Minister: embarassed by 'fearmongering'
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 23/01) - Health Minister Jane Groenewegen launched a scathing attack on critics of her department Tuesday, saying she was embarrassed by their "fearmongering".
 Jane Groenewegen |
The exchange got testy when Miltenberger asked Groenewegen about Cuff's background.
The minister said that she "did not have that available," and suggested that Miltenberger raise the issue with Cuff during an upcoming meeting.
Miltenberger sarcastically countered that the minister had given Cuff a glowing recommendation during committee meetings.
Calling Cuff a "knight in shining armour on his white horse," Miltenberger wondered why, "the information wasn't there."
Groenewegen shot back that she hoped Miltenberger had gotten "an adequate number of sound bites for the media."
She added that she "was embarrassed" by Miltenberger's remarks.
After the session, Miltenberger said that the minister "has done about-face" from the days when she wasn't in cabinet.
"She has to stand there and justify it in the House."
Miltenberger had also been asking the minister whether Cuff had been involved in the "almost continuous reorganization of health and social services that has taken place in Alberta."
Slashing jobs
A 1999 Edmonton Journal story reported that Cuff was retained as an "independent management consultant" by then-health minister Halvar Jonson to provide a deficit reduction plan to the Lakeland Regional Health Authority.
In his report to Jonson, Cuff recommended cutting 100 administrators from the health authority's payroll, plus the closure of 17 acute-care beds.
Dareld Cholak, the former head of the Lakeland Regional Health Authority, told Yellowknifer that Cuff's recommendations had been "100 per cent wrong."
Groenewegen's office released a detailed list of Cuff's previous clients, along with the detailed terms for the consultant's investigation.
