Well being care in Alberta is transferring confidently into the Nineties!
The United Conservative Celebration (UCP) authorities led by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is about to carry the province’s well being care system again to the longer term with a large infusion of latest purple tape, identical to the outdated purple tape.
It’ll be a lot just like the Nineties you’ll be able to rejoice New 12 months’s 1994 on January 1!
As a substitute of Alberta Well being Companies (AHS), the biggest provincial well being care company in Canada created in 2009, there will likely be new well being care boards, new bureaucrats to workers them, and masses and a great deal of chaos to carry the carry the complete system nearer to break down!
And the expense – it’ll be fabulous! Actually billions of {dollars}, almost certainly. Some consultants are going to get very, very wealthy. A few of them are probably already getting wealthy as we put together to utterly restructure a system that we’ve simply spend a decade and a half and one other billion or so utterly restructuring.
Properly, one factor will likely be completely different: all these streams of purple tape will lead instantly again to the premier’s and well being minister’s places of work, which can now make all of the province’s well being care choices. That ought to work out nicely.
Anyway, Premier Smith and Well being Minister Adriana LaGrange, her Mini-Me on the well being file, have promised for months to do one thing to immediately repair the intractable issues dealing with well being care in Canada, so one thing dramatic needed to be accomplished.
By no means thoughts that what they’re proposing received’t assist with the basic downside dealing with well being care – the worldwide scarcity of well being care professionals, particularly physicians and nurses. In reality, it’s virtually sure to make it worse in Alberta.
And the elephant within the Working Room, after all, is that that is additionally about wreaking revenge on AHS particularly for its enforcement the general public well being measures in the course of the pandemic that so irritated the UCP’s QAnon-influenced base, particularly the Take Again Alberta faction that now dominates the occasion.
Why, chances are you’ll surprise, do we all know this already if the federal government isn’t going to announce it till later as we speak?
Properly, as a result of the NDP revealed one of many foundational paperwork of the federal government’s large plan for well being care yesterday – a slide present ready for the provincial cupboard that was leaked by an unknown whistleblower to the Opposition. The Canadian Press confirmed later that the slides are the true factor,
The discharge of the slide deck, the NDP’s information launch, and the questions requested by Opposition MLAs within the Legislature yesterday actually rained on the parade of puffery the federal government deliberate for its announcement as we speak that it’s about break up AHS into easy-to-privatize chunks.
Because the slides clarify, heavy spin and paid promoting will likely be required to steer the general public this received’t be one other costly catastrophe with “potential to fragment care supply” and “danger of service disruption/failure,” to cite one slide.
In Query Interval, past the premier’s assertion she is “100 per cent dedicated” to the plan as proven within the slides, LaGrange advised MLAs (and by extension the remainder of us) to attend for as we speak’s announcement.
So we have now no selection, I’m certain readers will agree, however to toss apart the hallowed journalistic dedication to stability and go along with the NDP press launch in the interim.
“Smith’s long-promised breakup of Alberta Well being Companies is usually a switch of AHS features into the Authorities of Alberta below the direct supervision of the well being minister and premier,” the NDP information launch summarizes. “There isn’t a plan to maneuver decision-making outdoors of the 2 main cities. As a substitute of regional boards, there will likely be 4 new authorities bureaucracies for persevering with care, acute care, main care, and psychological well being and dependancy.” (Emphasis added.)
So, the discharge quotes Opposition Chief Rachel Notley, “any UCP members who cheered for extra rural or native decision-making in well being care at their AGM this weekend are about to seek out out they’ve been brutally double-crossed by Danielle Smith.”
Along with the large new forms described within the recordsdata, the UCP plan will add seven new businesses with impenetrably bureaucratic new names like “Integration Council,” “Centre of Restoration Excellence,” and “Procurement and Methods Optimization Secretariat.”
What’s lacking, as Notley identified, is that “there aren’t any new medical doctors, no new nurses, no new paramedics, no new nurse practitioners and no new LPNs on this plan.”
