N.B. president thinks P.E.I.’s new health minister’s idea is unworkable, and that he’s still learning about his file<\/p>\n
Published Apr 27, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 4\u00a0days ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Recent talk of a Maritime-wide public travel nurse agency from P.E.I.\u2019s new health minister is being met with confusion from nurses\u2019 unions in the region, who say they weren\u2019t consulted about the idea and that it won\u2019t work.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The concept is to create a unit where nurses who already work in the Maritimes can pick up extra shifts in other provinces, rather than using private companies to supply the nurses, which is far more expensive.<\/p>\n New Brunswick, for example, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on travel nurses since the pandemic;\u00a0Vitalit\u00e9 Health Network is still using them, while Horizon stopped last year. The provincial government is fighting one of the travel nurse providers it used, Canadian Health Labs, in court after it cancelled the contract between the two and introduced legislation designed to prevent the government from being sued.<\/p>\n Whether that happens remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Recently, P.E.I.\u00a0Health Minister Cory Deagle told\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0that the deputy health ministers from each of the Maritime provinces have established a \u201cworking table and are working on a plan to reduce the number of travel nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, we won\u2019t use private companies anymore. We would have a Maritime unit that we can draw from, but each province would agree not to use travel nurses from private companies,\u201d said Deagle.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t respond to an interview request sent late last week; a statement was provided.<\/p>\n \u201cThese discussions remain at a very early stage. At this point, we won\u2019t be providing any further public comment. Should there be meaningful developments, we will share updates as appropriate,\u201d read the statement from spokesperson Autumn Tremere.<\/p>\n But based on comments from union leaders, the idea is dead on arrival.<\/p>\n New Brunswick\u2019s newly signed nurses\u2019 contract contains provisions for in-province travel nursing, noted New Brunswick Nurses\u2019 Union (NBNU) president Paula Doucet.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a critical staffing need in certain areas of the province, we have language now that allows the employer to do that call-out, and our nurses that do accept those critical call-outs get compensated at a higher rate of pay, and their mileage and their meals and their accommodations are all covered,\u201d Doucet said, adding that she was \u201csurprised\u201d by Deagle\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThe logistics of it, I think, would be a complete nightmare, where it would involve different compensation models and seniority accruals, vacation time \u2026 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a feasible idea. And again, if you want to have these conversations, then you need to absolutely include the nurses\u2019 unions at these tables.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that Deagle is still getting up to speed on his file and doesn\u2019t understand the complexity of what he\u2019s proposing, Doucet said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2026 health minister from P.E.I. \u2026 he\u2019s relatively new. Whether they had internal conversations there, and it was just one of those ideas that he\u2019s floated out \u2026 the P.E.I. nurses\u2019 union president wasn\u2019t advised. (Nova Scotia Nurses\u2019 Union president) Janet Hazelton didn\u2019t know anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hazelton confirmed that she was caught off guard by Deagle\u2019s comments \u2013 and apparently so was Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, who attended NSNU\u2019s 50th annual general meeting soon after the idea went public.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hadn\u2019t heard about it, and they actually asked the premier, who hadn\u2019t heard about it either,\u201d Hazelton said.<\/p>\n And while Hazleton agreed with Doucet that Deagle\u2019s idea is a non-starter, she said that \u201csomething has to be done\u201d about provinces\u2019 use of private-sector travel nurses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re spending way too much money on travel nurses. We\u2019re becoming far too dependent on this expensive resource. I also agree that we need to put a stop to them,\u201d Hazelton said.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But what about the idea itself?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how that would work, because all our contracts are different \u2013 my nurses make a different wage than New Brunswick nurses,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t know how logistically that that would work. I can\u2019t see that happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Hazelton added: \u201cI think there\u2019s conversations worthy of being had, but I can\u2019t see (a public travel nurse agency) that\u2019s within the Maritimes only because we have different contracts, we have different dues rates, we have different pension plans, we have different (long-term disability) plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Prince Edward Island Nurses\u2019 Union president Kim Sears wasn\u2019t available for an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to speak for our union president on something like that,\u201d said spokesperson Siobhan White.<\/p>\n \u201cI will just say that we on Prince Edward Island are aware that the (use of) travel nurses is becoming more and more of an issue, and we would like to work with the (provincial) health authority for a solution. But we would like to make sure that the union and the province\u2019s nurses are consulted on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickNewsPoliticsThe IssuesHealth care N.B. president thinks P.E.I.’s new health minister’s idea is unworkable, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-642999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0427-lb-travelnurses.jpg\")
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