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Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
@ZiadFazel
Apr 15, 2022 • 13 tweets • 12 min read • Read on X
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On Wednesday, Health Min Copping "addressed the speculation" about funding cuts to Rapid Test distribution. He said compensation was "changed" from $5/test to $60/case.

Suspicious of the change in units, I looked into it.

Compensation has been cut from $5/test to $0.093/test.
If you're going to lead off weekly #COVID19AB theatre to say "rumours are not correct", then your clarification had better not be deceptive.

This would be the Labour Min saying Alberta's minimum wage has been "changed" from $15/hr to $500/month.

This compensation cut to pharmacists was announced in a PDF dated 3 March 2022, effective 7 March.

Goodbye $5/test dispensing fee.

Hello flat $60/case (for eg. 650 BTNX) the pharmacist has to apply for, to cover shipping directly billed by distributor.

ab.bluecross.ca/pdfs/pharmacy-…
Dispensing fees are max $12.15 until 31 March 2022 (watch for that to get cut) so $5/test *might* have been OK given there's no pill bottle to provide, label or receipt to print.

But the pharmacist still has to give you advice on how to use the test.

alberta.ca/pharmacy-servi…
Here's the Product Insert for BTNX COV-19C25 Rapid Antigen Test - the most prevalent in Alberta.

Piece of cake, eh?

btnx.com/files/COV-19C2…

This is why people rely on their pharmacists to explain how to use the test.

What dispensing fees are for.

rxa.ca/for-the-public…
I showed BTNX because it is most prevalent in Alberta.

36m of the 55m rapid tests shipped free by the feds.

canada.ca/en/public-heal…

• BTNX 650/case = 9.3 cents each
• Panbio 800/case = 7.5 cents each
• BD Veritor 2880/*pallet* = 2.1 cents each?

ontariohealth.ca/sites/ontarioh…
Min Copping claims AB Health "eliminated almost all administrative work for pharmacists who are providing.."

In reality they eliminated the way for pharmacists to bill for their advice on how to use the test.

They won't even let the distributor bill the province for shipping.
One would expect a conservative gov to know when you stop paying private sector to do something, they likely stop.

Rapid tests are key to Alberta "learning to live with Covid-19".

Looks like AB Health is cutting off pharmacies to push business to high-$$ mail-order cronies.
Wish I'd seen @Adam_Toy spotless reporting before my 🧵

Turns out AB Health cut compensation to pharmacies 93%, to not even 7 cents per Rapid Test, putting pharmacies at a loss for distributing them.

Which of course is discouraging pharmacy orders.

globalnews.ca/news/8755532/r…
@Adam_Toy @Howl_it @GosiaGasperoPhD @jvipondmd @LeylaDAsadi @kasza_leslie @demandsbetter @littlepoteets @TheBreakdownAB @TehseenLadha @sameo416 When Rapid Test distro started in mid-Dec, pharmacies had to do TONS of work for $5 per kit:
• advising people carefully, especially to avoid false negatives
• unpredictable deliveries of tests and vax
• on top of 3rd-dose crush/panic from Omicron

ab.bluecross.ca/pdfs/Reference…
Looks like AB Health never wanted pharmacies to be compensated fairly for distributing Rapid Tests.

Another choking of publicly-funded supply to drive business to private-sector cronies.

Now, they can't even bill for 2 cases at a time. 1 Case per bill.

ab.bluecross.ca/pdfs/pharmacy-…
In Jan, Premier & Health Min repeatedly lied the holdup in Rapid Tests (👇 expensive failure to beat free tests from the feds) was due to Health Canada not approving enough.

In reality, they tied AHS hands by forcing it to bid against federal contracts.

Ugh. This gets worse every time I look at it.

The 7 March 2022 "change" shifted the shipping cost from directly billed to the province..

..to now billed to the pharmacy, which the pharmacy then has to claim from Blue Cross, ONE CASE AT A TIME. 😠

ab.bluecross.ca/pdfs/pharmacy-…

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More from @ZiadFazel

Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
May 7
"Inside the event, Hannaford wrote in his Western Standard column, “Nicolaides laid out the scope of Marxist infiltration into the teachers’ training colleges, the use of ‘revolutionary’ textbooks..."

