Thread by @joececiyyc

I was shocked by the UCP's scandalous decision to fire Dr. Verna Yiu, but the truth is this is just the latest battle in their war on public healthcare.

Here's a brief summary (and buckle up, this gets wild) 👇🏼🧵 1/25 #ableg #abhealth calgary.ctvnews.ca/dr-verna-yiu-f…

First, know that @jkenney has supported two-tier healthcare for decades. This is from 2000: "A Canadian Alliance government would support the development of a two-tier health-care system... Alliance campaign co-chairman Jason Kenney says." 2/ theglobeandmail.com/news/national/…

He only started to lie about his healthcare privatization plans when he jetted in to Alberta and realized that Albertans don't support two-tier healthcare.

That gave rise to his infamous, discredited "public health guarantee". 3/ albertapolitics.ca/2019/02/jason-…

As soon as the UCP were elected, Kenney threw out his public health guarantee. He began his war on public healthcare by ordering a $2 million review to help justify privatization and layoffs. #ableg #abhealth 4/ sprawlcalgary.com/alberta-health…

The review report was delivered on 3 February 2020, just before Alberta had its first cases of COVID-19.

And that was the moment @jkenney and the UCP chose to pour gasoline on the fire. 5/

On 20 Feb 2020, disgraced former Health Minister @shandro unilaterally ripped up AB doctors' contract.

They were stunned. "This has never happened in Canada during the whole duration of medicare," said Alberta Medical Assoc President Christine Molnar. 6/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

It's impossible to overstate how radical a move this was. The UCP unilaterally ripped up a viable, existing contract, during an ongoing negotiation. All so they could tear down public healthcare.

"Physicians feel betrayed." 7/ calgaryherald.com/opinion/column…

Meanwhile, the pandemic reached Canada and Alberta. The PM was in isolation. Whole countries were in lockdown.

Did the UCP halt their assault on public healthcare? No, they ramped it up.

They decided to fire 750 nurses. AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC. 8/ calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-ndp-ur…

We were then less than a month after Alberta's first COVID-19 cases. Nurses, doctors and healthcare workers were fighting both a pandemic and their own callous, out-of-touch, anti-public health government. 9/

And the UCP continued to escalate their attack on healthcare and healthcare workers.

@shandro saw a doctor post a meme he didn’t like, so he decided to go to the doc’s house and scream at him in front of his kids. An astounding act. 10/ #ableg cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

The consequences of the UCP attack on public healthcare were soon apparent.

Because of UCP cuts, doctors were forced to withdraw their services from hospitals. During the greatest public health emergency of our time. 11/ #ableg

calgaryherald.com/news/docs-in-s…

"A healthcare emergency is about to be unleashed in Alberta—not by COVID-19—but by provincial government policy."

Thanks to the UCP, doctors in some rural areas couldn't afford to deliver babies anymore. 12/ #ableg calgaryherald.com/news/local-new…

And meanwhile, @shandro's inexplicable behaviour continued. He was caught using confidential information to harass doctors after hours.

And @jkenney still backed him. 13/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

The AMA was forced to sue the UCP Govt because of @shandro's vicious cuts and radical changes to healthcare. Another first for Canada.

The UCP wouldn't even delay during the pandemic. 14/ albertadoctors.org/services/media…

By the end of April, 47% of rural doctors had been forced to reduce hospital service. 15/

https://twitter.com/EZMSA2/status/1252247386107211776

At one point, the UCP cancelled a public job posting for a health advocate at the last moment, and appointed a UCP insider instead. 16/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

By June, this was the list of communities losing healthcare services:
Athabasca
Bragg Crk
Canmore
Claresholm
Cochrane
Cold Lake
Crossfield
Drayton Valley
Fort McMurray
Lacombe
Okotoks
Peace Rvr
Pincher Crk
Ponoka
Rimbey
Rocky Mtn House
Stettler
Sundre
3 Hills
Westlock

17/

In July 2020, the UCP introduced a bill paving the way for increased healthcare privatization. 18/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

Soon, so many doctors were thinking about leaving that Shandro tried to ban them from doing so. Extraordinary. 19/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

The UCP passed a resolution in support of two-tier, for-profit, American-style healthcare.

@jkenney and his disgraced Health Minister @shandro refused to denounce it, because this was their plan all along. 20/ #ableg #abhealth cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

And the UCP didn't let up in their attack on public healthcare. They decided to lay off 11,000 healthcare workers. In the middle of the pandemic. 23/ cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

And they tried to cut nurses' wages. In the middle of a pandemic. 22/

edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-walks-….

Meanwhile, they were also helping to create a crisis in EMS. Here's a thread on that disaster. 23/

https://twitter.com/joececiyyc/status/1478825675695943684

I've run out of space (!), but know that this UCP assault on public healthcare continues.

They are currently trying to cut healthcare worker wages, and their latest budget goes all-in on healthcare privatization. 24/ albertandp.ca/alberta-budget…

This thread only scratches the surface of the UCP's wider assault on public healthcare.

There is only one conclusion: if you care about public healthcare, you have to do all you can to get rid of the UCP.

We need an @albertaNDP government. 🧵 25/25 END #ableg #abhealth