Danielle Smith plans to keep silent about her plot to hijack your CPP and launch a hugely expensive Alberta Police Force. Then she’ll spring her pet schemes on you after the election.

UCP Leader Danielle Smith says she won’t be campaigning on some of her party’s more contentious ideas — sovereignty legislation, a provincial police force and an Alberta pension plan — ahead of the May 29 election.

Smith was interviewed on Global’s morning show in Calgary on Friday and fielded a variety of questions on revitalizing the city’s downtown, public safety and health care.

Smith, after she became premier last year, introduced the sovereignty act as centrepiece legislation to pursue a more confrontational approach with the federal government on issues deemed to be an overreach in provincial areas of responsibility.

Smith has also had her ministers looking into replacing the RCMP with a provincial police service, setting up a provincial revenue agency and leaving the Canada Pension Plan.

“They’re not in our campaign because I think we’ve got so many things that we have done that we’re excited about. We’re bringing in $10-a-day daycare,” Smith said.

“We have a partnership with the federal government to be able to bring that through, and we expanded it out to both non-profit and private spaces. We’ve also undertaken a significant improvement in the health-care system.”

Smith said things like the pension plan and replacing the RCMP can be revisited after the election.

“We have said that we’re going to do consultation on a number of these issues. I think our sheriffs, for instance, are doing a great job,” she said.

“The other ones, we are waiting for a couple of reports. And I’ve said as soon as those reports are available, we’ll make them public.”

Days before the election call, Smith announced a $330-million provincial investment in a new arena and entertainment district project in Calgary.

She said there is also a need to address the “public safety crisis.” Alberta has a plan to ensure more publicly funded treatment beds and long-term supports are available for people with addictions, she said.

Calgary police were investigating a report of a stabbing on a downtown light-rail transit platform Thursday evening, the latest in a series of attacks on transit in recent months.

“We’re just not going to tolerate public disorder. So this is part of the reason why we invested for another hundred police officers in Calgary and Edmonton,” Smith said.

First, she said people would pay for their visits to family doctors with these accounts. The government would seed them with an initial $375 payment, presumably to everyone who holds an Alberta Health card.

“My view is that the entire budget for family practitioners should be paid for from Health Care Savings Accounts,” she said in June 2021, in a paper written for the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

“If the government funded the account at $375 a year, that’s the equivalent of 10 trips to a GP, so there can be no argument that this would compromise access on the basis of ability to pay.”

Well, sorry, there is an argument. Many people need far more care in times of serious illness. The accounts would also discriminate against lower income people who lack the means to add their own funds to the account.

One GP calls the plan “short-sighted and knee-jerk, without due consideration of the vast array of concerns that a family doctor deals with.”

She threw out these ideas before anybody dreamed she’d be premier. But she still pushes the accounts in her mandate letter to Health Minister Jason Copping, ordering him to “work to establish Health Spending Accounts.”

The premier now says people could use their accounts only for services that aren’t covered by public health insurance — physiotherapy, medications, whatever.

There’s no more talk of physician visits being part of the plan. She blasts NDP Leader Rachel Notley twisting the truth, when Notley is pretty much pointing out what Smith herself has said.

This premier was a professional talker for so long that we often know what she really wants, which can be quite different from what she now says.

And the goal of these saving accounts is to groom the public for widespread private payment. That’s clear from her own words.

Smith said in the U of C paper: “Once people get used to the concept of paying out of pocket for more things themselves, then we can change the conversation on health care.”

She argued that the system “has to shift the burden of payment away from taxpayers and toward private individuals, their employers and their insurance companies.”

Even more startling, Smith calls for a “proper” overall health insurance system with deductibles or co-payment.

“If we establish the principle of Health Spending Accounts, then we can also establish co-payments,” she wrote.

“I can guarantee you as well that if the government creates this structure, business and non-profits will step up.

“Employers will make matching contributions to Health Spending Accounts. Non-profits will be established to make charitable contributions to the Health Spending Accounts of low-income earners so they can get a broader range of health services.

“Because that is the character of Albertans. We take care of each other. It’s what we do.”

