The number of Albertans dying of a toxic drug overdose has skyrocketed throughout 2020, while Premier Jason Kenney has removed several services proven to save lives.

#cdnhealth #abhealth #ableg #cdnpoli
"I’m truly heartbroken to see how many Alberta families will be grieving a loved one this Christmas, and I’m angry that Jason Kenney has taken away services that could have meant the difference for them."
- @heathersweetab, NDP Opposition Critic for Mental Health and Addictions
We have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that Jason Kenney puts his personal ideology ahead of professional public health advice. He has taken the same approach to the toxic overdose crisis, and it’s led to unnecessary deaths.
Between the beginning of January 2020 and the end of October, 1027 Albertans died of a drug overdose, of which 904 were opioid overdoses. In 2019, 603 Albertans died of an opioid overdose.
Even as overdose deaths soared, Kenney closed the busiest supervised consumption site in North America, closed the McCullough Treatment Centre for Homeless Men in Gunn, cancelled an innovative telehealth program, and cancelled AHS’ successful injectable opioid agonist treatment.
At a time when the lives of so many Albertans hang in the balance, the government should be aggressively seeking out additional services to protect them, not taking away services just because they don’t align with the premier’s personal prejudices.
"All Albertans have seen the damage Jason Kenney has caused by refusing to act on evidence and medical advice during the COVID-19 pandemic. He cannot continue to make this mistake with the deadly overdose crisis.”
- @heathersweetab

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More from @albertaNDP

16 Dec
Today Dr. Hinshaw said AHS & the Canadian Red Cross are setting up a field hospital in Edmonton despite repeated claims from Premier Kenney & his cabinet ministers that field hospitals were only a contingency plan for “a potential extreme scenario."

#covid19ab #ableg #cdnhealth
“AHS is also working with the Canadian Red Cross to set up an alternate care centre at the Butterdome on the University of Alberta’s campus,” Hinshaw said during her daily briefing.
“Once again, Jason Kenney has been caught withholding the truth from Albertans.”
- @DShepYEG, NDP Opposition Critic for Health
Read 8 tweets
16 Dec
According to a new official government report from the Superintendent of Insurance, Alberta auto insurance companies remained highly profitable last year despite claims by the UCP they were suffering due to the rate cap - an argument used to justify removal of the cap.

#ableg
The recently released 2019 Superintendent of Insurance Annual Report showed that the automobile insurance industry pocketed nearly $1.15 billion more in insurance premiums than they paid out in claims — an 18 per cent increase over the $974 million reported in 2018.
Kenney’s own government report on insurance proves his narrative about the struggling industry is pure fiction. Before the rate cap was lifted, industry margins were growing at the expense of drivers, and now they’re being allowed to price gouge Albertans to expand profits.
Read 6 tweets
1 Oct
New AHS documents, obtained through FOIP, show that Jason Kenney’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro repeatedly lied in the legislature about the growing number of Alberta doctors resigning from rural hospitals due to his ongoing war on their profession.

#ableg #abhealth #cdnhealth
“These documents prove that Tyler Shandro lied to the assembly, lied to his colleagues who represent these rural communities, and worse of all, he lied to the people of Alberta.”
- @DShepYEG, NDP Opposition Critic for Health
In the legislature on June 1, in response to questioning from Shepherd about nine doctors at the Athabasca Healthcare Centre publicly announcing their resignation, Shandro said...
Read 17 tweets
1 Oct
Over the course of two days at the Public Health Act Review Committee, UCP government MLAs voted against making the Chief Medical Officer of Health an Independent Officer of the Legislature, doubled down on their unconstitutional Bill 10 power grab...

#ableg #cdnhealth #abhealth
... refused to enshrine reproductive rights in the Public Health Act, and ignored the dramatically rising death toll from opioid overdoses.
After blocking Dr. Deena Hinshaw from speaking at a previous meeting, UCP members voted down a proposal to establish her role of Chief Medical Officer as an Independent Officer of the Legislature.
Read 9 tweets
29 Sep
We are calling for a public apology from Premier Jason Kenney after UCP MLA Shane Getson accused over one million Albertans who applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) of spending the money on “Cheezies”, “cartoons” and drugs.

#ableg #cdnpoli #canlab
“It is absolutely vile that a UCP MLA would make such a baseless and harmful statement about the hardworking people of Alberta who were forced to access emergency support during a global pandemic.”
- @ChristinaNDP, NDP Labour Critic
People accessed these funds because their workplaces shut down or because they or their families were forced to isolate.
Read 6 tweets
27 Sep
We can do amazing things together. Last quarter was proof.

Thanks to the generosity of Albertans like you, we surpassed the UCP’s deep-pocket donors for the first time in a long time - a massive achievement! You proved that every bit really does count.

albertandp.ca/social Image
But we’re coming up on the end of another quarterly fundraising deadline on Sept 30. Our opponents will be watching to see if we can pull it off again. We need to prove that our success was because of hard work and everyone pitching in.

#alberta
Fundraising numbers are publicly reported and show our strength as a movement. We need to keep up the momentum to show Albertans that voters are turning away from Jason Kenney and that only Rachel Notley can defeat the UCP.

#abndp
Read 5 tweets

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