MCFADYEN DEMANDS ANSWERS ON THE BROWN ENVELOPE SCHEME

February 2, 2009

We don't need brown envelopes full of money floating around our health care system: McFadyen

In response to the report in Saturday's Winnipeg Free Press that the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has accepted more than $20 million in cash and gifts - handed over in brown envelopes - Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen today demanded a swift and complete explanation from NDP Minister of Health, Theresa Oswald.

In a packed news conference at the Manitoba Legislature, McFadyen demanded three specific actions from the government in response to their brown envelope scheme:

• The Minister of Health must disclose all records pertaining to the brown envelope scheme, including who the money came from and where it went;
• A forensic audit of the WRHA - overseen by the Auditor General - to find out if even more money has changed hands over the last nine years; and
• A prompt sitting of the Public Accounts Committee of the Legislature, so that senior bureaucrats and the NDP minister involved in the brown envelope scheme can be duly questioned.

"We're giving the NDP the opportunity to come clean about the brown envelope scheme," McFadyen said. "They have a duty to immediately explain to taxpayers why brown envelopes full of money have been floating around our health care system for nine years."