In my experience, Albertans have always demanded a better system, but never one that makes them pay out of their own pockets.

Smith is toying with political explosives far more dangerous than former Premier Ralph Klein detonated in 2005, when he brought in the Third Way, a plan that would have allowed people to pay for upgraded surgeries and queue-jumping.

The uproar was so furious that Klein had to abandon the plan, but not before throwing a Liberal health policy paper at a teenage legislature page and shouting “I don’t need that crap!”

Smith’s wider plans would inevitably violate the Canada Health Act. A single public pay system is the very heart of the Act. Because Alberta conforms, Ottawa will deliver $5.3 billion to the province this year, 21.5 per cent of the health care budget.

Smith now says anything she does would comply with the federal law. But she constantly voices opposition to many federal policies and actions, claiming the right to nullify them.

It raises the question: would she use her looming Sovereignty Act for health care?

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.

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.

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.

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.

Addressing reporters in what’s expected to be the decisive battleground of Calgary, where the NDP is headquartering its efforts, Notley said she would consult Albertans on what to do with the rainy-day, $18.6-billion Alberta Heritage Trust Fund, among a raft of recommendations in a report authored by former ATB chief economist Todd Hirsch.

The NDP leader said her party would operate in the black, though there was no mention of creating a provincial sales tax (PST), widely seen as political kryptonite ahead of a provincial election scheduled for May 29.

“I want to be clear that Albertans can expect a balanced budget,” said Notley, adding the blueprint would end boom-and-bust budgeting chaos.

“For too long Albertans have been on a resource revenue roller-coaster. Governments have spent resource revenues as fast as it came in only to drastically pull back spending when prices went down. It’s time to get Alberta off that roller-coaster, and this report provides the path on how we can get there.”

The report produced from consulting 37 different stakeholder groups and individuals also states her government wouldn’t exceed a debt-to-GDP ratio of 30 per cent, a figure currently at 9.9 per cent.

She said that ratio would only be a worst-case scenario, even if it would still be lower than that of many countries.

The blueprint’s most important concept is fixing the amount of resource revenues earmarked for budgeting purposes, a move that would “completely detach the government from the volatility of oil prices,” said University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.

“I think Hirsch has done an excellent job . . . it could easily be adapted to any political party. It’s just a hard-headed look at the finances of the province.”

He said the approach shows there’s no need to implement a PST.

When the NDP took power in 2015, Alberta’s debt was $11.9 billion, a number that soared to $85.9 billion by the time the party was voted out in 2019 during a time of low energy prices.

Much of the UCP attacks on the NDP have centred on the party’s alleged economic mismanagement during its last tenure that they say drove up the debt, drove away businesses, raised taxes and cost 183,000 jobs.

We will reinvigorate Alberta’s investment climate. There are massive job creation opportunities – which the UCP is not seizing.

Our proposals will create over 47,000 good-paying jobs and attract an estimated $20 Billion in private sector investment.

Our strategy:

1. Create an Alberta’s Future Tax Credit targeting growth in emerging industrial sectors
2. Supercharge the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program we created when in government
3. Use Performance Fast Pass to speed up the approvals of projects for responsible companies
4. Consult with Indigenous communities on expansion of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunity Corporation
5. Repeal Danielle Smith’s job-killing, anti-Canadian Sovereignty Act

The historic incentives in the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act is pulling billions of dollars of investment south.

Alberta must compete. Decisions we make this year will have long-lasting implications for Alberta’s future.

Notley held a press conference in Red Deer on Thursday at the Baymont by Wyndham hotel (4311 49 Ave), proclaiming her government will make three commitments for the future of the hospital. She was accompanied by Red Deer –North candidate Jaelene Tweedle, Red Deer-South candidate Michelle Baer and Health Critic David Shepherd.

Just two days earlier, Alberta’s Minister of Infrastructure, Nathan Neudorf, announced the provincial government would be hosting a public information session to provide an update on the project. They did not give further details on what would be discussed.

