Thread by @kandrusky

Fellow Albertans: it is bad enough that @shandro misled people into believing he held the 30+% cuts to docs. This was NOT TRUE & he proceeded to invoke 13.5 of 15 of them yest. But the sheer power grab by @jkenney and @shandro is MUCH worse than that and Albertans need to know:

- Bill 21 gave Cabinet the authority to end ANY negotiated contract upon one closed door vote by Cabinet. No media, no opposition, no public. They plop it on a Cabinet agenda, publicize it on their website... and a negotiated contract for ANY gov’t contracted worker is voided.

- Bill 21 also gave gov’t the power to hold licensing for physicians over their heads to command them to practice where gov’t thinks they should (as if politics won’t impact this...). If a doc is not comfortable practising somewhere for professional or personal reasons: too bad.

- @shandro et al. have also interpretted the AB Health Insurance Act and the seemingly innocent phrase “by authority of law” to mean the Minister can change compensation whenever however he chooses. So a pap smear could pay “x” in April & @shandro could change that to “y” in May.

- similarly, as the AMA and physicians no longer have a contract given the Minister utilized Bill 21 to tear it up in Feb, any benefits negotiated over the years in lieu of compensation can be gone to (such as parental or compassionate leave; physician support programs)

I challenge Albertans to ask yourselves if YOU could operate a small business with no knowledge or reasonable predictability of income (to cover known and ongoing expenses). When elected officials deliberately undercut and disrespect your business to promote corporate products.

This is the reality that AB physicians face: contracts mean absolutely nothing; a 30+% cut as of today with total unpredictability of more to come; and the possibility of being ordered by gov’t to practice wherever, even if you’re not comfortable doing so. Would YOU stay in AB???