With her party holding no seats, Prince Edward Island’s NDP leader spent the year in a unique position, looking in at the legislative assembly from outside.
What Michelle Neill saw was “a little bit like kindergarten,” she told Steve Bruce on CBC News: Compass on Dec. 17.
“There’s a little bit of attacking of… personalities,” she said. “I would really like to see that get back to addressing the issues, not the person.”
When it comes to the issues, Neill said it can be frustrating to have ideas and not be able to share them in the legislature. But she does what she can to share information with MLAs from other parties who can bring it forward, she said.
“If I have to go through someone else to get that change or that positive improvement, that doesn’t matter to me that I [don’t] get credit,” she said. “What I care about is ensuring that people get the services that they deserve.”
Tackling issues from outside the legislature
While she’s found a way to lead the Island’s fourth party from outside the legislature, Neill said she would “definitely have a lot more to say about health care” if she had a seat.
“I don’t think our government is listening to the workers enough because the workers have lots of ideas — and ideas that I believe will work,” she said.
“They see and they know how to make changes that are going to make the health-care system more efficient.”
Neill pointed to the example of the province’s MRI backlog. She said the plan to send Islanders out of province to get MRI scans in Moncton is “such a waste of money.”