Notley says her government would commit the following:

• Press forward urgently with the expansion of the Red Deer Hospital and explore any opportunity to speed up the timeline
• Ensure the current and future hospitals are fully staffed, as a part of their plan to recruit and train new healthcare workers
• Be transparent with the project’s timeline and communicate any changes

“The UCP’s handling of the Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion has been chaotic and incompetent leadership and it is unacceptable,” said Notley. “The people in Red Deer and throughout central Alberta deserve honesty and transparency and for the Red Deer Regional Hospital to be a priority. Not more secrecy and empty promises from the UCP.”

With the recommendation for a hospital expansion dating back to 2014 in the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Master Plan, the project was left off the Alberta Health Services (AHS) health care infrastructure priority list in 2018 by the former NDP government, in power from 2015-2019. At the press conference, Notley said AHS recommended other priorities at the time while they had “fewer resources”.

“It took us, quite honestly, I’ll be very frank, a couple of years to reconsider that and overrule that and decide that ‘no, we needed to get this back on the active list’ which is what we did while still in government,” said Notley, adding that since that time, the pressures at the hospital have grown. “Because of the unique position that Red Deer occupies as a city that offers a pretty full range of specialized services yet in a smaller setting, the pressures have perhaps been felt more intensely here and the need has grown at a greater rate.”

In 2019, she says the Alberta NDP put back the project on their priority list, creating a Multi‐Year Health Facility Infrastructure Capital Submission plan to redesign how governments would communicate to Albertans about capital construction. She says they also funded preliminary scoping work for the hospital expansion and commitment to its recommendations.

Under the following UCP government, the hospital expansion project was initially left out of their first capital budget. In 2020, the government anticipated construction would begin the following year. In November 2022, Premier Danielle Smith announced a 2030/31 estimated completion date for the project alongside site details.

However, the NDP say, according to the recent Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Prime Consultant Services document posted for open response on January 12, the new anticipated completion date for construction is 2032 and 2033 for post construction. The date for construction to begin is still undetermined.

“Sadly, this news will likely not come as a surprise to the hospital staff and everyone that relies on the hospital’s services,” said Baer, who referenced patients waiting up to 18 hours at the hospital’s emergency department. “This is just another failed commitment to the people of Red Deer by the UCP. When we are in government, we will get the hospital expansion done and address the crisis in healthcare all across Alberta.”

“The 2032/2033 date referred to from the RFP is the total contract period for a Prime Consultant. It’s standard industry practice to retain a Prime Consultant beyond completion for complex projects like the Red Deer Hospital, to address any warranty issues, minor deficiency completions, and to support the building handover and commissioning,” he said in a statement.

“Alberta’s government will continue to have transparent and open communication with the City of Red Deer about this project as it proceeds.”

STAFFING

“The chaos in our healthcare system and the need to improve the Red Deer Hospital is top of mind for many here,” said Tweedle. “Last week, I spoke with a nurse new to the Red Deer Hospital who was shocked to see how underserved and understaffed our hospital is and how it is literally bursting at the seams. We must take action — and I can promise you that Michelle, Rachel and myself will end the chaos in our healthcare system.”

In a response, Alberta Health Services said that four new physicians have been hired for the Emergency Department in a new mentoring role and clinical and physician assistants are being recruited to support physicians.

They also said surgical services have seen recent success in recruiting seven full time anesthesiologists, one currently practicing in Red Deer, and three more expected to arrive in February. For the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), in 2022, they say eight new spaces were added, bringing the hospital’s ICU capacity to 20 beds.

“Despite capacity pressures, RDRHC continues to provide a full suite of surgical services for patients. At this time, no procedures have been postponed and both emergency and scheduled cases continue to be seen as quickly as possible,” AHS said in a statement.

Steve Buick, Press Secretary for the Minister of Health, added that although more doctors are needed, he states the province, and Red Deer in particular, have seen big gains in 2022.

With a spring election around the corner, it’s critical that we keep our momentum going for a better Alberta. We only get stronger when we work together.

With your support, we can stop Danielle Smith and the UCP’s cruel and chaotic agenda—and bring stability back to our healthcare, education and economy.

Chip in now to keep the momentum building

More Info: https://act.albertandp.ca/donate/better-alberta/