EDMONTON — Prime Minister Carney, his Cabinet Ministers, and secretaries of State will all be meeting in Banff, Alberta tomorrow and Friday for their Cabinet Planning Forum. Unfortunately, protecting and strengthening public health care continues to be absent from the federal government’s agenda as they prepare to head back into the House of Commons later this month.

EDMONTON — Across the country today, health coalitions, allied organizations, and concerned individuals are coming together in a National Day of Action to demand urgent federal action to enforce the Canada Health Act to protect patients and our health care systems against the imposition of two-tier, American-style health care.

EDMONTON — A new Abacus Data poll commissioned by the Canadian Health Coalition was released this week, showing that Albertans overwhelmingly reject Bill 11, Alberta’s two-tier American-style health care legislation, with 86% of Albertans believing that universal health care based on need, not how much money they have, is a core Canadian value. Of their top concerns with the legislation, 84% report that they worry Bill 11 will raise health care costs for patients, and 83% worry it will worsen wait times. Findings are similar across Canada.

MYTH: Our public health care system is broken, so two-tier health care must be the solution

FACT: Our health care isn’t broken, it’s being dismantled

MYTH: Privatization will fix long wait times

FACT: Privatization makes waits worse for everyone except the healthiest and wealthiest

MYTH: Privatization costs less

FACT: Privatization funnels public funding into private profit

EDMONTON — This Wednesday, as Canada’s Premiers were meeting in Charlottetown for the Council of Federation, the Alberta government quietly issued Orders in Council which reclassified all preventive health testing services as non-insured extended health services, as well as other regulatory changes. 

CHARLOTTETOWN — Public health care advocates rallying outside the premiers’ Council of the Federation meeting are demanding Canada’s premiers stop the spread of American-style, two-tier health care before it takes root nationwide.

OTTAWA — Friends of Medicare’s executive director, Chris Gallaway, was on Parliament Hill in Ottawa this morning, joining the Canadian Health Coalition, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and Goldblatt Partners LLC lawyer, Emma Phillips, for a press conference to release a brand new legal opinion on the recent Bill 11 regulations released by the Alberta government. 

EDMONTON — With the recent passing of Bill 29 in the spring session permitting private-pay diagnostic services without referral, TELUS Health hasn’t wasted any time capitalizing on their chance to charge Albertans directly out-of-pocket for diagnostic testing. A promotional email sent on June 15 advertises “Total Body MRIs Starting at $2995,” available at their TELUS Health SKY Clinic in Calgary. This is just one of many products on offer at TELUS Health Care Centres in Alberta.