Braid: From political hacks to health care, Kenney and Notley sound off
Notley #Notley
Breadcrumb Trail Links
Author of the article:
Don Braid • Calgary Herald 
Premier Jason Kenney and Opposition Leader Rachel Notley. Photo by Brendan Miller /Postmedia Article content
Premier Jason Kenney says only “political hacks” are predicting a snap election in Alberta.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The law now states the fixed election date is May 29, 2023, and “that’s when the next election will be, full stop. I have given zero consideration to a snap election.”
That assumes he will still be the premier. Kenney gave no time at all Friday to the small subject of next Wednesday’s leadership review results.
He was at a news conference about the plan to create 50 new ICU spaces, fully funded and staffed, across the province. Nineteen are already open.
The premier branched out to other comments about health care, which is certain to be a huge issue in the election next year, or any time at all.
What emerged is a striking tale of polar opposite plans for health care, depending on who wins.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley responded later, saying Kenney is lying about providing increased health-care funding, and clearly wants a privatized system where Albertans pay for their care, U.S. style.
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
But Kenney said the American way “is in many ways deeply flawed, primarily because they don’t have universal insurance.”
The U.S. has more care capacity but “they spend a heck of a lot more … I don’t think the American system is a model for us.”
He called for aligning our system more closely with countries in western Europe where there’s “universal public insurance … it’s not the American bogeyman but leveraging of the private sector when and where it makes sense.”
The premier says NDP cries that people will have to pay their own bills “are just rubbish, completely disingenuous … the legislation is very clear, that these are publicly insured services.”
Contracting procedures to private facilities “is not a dirty word.” The province “can get more surgeries done, more quickly, by competitive contracting through private facilities.”
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Notions to the contrary, Kenney said, are “blinkered ideology that has for too long limited meaningful health-care reform in Canada.
Premier Jason Kenney appears at a news conference at the Rockyview General Hospital on Friday. Photo by Darren Makowichuk /Postmedia
Notley disagrees with every point, including the assertion that the government has added $600 million to health-care funding this year. She says the real-world picture shows a huge cut.
“We’re $800 million short when inflation is at its highest level” and the government still has to reach pay deals with several groups, including physicians.
“They are frankly lying when they say they have put in more direct money than they did last year.
“They are doing this because either they don’t care, or because destabilization is exactly what they are looking for, so they can build public demand for a different system.”
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Notley says the drive to farm out more care to private facilities is the road to disaster.
“Companies will give us a nice, moderately reasonable contract for the first 10 years or so, and then, when we have lost the public capacity to do our procedures, the cost will go up.”
She feels this is certain to happen with lab testing, which the UCP intends to put in private hands after cancelling NDP plans for a superlab in Edmonton.
Kenney says 19 of 50 expected ICU beds now open in Alberta 
Braid: UCP has earned the public mistrust of leadership vote 
Kenney learns his fate on May 18 after balloting complete “You cannot ignore the fact that when there’s private delivery, companies must have their profit,” says Notley. “They must pay their staff and have at least a 10 per cent return.
Advertisement 6
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“There’s this magical notion that the private sector is going to do it less expensively. But U.S. studies show the cost of private delivery will eventually go up.
“This is what Kenney wants to do — expand the scope of the profit margin into our health-care system.
“That will undermine our ability to deliver efficiently, in a co-ordinated way, and ultimately will drive up costs.”
“I do believe we are opening the door to the U.S. system. That’s their agenda and there are people high up in AHS who agree that is what they want.”
The uproar over Kenney’s leadership has pushed more important issues below the radar. Whatever happens next week, they have to come back on the screen.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
Share this article in your social network Advertisement 1
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up!
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.