Earlier today, Alberta’s NDP released newly obtained data that shows there were 9,600 unfilled ambulance shifts in Calgary alone from January to October of this year.
Response times and the length of time paramedics spend in hospitals have also increased. 🧵
Tonight, the UCP defeated my Bill 201: The Public Health Care Delivery Standards Act, which would have had a major impact in ensuring Albertans get the healthcare they need.
Let me tell you what it would have done for you. 🧵
The Bill would have set standards for emergency room waits, ambulance response, the time it takes to see a doctor and so on. Where those times weren’t being met — where you weren’t getting the care you deserve — government would have to provide additional resources.
The legislation has been endorsed by many in the medical community, including Dr. Trevor Theman, a former chair of the board of the Health Quality Council of Alberta, and Alberta Medical Association president-elect Paul Parks.
Ted was instrumental in Medicine Hat, maintaining the last fully municipally run power company and it was a top-20 producer at the time of his retirement in 2001.
Ted was known to be a smart, caring and tough elected representative. He was also known for his progressive values. He attended the founding convention of our party and worked alongside my Father advocating for our party.
As a child, I walked to this legislature across the High Level bridge to protest for peace alongside my mother.
And before I was elected, I came to this building to protest in favour of public healthcare and also for the rights of working people.
But it gets worse. There are very real and very serious concerns about what this horrible bill could mean for federal housing funding, for large-scale investment in transit projects and more.
Nothing from the UCP to get Albertans a family doctor, nothing to address the specific calls from frontline paramedics to reduce wait times, and nothing to get children’s medication in the hands of Alberta parents. 🧵
The new round of chaos Danielle Smith is inflicting on health care will make the situation worse. Health care workers deserve leadership that will listen to them and support them.