Thread by @RachelNotley

One year ago today, Premier Jason Kenney’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro tore up the government’s contract with doctors, plunging Alberta’s healthcare system into crisis. A full recap and my comments in the thread to follow 1/10 #ableg #abhealth

He did this with a deadly pandemic on Alberta’s doorstep. This was a profound failure of leadership.
After the contract tear up and discussions broke down with doctors, Shandro imposed loads of new billing paperwork and cuts to family doctor’s practice. 2/10 #ableg #abhealth

Shandro and Kenney refused to enter arbitration, a constitutional right for workers who cannot strike. This prompted the AMA to launch a constitutional challenge in April. The Kenney government also gave itself the authority to tear future contracts. 3/10 #ableg #abheath

The fallout saw a wave of mass resignations, particularly in rural Alberta.
Even as Shandro was publicly denying doctors were quitting, AHS was maintaining a secret list of planned resignations, which reached 173 doctors in 17 communities. 4/10 #ableg #abhealth

The Minister then rolled back some of the cuts but the damage had bee done and the conflict with doctors remained. Members of the UCP Caucus representing rural communities sat back and watched as the doctors in their constituencies left. They did nothing. 5/10 #ableg #abhealth

The Minister of Health’s staff then set off a mass campaign of harassment and intimidation of doctors.
In the legislature, Kenney referred to doctors as “members of the one-per-cent club” and Shandro repeatedly accused the AMA of “misleading” its members. 6/10 #ableg #abhealth

In late February of 2020, Shandro pressured AHS officials to give him the personal cell phone numbers of two doctors, whom he called outside of business hours to argue about the cuts. 7/10 #ableg #abhealth

In March, Shandro confronted a Calgary doctor in his driveway and berated him in front of his neighbours and family. Alberta’s NDP called for Shandro’s resignation at the time and the Premier ignored us. 8/10 #ableg #abhealth

In May, medical students wrote an open letter to Shandro telling him “it seems reckless to gamble on a career in Alberta.”
In July, Shandro even threatened to change doctors’ professional rules to prevent them from leaving. 9/10 #ableg #abhealth

The war with doctors continues with no end in sight, as does the pandemic. Enough with the chaos in Alberta healthcare, Premier — put an end to the senseless conflict with the health professionals we will rely on should a third wave of COVID-19 come. 10/10 #ableg #abhealth