Friends of Medicare would like to welcome our newly appointed, albeit unelected Minister of Health, Stephen Mandel.   In keeping with his statement of renewal, Premier Prentice most definitely kept his resolve by appointing Mr. Mandel to one of the most important cabinet posts.

"It is unfortunate, however that until the time that Mr. Mandel becomes an elected MLA, the instability in our health care system will continue," indicates Sandra Azocar, Executive Director Friends of Medicare.

While we recognize Mr. Mandel's business experience and social initiatives he undertook while serving as the Mayor of Edmonton, we still want to drive home the point that our health care is not a business or commodity.   "We need a Minister and leaders in our health care system who understand that Medicare is an ethical trust and that they in fact want to be responsible for it's success. Leaders who value and respect public health care," states Azocar.

"We need a Minister who can rebuild trust in the governance of our public system and someone who can set a clear mandate for policies for the Department of Health and AHS. We also need a Minister who is able to show the public a clear agenda instead of arbitrary decisions presented as faits accomplis," adds Azocar.

We look forward to meeting with the new Minister of Health to discuss public solutions to an essential public service.