@JackieSeidel1 @gfinockio @teachtheteecher @YYCfrancophile @allimc456 "Inside the event, Hannaford wrote in his Western Standard column, “Nicolaides laid out the scope of Marxist infiltration into the teachers’ training colleges, the use of ‘revolutionary’ textbooks for prospective teachers and the pre-graduation requirement for them to not only study DEI but attend a protest.”"
@JackieSeidel1 @gfinockio @teachtheteecher @YYCfrancophile @allimc456 Danielle Smith - Christian by Opportunism.

"While Smith isn’t herself a Christian, Hannaford noted that she’s “taken up several causes dear to Alberta’s Christian community,” including book ban, restricting gender-affirming care and “supporting alternatives to public education"" While Smith isn’t herself a Christian, Hannaford noted that she’s “taken up several causes dear to Alberta’s Christian community,” including the book ban, restricting gender-affirming care and “supporting alternatives to public education, widely perceived — with good reason — as toxic to Christian values.” According to Hannaford, Smith boasted in her remarks that she has doubled the percentage of K-12 students who are attending schools outside the public system. Nicolaides added that, since the majority of students still attend public schools, “we have to go in there and fix it.”
Attendees expressed appreciation for Smith’s fulfilment of a Christian agenda, despite her own lack of faith. “She’s not religious yet, and that’s what we noticed very much in her speech, even today,” one attendee who declined to provide his name said of Smith. “But her ministers are Christian, so we’re very encouraged to see that those are the people that she chooses.” “She does recognize Christian values,” added another.
@JackieSeidel1 @gfinockio @teachtheteecher @YYCfrancophile @allimc456 @TheBreakdownAB @LukaszukAB @RobBreakenridge @cspotweet "Primary & Preventative Health Services Minister LaGrange.. told attendees she had ordered Alberta Health Services to review its policies and procedures regarding the death of babies who survived abortions..."

@FionaMattatall @DrStephanieCoo1 @DrJenGunter @heathergrant11 Primary and Preventative Health Services Minister LaGrange, a former Red Deer Catholic school board trustee who once led the local pro-life organization, told attendees she had ordered Alberta Health Services to review its policies and procedures regarding the death of babies who survived abortions. “People deserve dignity and respect, from conception onwards,” she said, according to Hannaford.
Read 5 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
Mar 23
Thank you Markham and Houston Energy Economist @edhirs for a fresh analysis this morning on the chaos from Trump knowing how to Start a War, but not End a War.

Oil, LNG and fertilizer I knew, but apparently aluminum now too.

I’ve read elsewhere about pharmaceutical feedstock…
You two have a nice combination of academic rigor but also straight talk.

Here’s the post I saw on pharmaceutical feedstock, using acetaminophen example. I believe Atabay in Turkey uses slightly different process. Bad importer for Canada, tho’.

@LukesDrugMart @TheBreakdownAB
@LukesDrugMart @TheBreakdownAB On @NewsHour 4 March, US Sen Katie Britt "explained" why MAGA voted down debate on war, claiming Trump had it under control.

But plan is vague, only considered offence, not Iran's pushback, creeped in interview "days" ➡️ "weeks".

@edhirs @politicalham
pbs.org/newshour/show/…
Read 4 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
Jan 6
I have watched, and learned from, fellow professional engineers responsibly warning govs + public for over 35 years.

@cityofcalgary Infrastructure GM Michael Thompson, over 10 years.

Can't recall warnings so grave as #BearspawSouthFeederMain yesterday.

Gm Michael Thompson, PEng, begins his update
"5 6 7 8 9 , 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 views Streamed live on 5 Jan 2026 The City of Calgary’s focus remains to fix the impacted portion of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main to bring it back into service next week and take pressure off the smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant. With water usage trending higher, Infrastructure Services General Manager Michael Thompson said the overreliance on the Glenmore Treatment Plan...
"Unlike the 2024 break – where multiple repairs were made before the feeder main was brought back into service – the priority will be to get the Bearspaw South Feeder Main back up and running as soon as possible and reinforcing parts of the line as future work. “This work will likely include reinforcing segments of pipe using the concrete encasement method which we used in 2024,” said Thompson. “These reinforcements will take place as soon as possible, no later than the spring of 2026." The dependability of feeder main line remains a concern and will continue to be until a ne...
"The dependability of feeder main line remains a concern and will continue to be until a new, parallel line, is put in place. “I understand this news regarding the stability of the pipe is not what anyone wants to hear,” said Thompson. “While planning for urgent reinforcement work, we will be looking for every possible opportunity to advance the Bearspaw South Feeder Main Replacement project to get us out of this vulnerable situation.” Thompson said shutdowns of the feeder main in Spring and Fall, may be necessary to complete reinforcement work.
@cityofcalgary @paulisci @DuaneBratt @TheBreakdownAB @RobBreakenridge @LiveWireCalgary @CTVMarkVillani @CBCScott @davidbarrettyyc @JeromyYYC @iceTyyc GM Thompson stressed we're big city on two small rivers, which themselves are dependent on snowmelt from the Rockies.

