Province’s cuts are appalling
By Letter to the Editor on April 17, 2020.
Dear Mr. Neudorf (cc: Ms. Phillips),
I am writing to protest the absolutely appalling cuts made to our education and health sectors in what is the largest world crisis in our lifetime. Cuts totalling the loss of many thousands of jobs, at a time when already the private sector is dealing with overwhelming unemployment and distress. Quiet press releases on Saturdays and in the wee hours to try to cover up what you have to know will be unpopular decisions – though “decisions” gives far too much credit to the process.
How could your government even dream of cutting health care at a time like this? Downloading educators’ unemployment costs to the federal government when they already have enough claims to deal with from the entertainment, retail and service industries? Setting up private health-care apps – not to mention their conflict of interest – during a pandemic? It is shocking and outrageous. You may have even thought your pipeline announcement would provide some salve, but the paltry jobs created compared to those cuts are a slap in the face. It’s to the point that we are terrified of the antics that your government will bring each day, up to now a fear reserved for our neighbours to the south. But Kenney et al is becoming a laughingstock for the world much like Trump et al have been entertaining us for the past years.
I write you, and not my own MLA for Lethbridge-West, because I know she and her party would never dream of doing harm such as this. Instead, they know that a time of crisis and upheaval is a time to care about your constituents, not fire them. Unbelievably heartless, cruel, cowardly and asinine. I am only sorry that enough Albertans fell for your stupidity to elect you all in the first place.
Shame on you and the others in your government for supporting such a travesty. I and so many others are looking for a way out of this embarrassment of a province before it sinks.
Nicole Eva
Lethbridge
9-8
My senior conservative friends and I are convinced that Kenney’s hidden agenda has been to become prime minister and after watching him whine about what our NDP government spent trying to fix the mess they inherited it’s ironic that he just happened to donate $41 million worth of health care supplies to the three most populated provinces in Canada to make himself look like a hero, what do you think? Buying voter support with our money , isn’t that what Harper did?
The only item here that is “appalling” is the writer’s over reaction to what are modest cuts, especially in light of the deteriorating economic conditions in the province. Get a grip !
If this was literally true, that cuts are due to deteriorating economic conditions, why would up to $4.7B in corporate tax cuts, $1.5 B in pipeline handout and $4.4B in loan guarantees to pipeline companies (in the context of under utilised existing pipelines and a global glut of oil) be occurring while multiple severe cuts are made to health and education services and taxes increasing for Albertans? Perhaps this government has only one objective? Transfer our money to oil industries as fast as possible. Rich oil men put that money securely into their nonCanadian accounts.
Any idiot (except a committed ideologue) knows that you do not lay off people on public money during a recession.
If you knew anything about economic history you would be well aware that people , both in the private and public sector are laid off during recessions, not during booms. What you are really saying is that we must never lay off public sector employees at any time , which is idiotic.
Zulu: If you look at history you actually discover that not all times or places are either booms or recessions. That characterisation best fits certain types of industries, not whole economies. The best times to reorganise, make more efficient public services are outside recessions. It is especially thick-headed at this time to hamper health care and education. Reducing public sector jobs during a recession contributes to the recessionary process as does pumping money into the bank accounts of wealthy people.
Economies run in cycles, and always have. So, like a stopped clock you would be correct once every half cycle. Congratulations !
It may make perfectly good sense to make cuts outside of recessions, but given the present system of Keyesian economics, and human nature that almost never happens.
Given the present level of corruption among the political elites in Washijgton, both Republican and democrats, one could easily draw the same analogy linking the Alberta NDP to the US Democrats, the nutty left wing policies are similar.
at some point doctors are going to say enough and say goodbye to alberta’s bs. we can thank the govt, and we would should remind ourselves it is easier to keep the good doctors we have than to try and bring them back years later.