Month: April 2023

Roughly 30 per cent of downtown office space sits empty. Calgary’s unemployment rate is the highest of any major Canadian city. This is despite the UCP’s promise that their corporate handout would fill the office towers.

Post author By admin
Post date April 7, 2023
No Comments on Roughly 30 per cent of downtown office space sits empty. Calgary’s unemployment rate is the highest of any major Canadian city. This is despite the UCP’s promise that their corporate handout would fill the office towers.

Calgary’s downtown has long served as a fundamental part of Alberta’s economy. Activity within it has generated tremendous wealth.

But today, roughly 30 per cent of downtown office space sits empty. Calgary’s unemployment rate is the highest of any major Canadian city.

This is despite the UCP’s promise that their corporate handout would fill the office towers.

It will take support from all three orders of government, in concert with the private sector, to support a thriving modern economy in Calgary.

Our plan for Downtown Calgary includes:

Partnering with the City on its own plan by matching their investment for office conversion and capital improvements to attract people downtown.
Building the Green Line
Making economic diversification a priority with targeted grants for small business to set up shop downtown, reinstating the Alberta Investor Tax Credit and the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit.
Supporting the creation of a world-class innovation district by working with post-secondary institutions to relocate or expand campuses downtown.

#cdnpoli #ableg #ucp #alberta

DON BRAID: “Smith said she’s “frustrated” because she can’t drop charges. As a leadership candidate she promised amnesty. But, gosh darn, when she became premier she found out that’s an American thing, not Canadian.”

It no longer matters so much whether Premier Danielle Smith directly tried to influence Crown prosecutors over COVID protest charges.

Her video call with pastor Artur Pawlowski, released Wednesday by the CBC and the NDP, steps over so many other boundaries that the initial uproar seems almost quaint.

What on earth is the premier of Alberta doing engaging in a long conversation with a man facing serious charges, during which the accused pressures her to get his charges dropped?

We knew the conversation happened earlier this year. Smith has acknowledged as much. But it’s one thing to be aware that they spoke, and quite another to hear what they said.

It makes for a breathtaking 11 minutes. Pawlowski even hints at annoyance with the premier for not getting him off the hook for his activities at the Coutts border crossing.

One issue is Smith’s extreme favouritism toward people who were facing charges brought by her own prosecution service. Others accused all over the province would be thrilled by such consideration from their premier.

Smith said she’s “frustrated” because she can’t drop charges. As a leadership candidate she promised amnesty. But, gosh darn, when she became premier she found out that’s an American thing, not Canadian.

“I thought we probably had the same power of clemency that they did in the U.S. . . . I’m not a lawyer by training,” Smith said.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand this. Nearly everybody in political life knows it. When did a premier ever pardon anybody?

This promise was either utter cluelessness or a cynical leadership promise she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep. Neither option is attractive.

And so “it should be a political decision to end it . . . that’s what I’m finding very frustrating about the whole thing.”

Smith is a new premier but she leads the same UCP government under which all those charges were laid. They stemmed from official pandemic rules that were endorsed by several of her cabinet ministers and most of her caucus.

Now she accuses her own government of breaking prosecution independence for political reasons, and then suggests doing it herself in retribution.

Who is she campaigning against — the NDP or the UCP?

At one point in the talk, Pawlowski accuses a prosecutor by name — and even the justice minister — of trying to hurt his case by piling on last-minute filings.

“Obviously, Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro is playing a game here, trying to cause us more harm and more grief, and (the prosecutor) is just following his directive,” the pastor says.

And so “it should be a political decision to end it . . . that’s what I’m finding very frustrating about the whole thing.”

Now she accuses her own government of breaking prosecution independence for political reasons, and then suggests doing it herself in retribution.

Who is she campaigning against — the NDP or the UCP?

At one point in the talk, Pawlowski accuses a prosecutor by name — and even the justice minister — of trying to hurt his case by piling on last-minute filings.

“Obviously, Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro is playing a game here, trying to cause us more harm and more grief, and (the prosecutor) is just following his directive,” the pastor says.

And so “it should be a political decision to end it . . . that’s what I’m finding very frustrating about the whole thing.”

Now she accuses her own government of breaking prosecution independence for political reasons, and then suggests doing it herself in retribution.

Who is she campaigning against — the NDP or the UCP?

At one point in the talk, Pawlowski accuses a prosecutor by name — and even the justice minister — of trying to hurt his case by piling on last-minute filings.

“Obviously, Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro is playing a game here, trying to cause us more harm and more grief, and (the prosecutor) is just following his directive,” the pastor says.

