Friends of Medicare’s initial response to the provincial budget

EDMONTON — This afternoon, the Smith government released their 2023-2024 provincial budget, the final budget Albertans will see before voting in this spring’s provincial election.

“The UCP government spent the last 4 years making decisions geared at breaking our public health care system, repeatedly throwing the system into crisis in order to justify an agenda of privatization,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, “Yet, now that they are headed into a tight election, where health care is the top issue for Albertans, they have tabled a budget claiming to be the champions of fixing our health care.”

EDMONTON — Earlier today the Governments of Canada and Alberta announced an agreement in principle for increased federal health funding. The agreement states some good shared goals, but it is concerning that there are no strings or accountability measures attached to this new federal money.

“There is no doubt that our provincial public health care system is in need of more support right now, but new federal dollars must come with accountability measures and strings attached to ensure that it goes where patients need it,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “Our Premier should not be handed a blank cheque to be used to accelerate their plans for further privatization. Unfortunately, that’s what we saw with today’s agreement in principle.”

OTTAWA — Tomorrow, Canada’s Premiers will be in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau to discuss health care funding.

For months, Friends of Medicare, other health coalitions, and health care advocates across the country have been calling for an increase to the Canadian Health Transfer, and have held that any new agreement to fund public health care must be used in the public interest and not be allowed to be used by Premiers to privatize health care in their provinces.

Expanding the use of for-profit surgical centres in Calgary is making health care short staffing worse while failing to solve the surgical backlog

EDMONTON — This morning, Minister of Health Jason Copping announced an expanded use of private, for-profit surgical centres in Calgary. Friends of Medicare and others have already spoken out at length about the problems with the government’s Alberta Surgical Initiative and their unfounded claims that privatization will improve surgical wait times.  

This week marks a full year since I began my role as the Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. The year has truly flown by! I am honoured to be doing this work alongside all of you.

I want to take a moment to reflect on the year that’s been, and where we are headed in 2023. Below are some of the highlights from key areas we’ve been focused on at Friends of Medicare.

This morning Health Minister Jason Copping provided an update of their government’s plans for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), including privatization of inter-facility transfers.

EDMONTON — A year ago, Friends of Medicare warned that the government’s appointment of an EMS advisory panel was laying the groundwork for privatization within our EMS system. Today we were proven right. Rather than spending the last year working to improve EMS and fill the thousands of vacant shifts, the government spent that time lining things up for further privatization through contracting out.

Federal health dollars must come with accountability and national standards

OTTAWA — As Canada’s premiers and the federal NDP ramp up the pressure on the Trudeau government, Health Coalitions across Canada are demanding that any increase in public health funding be used in the public interest and not be used to privatize health care.

EDMONTON — Canada’s Premiers held a joint press conference today demanding more money from the federal government with no performance measures, targets or strings attached.

Thousands of kids are sick in this province and across Canada, putting unprecedented strain on our hospitals. Yet rather than responding to calls for action from the AMA Pediatrics section, health care workers, advocates, and families here in Alberta, Premier Smith instead joined other Premiers from across the country to ask for more money from the federal government.

EDMONTON — Today, the majority of Alberta’s community medical laboratory services are being transitioned from being publicly delivered by Alberta Precision Laboratories, to being delivered by DynaLIFE, a for-profit company. This follows the delayed attempt to transition services this past July. Friends of Medicare has been outspoken about the significant issues involved in contracting out our lab services, and other integral parts of our public health care system, every step of the way. 

EDMONTON — Friends of Medicare and concerned Albertans will be holding an information picket outside of Canadian Blood Services (CBS) in Edmonton at noon today, December 1. This action coincides with events being held outside of CBS locations in Ottawa, ON, Dartmouth, NS and elsewhere.