St. John’s, NL (July 10, 2025) – Barry Petten, PC Shadow Minister for Health and Community Services and MHA for Conception Bay South, is calling on Premier Hogan to explain the comments he made in the House of Assembly, in light of the findings of the scathing Auditor General Report on the agency travel scandal.

On November 18, 2024, in the House of Assembly, the Premier addressed concerns regarding leases signed by Health Authority staff for travel nurse accommodations, leases which were in violation of the Conflict of Interest Act, stating:

“My understanding is that all the leases were at market price.”

“In her scathing report into Liberal corruption, the Auditor General found these leases were, on average, 90 percent above market rates,” said Petten. “So, either the Premier deliberately misled the House of Assembly, or he never bothered to check the facts before speaking.”

Petten noted the Liberals continue to try to dismiss and downplay the scandal, while new details emerge. “Earlier this week, we learned the Liberal Minister signed off on these contracts. Now we learn the Premier himself, when questioned, was wrong.”  

The Auditor General’s damning report into the Liberal travel nurse scandal demonstrated a lack of oversight, mismanagement and possible fraud involving $241 million in taxpayer money.

“Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on air fryers, milk frothers, electric vehicle rentals and overpriced apartments. Meanwhile, local casual nurses were laid off while agency nurses were hired to replace them for up to $400,000 each. Clearly, we need a Judicial Inquiry to finally get to the bottom of this Liberal scandal,” concluded Petten.