Friday Focus: The Stealth Privatisation of Healthcare

Danielle Smith is on a mission. Her drive to privatize health care continues despite the recent Dynalife fiasco that put taxpayers on the hook for her UCP government’s incompetence- which saw the province reaquire the lab services less than a year after handing them to the company.

A week or so back, when many Albertans were busy with early September back-to-school and back-to-work concerns, our Premier mused about creating better hospital administration through “competition and fear”. She said that some of our hospitals could be turned over to other operators, including Covenant Health, which is a Catholic organization that limits healthcare access on religious ideological grounds. It doesn’t support abortions or MAID. 

Alberta Liberals believe in comprehensive health care, and we don’t believe that anyone in Alberta should be denied proper health care or forced to wait as care is transferred from one part of the system to another. Limiting access is not a solution, but a cause of greater problems, whatever your personal beliefs or circumstances.

In her quest, the Premier has decided to break up Alberta Health Services into silos, which inevitably means citizens will fall through the cracks. Astoundingly, in 2008, the Alberta conservative government disbanded health regions and consolidated them into AHS. This came at a cost to taxpayers. $3.2 Million was paid by taxpayers in severance just for the former CEOs of the Edmonton and Calgary boards. Albertans don’t need a Frankenstein healthcare system. Alberta Liberals demand a system that functions, not one that is fragmented in a way that serves private investors. 

Join with me and support the Alberta Liberals’ efforts to improve healthcare and build a better Alberta. Please feel free to circulate this message to your friends, family, and colleagues.