrador Affairs Lisa Dempster, who represents the district of Cartwright – L’Anse au Clair in southern Labrador, on the matter but wasn’t satisfied with the responses she received. 

Dempster said she had been speaking with representatives from the department of health and community services, who told her they were not aware of any patients being bumped off flights. “If somebody has a confirmed reservation on a flight and they’re being bumped off, I would be very happy to work with the member to try and find a resolution to that issue,” Dempster said.

Evans raised the issue again Tuesday, the following day, saying she had “written, texted and called” the former and current health minister, the CEO of the provincial health authority, the vice-president of the Labrador-Grenfell Health region, and the regional director responsible for medical travel in her district regarding specific cases.

Dempster said she was told by staff on the ground in Labrador that they were not aware of instances of chemotherapy being delayed or canceled due to patients being bumped from flights, and that the transportation director had not received any formal complaints in the last five or six months.

Evans shot back saying she consistently receives messages from patients who follow the guidelines and still get stuck waiting days for a medical flight. 

“I had parents with a diabetic child, who was having problems at home with the insulin pump, with their guardian, and they couldn’t get on the flight. They had their slip in on Thursday before, so they were entitled to travel on Friday and they were being told they won’t get home even probably on Monday. So that’s the issue. That’s the truth.”

Evans also tabled a letter she had received from the health minister about the issue, which Dempster was copied on, saying it was a response to Dempster’s comments that the department was not aware of the concern.

The Independent is looking into this issue and will have more on it in the coming week.

Airfare costs a concern: Brown

Labrador West MHA Jordan Brown presented a petition on behalf of more than 3,800 Labrador residents, urging the government to form a committee to address intra-provincial travel and improve airfare costs, frequency and accessibility.

Brown said many of the people who live in his district have to fly back and forth to the island for medical care, and both the cost and availability are major issues for people in his district and all of Labrador. 

“We don’t access air travel like many others across this country,” Brown said. “In Labrador, we’re more like the Territories, Northern Quebec, things like that, where air travel is more for health care, for education, for work, personal matters. We’re not using it as frequently for vacations or the like; most of it is required because we have no other choice.”

Brown referenced a recent report commissioned by the Goose Bay Airport Corporation that showed airfare costs in Happy Valley-Goose Bay had increased 33.1 per cent since 2019, and by 47 per cent in Wabush. 

“The costs have been rising and that’s why we would ask the government, and we urge the government, to form a committee, work on this, and try to come up with a plan to address this,” Brown said. “We know a lot of this rests with the federal government. We understand that the majority of the issues and stuff that we’re facing with the costs and stuff are federal government issues.”

Dempster spoke up in support of Brown on this issue, saying it’s something she has also been dealing with. She also referenced the report and said she had raised the issue with the federal government and wrote the federal transportation minister to request a meeting.

She also pointed out that a landing fee for an aircraft in Happy Valley-Goose Bay is $8.77, and a landing fee in Wabush, which is run by the federal government, is over $700, which she said is likely trickling down to consumers.

“Unless you’re traveling right now on insured health care services or you’re traveling for [the media transportation assistance program], where some of your cost is offset, it’s causing a real, real hardship to the people of Labrador,” she said. “I’m really happy to work with the member – there’s strength in numbers – and see if we can keep the federal feet to the fire on this one.”