For too long, we have tolerated lack of redundancy in essential water services.

I see hard limits to Calgary's growth: short + long term.
@jvipondmd @sameo416
@cityofcalgary @paulisci @DuaneBratt @TheBreakdownAB @RobBreakenridge @LiveWireCalgary @CTVMarkVillani @CBCScott @davidbarrettyyc @JeromyYYC @iceTyyc @jvipondmd @sameo416 Mayor @JeromyYYC described Bearspaw South Feeder Main as "beating heart" of Calgary's water system.

With hindsight, Bearspaw South Feeder Main = aorta, the largest artery in the body.

It can no longer reliably carry flow & pressure from heart = Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant. Medical diagram of aorta from https://www.vch.ca/en/your-heart-and-how-it-works
Read 5 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
Dec 2, 2025
🧵
On #GivingTuesday, my surprisingly bushy #Movember broom and I would like you to support @YYC_counselling. Here's why.

Today, 2 Dec 2025, is the LAST day for donations from you to be matched by an anonymous donor, thereby 2X your money.

1/
In August 2011, @BalBrach @CBCCalgary was assigned to the story, because IIRC 18% of victims that @CalgaryPolice encountered were men, but there was no gov program to support them/us.

@YYC_counselling offered a donation-funded program, and they recommended me to interview.

2/
@BalBrach @CBCCalgary @CalgaryPolice @YYC_counselling I'd recently completed a 14-week group therapy program for Male Victims of Domestic Violence.

CCC continually improves, so you can see its successor here "Turn for the Better" in its list of Group Counselling Programs, but only "On Demand" due to $$.

3/
calgarycounselling.com/counselling/gr…
Read 8 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
Sep 21, 2025
The drummer in this video is my favourite person this weekend. Everything about her is energetic performance:
• drumming of course
• hair
• silver jumpsuit
• attitude.

I want to power into EVERY Monday morning with that energy.

@FionaMattatall

@FionaMattatall Here is the same band performing:

Simple Minds - Someone Somewhere In Summertime (Live from Paisley Abbey)

They're all having a great time, but she is a combination of Determined and Delighted.

I just found my wake-up with or without caffeine videos.

@FionaMattatall Found her! Thanks to @YouTube always working to make lists + mixes for me, her name is Cherisse Osei @Cherissedrums and she is deservedly a @ZildjianCompany artist.

This is a technical showcase. Watch her light up in front of a big live audience.

Read 4 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦💉 Profile picture
Jul 9, 2025
Yesterday @Rogers @RogersHelps [sic] "Terry in Charlottetown, PEI" cancelled my home office internet service AGAINST MY EXPRESS INSTRUCTIONS in order to upsell me to new plan.

Can @TELUSsupport move up my install date from 16 July to add @TELUS TV & Internet to my mobile plan? Page 1 of 3-page chat transcript between me and Rogers
Page 2 of 3-page chat transcript between me and Rogers
Page 3 of 3-page chat transcript between me and Rogers
Rogers INSISTS that they have not outsourced their support to India, or anyone. Given that my phone call of two (2) hours on Saturday was with 2 Indians with insufficient authority or account access, including "Jaz the tech support supervisor in Calgary" [what a coincidence!]...
I say that is BS. I was a loyal Shaw customer for years because they were based in Calgary. The transition to Rogers was a mess: passwords + challenge questions/answers got lost in the shift.

Rogers does not empower their "support" to support. Only to stall, obstruct or upsell.
Read 9 tweets

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