#alberta

Physicians endorse Alberta NDP’s free contraceptive pledge

Post author By admin
Post date April 6, 2023
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The official opposition in Alberta reiterated its pledge to offer free birth control if elected, with two obstetricians and gynecologists saying the policy would be life-changing.

Last month, on International Women’s Day, Rachel Notley said her party would make oral hormone pills, copper and intrauterine devices (IUDs), subdermal implants, birth control shots and Plan B free.

The NDP estimates the plan would cost about $34 million and save an Albertan who pays for birth control pills every month about $10,000 over a lifetime.

“Since that historic announcement, we’ve heard from many Albertans how this policy would be life-changing,” said MLA Janis Irwin, who represents Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood.

Depending on the brand and coverage options, birth control pills can cost anywhere from $20 to $240 a month, and an IUD can cost about $500 up front, Irwin said.

“Cost influences the decisions Albertans make about birth control every day,” she said. “The most effective forms of birth control, like the IUS and the contraceptive implant, are the most expensive to buy upfront.”

“When Albertans are told they will have to pay more than $400 out of pocket for an IUD, some understandably turn to cheaper forms of birth control, even when these other options are known to be less effective or have more side effects.

“This is heartbreaking for a doctor,” Litalien added. “Albertans deserve the kind of birth control that’s right for them, not just the kind they can afford.”

Beginning this month, BC will cover the cost of most prescription contraceptives and all dispensing fees — the first jurisdiction in Canada.

Scott Johnston, press secretary for Alberta Secretary of Health Jason Copping, said those with a government-sponsored health insurance plan cover “many” birth control options listed on the Alberta Drug Benefit List.

For those with a low-income health plan, oral contraceptives and IUDs are free, he added.

Johnston said the United Conservative Party-led government has no plans to expand coverage of contraceptives and healthcare products.

Covering the full cost of birth control options would have far-reaching societal implications, said Dr. Skye Russell, an obstetrics and gynecology-based University of Alberta.

“I think it’s pretty narrow-minded to assume that all Albertans will have access to private insurance,” Russell told CTV News Edmonton. “For example, you need to be able to read and write English to fill out the application form. You need a permanent address.”

“Is it fair that women of childbearing age have to use our health care account?” She added. “You could use your entire healthcare spending account just for prevention without covering other prescription drugs or treatments.”

For many women, birth control use goes beyond contraception, as it can also help manage heavy or painful periods, prevent some uterine and ovarian cancers, or even be part of gender-affirming care for transgender people.

“It might seem like a small way to save money for individuals in the short term, but in the long run it actually saves society,” Litalien reiterated.

Join us! #AbLeg

The best way to change people’s mind, to share our positive vision with folks who aren’t traditionally NDP, but don’t like Smith – once conversation at a time!

Join us! #AbLeg

#ableg #cdnpoli #abjustice

DON BRAID: “Since the video came out, Danielle Smith hasn’t voice a word about Artur Pawlowski’s views, or said she should not have taken that call.”

The Lake of Fire consumed then-Wildrose leader Danielle Smith’s campaign in 2012. Now the identical problem — her failure to condemn intolerant and repugnant views — may do it again to the now UCP premier.

One irony is that extremist pastor Artur Pawlowski, the cause of her current troubles, condemned Smith in 2012. He said she was too tolerant.

Pawlowski spotted a photo of Smith at a Hindu ceremony, wearing traditional clothes and asking the gods for a blessing. This was standard campaign behaviour, but Pawlowski exploded.

He wouldn’t vote for Smith, he said, “because she crossed the line from being tolerant of other people and their beliefs to actively participating in their idolatrous practices.”

Now she takes a cheery call from that very pastor about his court charges. The same guy she once blasted for extremism.

Wildrose was coasting to victory for the first two weeks of that 2012 campaign. Voters annoyed at Alison Redford’s PCs beat them up furiously in the polls.

But when it seemed Wildrose might actually win, all eyes turned to Smith. And people saw a leader so stuck in her libertarianism that she would allow her candidates to say pretty much anything.

The most stunning example came from Allan Hunsperger, another pastor, who was an Edmonton Wildrose candidate.

In a video rooted out by PC scandal-seekers, he said gays “who live the way you were born, and die the way you were born, will suffer the rest of eternity in a lake of fire, hell, a place of eternal suffering.”

Lake of Fire — capitalized — instantly became part of Alberta’s political vocabulary.

Smith’s senior campaigners almost begged her to fire Hunsperger, and also Ron Leech, a Calgary candidate who had said he was best able to mediate among ethnic groups in his riding.

When then-interim PC leader Ric McIver participated in Pawlowski’s anti-gay March for Jesus, Smith condemned him in 2014.