“There will likely be total new workplace flooring stuffed with folks at computer systems attempting to determine what the heck the UCP needs from them,” she stated. “I strongly suspect a lot of these people will skip this altogether and easily pursue their well being care careers in different provinces.”
“We’re heading down a really harmful path after we permit politicians to resolve on medical remedy strategies,” Notley added. “We’ve large, radically disruptive change, placing Albertans’ lives in danger. … Sufferers are pressured to navigate 13 new businesses the place there was one. Rural communities get completely no new decision-making powers and no new medical doctors, both.”
“Well being care staff simply desperately need some assist and a few extra folks working beside them. As a substitute, they’re dealing with one more onslaught of chaos from the UCP,” stated Notley, who additionally requested, who advantages? “The one one who advantages from that is Danielle Smith, who provides herself sweeping powers to achieve into any a part of our well being care and override medical professionals.”
Properly, we’ll see this morning how the federal government tries to spin this.
The UCP has scheduled an “embargoed information convention,” an oxymoronic idea, at 7:30AM There will likely be one other public newser at 9AM, after the contributors have had an opportunity to observe their solutions, at 9AM The NDP will maintain its personal information convention at 11.
UCP to dump ethics commissioner, chief electoral officer
By no means thoughts well being care, the UCP additionally plans to eliminate its ethics commissioner, who just lately authored a essential report about Premier Smith’s interference within the justice system on behalf of a political ally, in addition to the province’s chief electoral officer.
Marguerite Trussler and Glen Resler will likely be gone when their phrases expire on Might 24, the Globe and Mail reported yesterday. Each had been appointed by earlier Progressive Conservative governments, which from the angle of the Take Again Alberta cabal that now controls the UCP, could make them worse than New Democrats. They may actually get replaced by people extra simpatico with the TBA worldview.
Danielle Smith will share stage with Tucker Carlson, it doesn’t matter what
Questioned within the Legislature yesterday about her plan to look on stage with far-right American bloviator Tucker Carlson, identified for advocating the violent overthrow of the Canadian federal authorities, Premier Smith made it clear she received’t be lacking the chance to hob-nob with the MAGA superstar simply due to his loudly expressed racist, Islamophobic, white supremacist, homophobic, anti-vaccine, and anti-Canadian views.
This appears on model, really, as Ms. Smith seems to share a lot of Mr. Carlson’s opinions, along with her previous profession as a right-wing discuss radio bloviator.
Actually, Ms. Smith has superior a separatist “sovereignty” agenda. And Mr. Carlson has described Canada as a dictatorship and opined that “I’m utterly in favor of a Bay of Pigs operation to liberate that nation.” (Alert readers will recall that the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 didn’t lead to a change of presidency in Cuba, however no matter.)
Mr. Carlson additionally complained vociferously when Mars Inc.’s M&M’s advertising spokescandies had been redrawn to eradicate characters carrying spike heels and hooker boots. “The corporate added overweight and distinctly frumpy lesbian M&M’s,” he complained. “M&M’s is not going to be glad till each final cartoon character is deeply unappealing and completely androgynous, till the second you wouldn’t need to have a drink with any considered one of them.” I suppose it didn’t happen to him that the unique cartoon characters might need been … in drag!
Good to know our authorities is working with critical folks to, nicely, to do no matter critical issues they’re doing.
Assist rabble as we speak!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content material this 12 months.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, in order an avid reader of our content material, we hope you’ll take into account gifting rabble with a donation throughout our summer time fundraiser as we speak.
Whether or not or not it’s a one-time donation or a small month-to-month contribution, your assist is essential to maintain rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to depend on as part of a wholesome media weight loss program.
Whether or not or not it’s a one-time donation or a small month-to-month contribution, your assist is essential to maintain rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to depend on as part of a wholesome media weight loss program.
Develop into a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca as we speak.
Nick Seebruch, editor