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

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More from @RachelNotley

18 Feb
Jason Kenney’s Critical Workers Benefit is a confusing maze with criteria that makes little sense and completely neglects some of the critical frontline heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. #ableg
open.alberta.ca/dataset/c3d814… 1/5
Alberta’s NDP is appalled to see that non-profit workers do NOT qualify — these are people who risked their lives to provide food and care for ailing Albertans, and who gave back to their community, during a public health emergency unlike any we’ve ever seen. #ableg 2/5
As well, the Government has taken $35.6 million of the money intended for workers and given it instead to employers to help with administrative costs? That makes no sense. This money is for workers. #ableg 3/5
Read 5 tweets
18 Jan
The risk surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline has been very obvious for some time. Nevertheless, Jason Kenney jeopardized up to $7.5 billion of Alberta taxpayers’ money on this project and now we’re learning it may be stopped altogether. #ableg 1/5
cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
While there’s no question that the successful completion of KXL can be beneficial to Alberta’s economy, the Premier has never come clean on the economic and risk analysis associated with his massive gamble. #ableg 2/5
From the moment that Albertans’ dollars were put at risk, Jason Kenney has also continued to reject the importance of a strong environmental and climate policy that would help make the case for KXL. #ableg 3/5
Read 5 tweets
9 Dec 20
It’s 3 a.m. and the 2020 Fall Sitting of the 30th Alberta Legislature has concluded. #ableg 1/10
Jason Kenney and the UCP shut down debate on a number of their horrendous bills, including one to strip away workers protections and supports for the very Albertans on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. #ableg 2/10
The Government also rammed through legislation to accelerate their failed $4.7-billion corporate handout tonight. #ableg 3/10
Read 10 tweets
9 Dec 20
In the #ableg tonight as @ChristinaNDP introduces multiple amendments to undo the attacks by the UCP on workers health and safety rights through their cruel Bill 47.
She only as one hour to do it because the UCP introduced closure after only one hour of debate.
They just voted down her attempt to protect coverage for PTSD incurred as a result of trauma in the workplace. This, on a day that leaked information from the Canadian Armed Forces suggested they are warning personnel they may suffer PTSD caring for dying seniors in LTC. Shame.
Read 4 tweets
25 Nov 20
Albertans waited 12 days.
In that time, 94 Albertans died.
And more than 13,000 Albertans got sick with COVID-19. 1/17 #ableg #abhealth
Albertans waited 12 whole days expecting to see strong action, but once again, this Premier let them down.
Today’s announcement is simply not enough.
We don’t know what Dr. Hinshaw recommended to the Cabinet but I don’t for one second think it was this. 2/17 #ableg #abhealth
I suspect today’s decisions by this Premier were NOT governed by the advice of the public health officials, but by his own ideology combined with the internal political motivations of the UCP Caucus. 3/17 #ableg #abhealth
Read 17 tweets
24 Nov 20
Doctors, economists and small business owners ALL told the Premier we needed more action.

Instead, he waited, and now he’s pushing us closer to a holiday lockdown.

#ableg #abpoli
Yet, the only supports for small businesses are inadequate programs that generate automatic rejection letters.
"Due to technical limitations, businesses that meet new eligibility requirements and submit an application may initially receive a rejection notification as the system is updated."

alberta.ca/release.cfm?xI…
Read 5 tweets

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