“It’s beyond the pale,” she said. “It’s extreme. I think Albertans expect that political leaders will stand up against this intolerance.”

Pawlowski’s rhetoric was as vile then as it is now. He said LGBTQ+ people “openly proclaim and manifest that they are not ashamed to declare the name of their master (Satan)”

The great 2013 flood in Calgary and southern Alberta, he said, was caused by “Jesus weeping for the perversions of homosexuality, which includes the walking out the pride of their abominations in the streets of our cities.” He also blamed abortion.

Despite all this, and far more words and actions in Pawlowski’s history, the premier and the pastor chatted about the charges against him for his activities at the Coutts border crossing, and his desire to get them dropped.

The premier was sympathetic while saying she no longer believed she has the power to do anything.

Smith even said she had been aware of Pawlowski’s “advocacy” for years. She didn’t imply anything negative about it.

The political side of this may no longer be the claims that Smith talked to prosecutors, which she denies to the point of a lawsuit threat against the CBC.

Rather, it’s her chronic lack of judgment, now magnified by the fact that she is the premier.

Smith is ideologically stuck on her view that charges against protesters are unfair and illegitimate. She seems blinkered to the record of this person she considers a victim.

Since the video came out she hasn’t voiced a word about Pawlowski’s views, or said she should not have taken that call.

Artur Pawlowski could prove to be Lake of Fire 2.0. And once again, Danielle Smith wades right in.

#ableg #abpoli #abvote

While Danielle Smith and the UCP find new ways to make you pay to see your doctor, our team is focused on what really matters: More doctors and better health care, where and when it’s needed.

We will make sure the one million Albertans who need a family doctor, get a family doctor.

Today, bad UCP decisions have chased doctors out of Alberta, with no doctors taking new patients in Lethbridge, Red Deer, and the Bow Valley. Recent data shows that more than 650,000 Albertans have no family doctor, and that number is rising.

Physicians and health professionals are counting on Alberta’s leaders to reimagine family health care, so doctors spend less time doing paperwork and more time caring for you.

We are standing with family doctors to put forward a new plan to transform family medicine in this province. With Rachel Notley as Premier, we will bring forward an innovative plan for primary care that we call Family Health Teams.

Family Health Teams mean you have access to a doctor who works closely with other professionals like nurse practitioners, Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses, mental health therapists, pharmacists, social workers, dietitians, community paramedics, community health navigators, physiotherapists, midwives, speech language therapists, and more.

This will include expanding current clinics and establishing new clinics in high-demand areas so more Albertans have access to modern, innovative primary care.

Our commitment to integrated team-based care delivered in Family Health Clinics will mean that within ten years, up to one million more Albertans will have access to a doctor within a day or two as part of family health clinics.

The Alberta NDP Family Care Teams Plan will ensure:

Better care and health outcomes for Albertans.
Care closer to home.
Access to a family doctor within a day or two.
Great places to work and care for patients.
Doctors who have time to focus more on medical care and less on administration.
Decreased pressure on Emergency Rooms, EMS, and hospitals and lower costs for the acute care system over time.

#yyc #yeg #yql #ymm

ou deserve to know your retirement is secure, and you can count on that security with Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP.

Post author By admin
Post date April 4, 2023
No Comments on ou deserve to know your retirement is secure, and you can count on that security with Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP.

Your Pension Is Yours

Retirement is supposed to be focused on spending time with your families and loved ones.

But if Danielle Smith gets her way, she will play politics with your pension and could pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan, risking millions of Albertans retirement security.

As well, in 2019, the UCP introduced Bill 22 with no consultation. The legislation dramatically restructured how public pensions were governed, affecting the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of Albertans.

It’s time for better leadership when it comes to your pension. We will legislate the protection of the CPP, by passing a law preventing any Alberta government from leaving the plan.

An Alberta NDP government will:

Stay in the Canada Pension Plan
Expand Private Workplace Pensions
Reform Governance of Public Sector Pensions Plans

The Alberta NDP will protect your pension.

Remaining in the CPP will save hundreds of millions dollars that Danielle Smith would be forced to spend to start up and operate an Alberta-based pension plan.

From the pipeline technician who heads out in -40C, to the teacher who burns the midnight oil to plan the next day’s lessons, you and your neighbours work hard to keep our economy moving and create a province in which the next generation of leaders and innovators can thrive.

You deserve to know your retirement is secure, and you can count on that security with Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP.

#alberta

We will make sure the one million Albertans who need a family doctor, get a family doctor. #ableg #abpoli #abndp #abvote #abelxn23 #aBetterFuture

We will make sure the one million Albertans who need a family doctor, get a family doctor.

