Thread by @dr_oru

This week we found out:

Alberta doctors agreed to meet the government’s demand to cap physician spending at 4.57B. That offer has been sitting on Shandro’s desk for 19 days.

Why didn’t Shandro accept it or at least offer a counter proposal?

💎Thread💎

edmonton.citynews.ca/2020/07/15/alb…

Alberta doctors started negotiating in November, but has had 6 proposal shot down by Shandro. Before negotiations began, Shandro introduced legislation to tear up the contract with Alberta doctors should negotiations fail.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

The legislation allowed Shandro to terminate @Albertadoctors’ contract and bypass the constitutional right to binding arbitration.

Section 40.2 From Bill 21:

Section 40.2 of Bill 21 is important as it was then amended just a few months after it was created. 🤔

It was amended by Bill 30, which allows the government to sign contracts with private corporations to deliver healthcare to patients (section 20.1 of Bill 30). 🤑

So Bill 21 (section 40.2) ALLOWED contracts between Alberta doctors and government to be torn up.

But Bill 30 amended section 40.2, to PREVENT contracts between private corporations and government to be torn up.

#FireTheUCP

Bill 21 and Bill 30 are both omnibus bills: bills that cover a number of diverse or unrelated topics.

Hidden in them are sections that refer to sections that refer to sections, etc. that allow private corporations to have better contracts than those offered to Alberta doctors.

Bill 30 was introduced AFTER Alberta doctors July 1st proposal to meet Shandro’s demands for cost-savings. So it begs the question:

Why didn’t Shandro accept it or at least offer a counter proposal? Why push forward with Bill 30 instead?

#Shandemic

albertadoctors.org/services/media…

Why attack doctors now, during a pandemic? 🙁

Is Shandro using the pandemic and failing economy under the UCP as a way to distract us from his ultimate plan all along? 🤨

#DisasterCapitalism #ShockDoctrine

What if the attack on doctors during a pandemic during a rising debt load and economic crisis was the perfect distraction to introduce Two Tier healthcare.

One Tier for the Rich, who pay high taxes and want conservative policies that give them access to better, faster service.

The Tier for the Rich will skim the most-profitable, efficient cases, and dump the slower, complex cases with the most complications onto the Public Tier for Most Albertans. In exchange, the Public Tier will lose staff like anesthesiologists and nurses, leaving it understaffed.

Private health insurance companies will begin selling plans to improve access and choice for the Tier for the Rich.

So Bill 30 is the Trojan horse that will allow private corporations and private insurance companies to profit off Albertans taxes and illness.
#WealthCare

And if you didn’t know, Shandro owns shares in a company that brokers private health insurance plans to employers. A company owned by his wife.

So why attack doctors now, during a pandemic? If it’s cost-savings, why push Bill 30 instead of negotiate with Alberta doctors?

Because talking about doctor compensation is a distraction while we are distracted by #COVID19 and #AlbertaRelaunch.

Because there is money to be made in private schools and private clinics. Because there is money to be made in school fees and insurance premiums.

At the end of the day, the rich benefit from access and choice that they can pay for. And conservative governments seek to reduce government spending on public services for all, and increase spending on private services for some.

Ralph Klein wanted more “choice” in healthcare.He said it would improve healthcare while saving the province money

“In the end, Klein's ambitions for massive health care reform were blunted by pushback from the federal government and the Alberta public”

cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

TLDR: Shandro fought doctors during a pandemic to privatizate healthcare.

So government pays less for public services, while the rich could get better choice/access. And private health insurance and corporations could profit.

And Albertans pay more for less.

#AbLeg #cdnpoli

If you want to know how we can stop The UCP Shock Doctrine watch this and please retweet and share!