'We were used and each of us came away feeling assaulted'

Letters to the Editor -

(This letter was sent to Premier Danny Williams)

Dear Premier Williams,

I have asked for this meeting on behalf of the Town of St. Anthony due to the fact we were not given a chance by your Minister, the Honourable Jerome Kennedy, to explain and be understood in our seriousness and concern for the problem created by the decision to relocate the air ambulance to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Meetings are usually held to discuss, put forward ideas, and maybe even come to some sort of compromise. That was not the purpose of the confrontations we had with your minister. We were emphatically told at the beginning of each gathering that the decision was made and final. The atmosphere was at all times sour, tense and emotional. Each of the two delegations I traveled with was completely taken aback by the callous remarks and insinuations put forward by Mr. Kennedy and his assistant, Mr. Tony Wakeham. We were accused of lying on several occasions and even subject to threats with respect to what we had done.

Statements were made that were in the next meeting twisted and changed to try to make us appear stupid and nothing by a bunch of idiots. For the most part we felt, and I speak truly sir, as Mr. Wakeham promised when he said "there would be no repercussions towards Mr. Farrell, as if I'm standing on a stack of bibles," that we were all on trial for a crime which we knew nothing about. All we were trying to do, sir, was protect a part of our heritage, a service started and perfected here, a legacy to a man among men, Dr. Gordon W. Thomas, for whom I might add the aircraft is appropriately named.

There are several necessary facts about our meetings that should be revealed to you.

Firstly, the consultation that was arranged by Mr. Kennedy was denied to us. We were informed by letter from your Minister that a review was to take place and we were not to be a part of that review. We would be contacted when the review was completed informing us of the decision. We were not aware that a review was even occurring until late one Friday afternoon in February. Mr. Wakeham called me on my cell informing me that he was traveling to Flowers Cove, Labrador City/Wabush and Goose Bay and he had an hour or so to chat to my council if we could arrange the time. Not suspecting there was anything going on except a chat about the air ambulance service, I agreed to meet him on Monday morning. On Monday morning I was informed by Mr. Wakeham that mechanical problems had developed with his flight and he would be late. In fact, due to his late arrival we had sandwiches and coffee provided to him and Mr. Drodge, whom I didn't know until Monday noon. We chatted for approximately an hour, informing him of our main concern which was that no medical flight services team was provided with the air ambulance stationed in St. Anthony and how we had been asking for the same for the past five years. We know that this would remediate many of the issues surrounding time response. It is only fair that if there are two centres, then both would be equally furnished with the capabilities to respond as quickly as possible. Of course both Mr. Wakeham and Mr. Drodge agreed with us on this. There was no discussion as to location since several reviews had in the past determined that the most central location for services was St. Anthony, as it is the geographical, air capable centre for provincial operations. Both Mr. Wakeham and Mr. Drodge left the 'meeting' approximately one hour later to catch their flight to Labrador. At the time we felt confused as we were not given any time to prepare or report, defend or whatever else was needed to put forward our case. As Mr. Wakeham suggested this was just a chat to discuss some issues since he had a bit of spare time between flights. Now we feel used and cheated, since Minister Kennedy stated he had "consulted with" the Town of St. Anthony. In Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador City/Wabush, Mr. Kennedy not only met with the councils but even visited the families which he claims were let down by the air ambulance in St. Anthony. In fact on several occasions he has stated that these incidents are what precipitated the moving of the service. Emotional involvement does not justify rash decisions and nor do ends justify means. I have asked for a public inquiry into these cases from Mr. Kennedy and I expect him to act on it to clear the fine names of the people who have been singled out for doing their job.

Secondly, on our arrival in St. John's on April 13, we were informed by Mr. Wakeham that he needed a copy of a report that had been prepared "by the Town." There was no report prepared by the town. We had agreed in our first meeting that the team who flew the aircraft, which we knew were preparing a response to the report by Mr. Drodge, would seek permission from the Labrador-Grenfell Board, to present them with the report, since a "gag" order had been issued by Mr. Boyd Rowe. As well they were given permission by the Labrador-Grenfell Board to present this report at the 'meeting' we had arranged with Mr. Kennedy and have Mr. Farrell accompany us as he alone could explain the concerns respecting aircraft, dispatch and technical issues which none of us would be able to do. Mr. Ray Norman, Chair of the Labrador-Grenfell Board personally called me and informed me that Mr. Farrell had been heard and given permission to accompany our delegation to present the response his team had developed. Mr. Wakeham appeared to be upset and on three separate occasions at the Holiday Inn, in conversation with myself and Mr. Farrell, accused us of collaboration and misleading him and the Minister. This was entirely false and I asked Mr. Wakeham to stop his attempts at entrapment. It was very obvious that he was agitated and upset as if he was involved in some covert activity which we were not privy to and he was trying to find the best way out. At about this time we were also informed that Mr. Kennedy had invited Mr. Boyd Rowe, the CEO of Labrador Grenfell to be at our 'meeting' as well. I was not at all impressed by this. I discussed this issue previously with Mr. Rowe and Mr. Rowe had already accepted the report by the flight team at their meeting. I asked that he not attend and also confronted him the next day and stated my displeasure at having him there. Mr. Farrell did pass a copy of the response to Mr. Wakeham after Mr. Wakeham swore to us that this would in no way jeopardize his employment with Labrador-Grenfell Health. You see, just before we met with Mr. Wakeham, Mr. Rowe had telephoned Mr. Farrell and attempted to intimidate him fully knowing that Mr. Farrell had been given permission by the board to accompany us and present the response.

At the end of this discussion with Mr. Wakeham, and the call from Mr. Rowe, we felt that maybe we should not meet if Mr. Farrell's job was in jeopardy. However, after talking to Mr. Ray Norman, the next morning we were assured that there was nothing to worry about and we should go ahead. Mr. Rowe, present at the time, stated that he had only called Mr. Farrell to explain to him the nature of this "unusual event" and warn him that Mr. Kennedy could be very intimidating. I nearly believed him.

At 2 p.m. we met with Mr. Kennedy and honestly I have never witnessed such an outburst of sarcasm, insinuation and accusations in my life. We felt threatened. One of my councillors actually broke down and cried. This continued throughout the two meetings, as we did not resolve numbers the first day, April 14. On the second day we were once again severely attacked and Mr. Farrell was asked by Mr. Kennedy to put his job on the line for his beliefs, regarding his response and presentation. You can probably understand why we felt as if we were on trial. The intensity and fierceness of the attacks were second only to the interruptions and interference by Mr. Rowe, Mr. Wakeham and Mr. Kennedy's assistant. Each time, we as a delegation tried to present a point or reason, we were interrupted and at times ridiculed for our observations. The only chance we had for sensible discussion was near the end of the third meeting when Mr. Kennedy asked his prepared questions to Mr. Corey Banks and Mr. Banks stated his prepared answers. His answers were rehearsed and he had no facts, figures or knowledge to confirm his responses.

At this time I personally defended my delegation, stated my concerns and being a gentleman shook hands with Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Rowe and the left the room fully knowing that what we had gone through was an exercise in futility and that we had been given an audience to make it appear as if this mattered to the Minister, the Department Health and the Labrador-Grenfell CEO. They had together, with others, built this smokescreen and diversion to avoid discussing what had really happened even before the review and election. We were used and each of us came away feeling assaulted, belittled and totally let down by what we thought were honest people.

Were we wrong?

Sincerely,

Ernest Simms

Mayor of the Town of St. Anthony