Physicians and health professionals are counting on Alberta’s leaders to reimagine family health care, so doctors spend less time doing paperwork and more time caring for you.

This will include expanding current clinics and establishing new clinics in high-demand areas so more Albertans have access to modern, innovative primary care.

The Alberta NDP Family Care Teams Plan will ensure:

Better care and health outcomes for Albertans.
Care closer to home.
Access to a family doctor within a day or two.
Great places to work and care for patients.
Doctors who have time to focus more on medical care and less on administration.
Decreased pressure on Emergency Rooms, EMS, and hospitals and lower costs for the acute care system over time.

For Albertans, our Family Health Teams plan means less waiting, less time running around for referrals, and less repeating your story to one new person after another.

It means ONE location to get all your family health concerns looked after.

Now, not later.

While Danielle Smith and the UCP find new ways to make you pay to see your doctor, our team is focused on what really matters:

More doctors and better health care, where and when it’s needed.

For you. Your parents. And your kids.

#abhealth #ableg #cdnpoli

As physicians with expertise in the field of contraception, we commend the commitment of the NDP to provide free prescription birth control to all Albertans, and call on the UCP to make the same commitment

On Feb. 28, 2023, British Columbia was the first province to announce it would fund free prescription contraception for its residents. The changes will take effect on April 1, and are projected to save women who use the birth control pill as much as $10,000 over the course of their lifetime

In response to the B.C. initiative, the Alberta NDP committed to offering free access to prescription contraception to all Albertans if elected in the next provincial election. So far, the UCP has declined to make the same commitment.

As physicians who work in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, we are in a unique position to attest to the financial barriers that prevent some Albertans from accessing the form of birth control that is right for them. Not all forms of contraception are equivalent, and choosing a type of birth control is a decision that has to be tailored to each patient’s goals, circumstances, and medical history.

For example, estrogen-containing birth control pills are contraindicated in patients with certain medical conditions. Some contraceptives might interact with medications used to treat chronic health conditions. Patients cannot simply settle for the cheapest option available to them; it would be both impractical and medically inadvisable to do so.

Some of the most effective forms of contraception, such as the hormonal IUD and the contraceptive implant, are also the most expensive to purchase up front. The hormonal IUD can cost more than $400 without drug coverage. Studies have shown that, when offered all types of contraception for free, women prefer the IUD and contraceptive implant. In reality, a minority of women end up choosing these forms of contraception, at least partly because of cost. Albertans should be able to access the most effective form of birth control, not just the one that they can afford.

Opponents to government-funded contraception often argue that tax dollars should not be spent on contraception, and should instead remain the financial responsibility of each individual, due to the associated costs of a large-scale program. This argument is nearsighted, as it fails to recognize the financial impacts of unplanned pregnancy on society, as well as the various health benefits associated with contraception.

From a purely economical perspective, the cost of admission to hospital for labour, delivery, and the postpartum period can be significant. According to a 2015 report from Alberta Health, a typical vaginal delivery costs approximately $5,000 to the public system, whereas costs associated with a caesarean section can reach up to $10,000.

Preventing several unplanned pregnancies in Alberta each year would save the system a considerable amount of money. Beyond hospital-associated costs, a 2010 report from B.C. group Options for Health found that every dollar spent on contraception could help save as much as $90 in public spending on social supports after an unplanned pregnancy.

In addition, some forms of birth control have health benefits beyond their contraceptive effect. For example, both the birth control pill and hormonal IUD can be used to treat painful and heavy periods, which could otherwise lead to absenteeism and frequent ER visits. Some forms of contraception can also be used for ovarian and uterine cancer prevention. In short, free contraception is not only good medical care; it is also sound economic policy.

As physicians with expertise in the field of contraception, we commend the commitment of the NDP to provide free prescription birth control to all Albertans, and call on the UCP to make the same commitment. We encourage all individuals to publicly express their support for free contraception, even if they do not plan on directly accessing birth control in the future.

After all, when contraception is free and accessible, our whole society benefits.

Dr. Ariane Litalien is a resident physician training in obstetrics and gynecology in Edmonton. Dr. Ashley Demsky and Dr. Rebecca Rich are obstetrician-gynecologists practising in Edmonton.

#ableg #ucp

DON BRAID: “Her video call with pastor Artur Pawlowski, released Wednesday by the CBC and the NDP, steps over so many other boundaries that the initial uproar seems almost quaint.”

What on earth is the premier of Alberta doing engaging in a long conversation with a man facing serious charges, during which the accused pressures her to get his charges dropped?