King government has much unfinished business to attend to as fall sitting gets underway

Dennis King's Progressive Conservative government will bring forward a revamped Mental Health Act and new legislation to replace Prince Edward Island's Child Protection Act during the fall sitting of the legislature, which starts Tuesday.

Both bills have been in development for years.

PC whip Zack Bell said the government plans to bring more than 30 bills to the floor as part of "a rather robust legislative agenda" during the sitting.

But the King government is also heading into the sitting with a significant backlog of unfinished business.

The government has yet to deliver new housing and population strategies, initially slated to be released by the summer.

The province still hasn't released an after-action report looking at the response to post-tropical storm Fiona last year, even though the original tender documents, issued more than five months after the storm struck, stipulated a report was to be delivered to the minister of public safety by this past July.

Environment Minister Steven Myers has yet to deliver the province's 2020 State of the Forest report. Two and a half years ago, he told the legislature the report would paint a devastating picture of deforestation on the Island. Then Fiona struck.

But bureaucrats have said the delay isn't because of Fiona, but rather because of a problem with the initial contractor the province hired.

Meanwhile, Health P.E.I. has yet to release a review of emergency medical services, which among other things could impact the future of rural emergency departments.

A joint study involving Health P.E.I. and the University of Prince Edward Island to look at whether the province can sustain a medical school has apparently been delivered in draft form.

Construction started and the province wrote what so far has amounted to a blank cheque to get the school off the ground even before the study was commissioned. The bill, most of it to be covered by the province, keeps growing and was last reported at $129 million over the first six years of operation.

Delivery of the results from a review of employment standards has been put off until the new year, though the King government promised to provide those — along with more sick leave for Island workers — during the fall sitting.

In response to that delay, the Opposition Liberals have promised to table legislation this fall around sick days. 

The Liberals and PCs voted against a bill the Green Party brought forward a year ago to provide Island workers with up to 10 paid sick days each year.