A PEI private member's bill to provide funding for alcohol use awareness from liquor sales was rejected by the provincial legislature on Wednesday.
The majority of MLAs voted against the Liberal MP. Gord McNeelyThe proposed bill would divert some of the profits from alcohol sales fees to health education.
The vote took place the day after the P.E.I. Finance Minister Jill Burridge Stating that the Liberal MLA's bill could not pass as is, Mr McNeely responded that he had no interest in amending the amendment or sending it to a standing committee for further discussion.
The vote repeals a private member's bill that would have earmarked 3% of profits for programs supporting responsible alcohol consumption.
In Wednesday's vote, all existing Progressive Conservatives voted against the bill, with the Greens and Liberals voting in favor.
Burridge told Tuesday's Committee of the Whole that the bill supersedes the budget process, even though it includes a provision that says funding for these programs must be appropriated by Congress. He expressed concern that this may be the case.
He also presented information from the Department of Public Health, stating that there is global evidence that public education is ineffective at reducing alcohol consumption, and that education campaigns often lead to increased drinking. He said that this research has shown that.
Finance Minister Jill Burridge said she would like to see the bill go forward but cannot support it in its current state. (Submitted by PEI Government)
“I don't think this particular bill is the best way to achieve the results that we all want to achieve,” Burridge said Tuesday. “There are some problems with the current interpretation of the bill, so I have to vote it down today, and I don't want to do that.
“I would like to bring it to the standing committee for further discussion.”
“We don’t have an alcohol strategy.”
McNeely said he has no interest in waiting.
“Send it to the standing committee, it's a year later, and we have the information,” he said. “Minister, we don’t have an alcohol strategy, we don’t have a health strategy.
“We have a health promotion department and we are doing our best, but we are underfunded.”
Regarding superseding the budget process, McNairy said there are other examples of minimum spending requirements in the PEI bill and he does not believe this will be an issue.
Kristen Cameron, who was hit by a drunk driver in 2010 and was paralyzed from the collarbone down, was invited to the chamber by McNeely on Tuesday to speak about the bill.
“This is important. This represents a whole community of people, people affected by drunk driving,” the 39-year-old athlete said. “I'm not the only person in a wheelchair who was hit by a drunk driver.”
He acknowledged the bill is far from a complete solution, but said increasing funding for awareness programs would be a good start.
“It's clear that policies need to change, but why not make some changes to both?” Cameron said.
In response, Prime Minister Burridge thanked Prime Minister Cameron for sharing his story and said: “PEI has issues that we need to address…and we are listening.” Stated.
The finance minister said the government was committed to tackling the problem of irresponsible and unhealthy drinking, but would also consider other ways to achieve its goals.
He added that government spending on these efforts would likely exceed the $750,000 required by McNeely's bill.
