Misinformation and fear run rampant in 2023
By Lethbridge Herald on June 2, 2023.
Editor:
It is of critical importance that the record be set straight regarding many statements made by the NDP, especially where Lethbridge and area is concerned, since February of this year.
The first is the doctor shortage in Lethbridge; the doctor shortage in Lethbridge has existed continually since 1994 when I was a member of the Chinook Regional Health Authority Board.
Many factors influenced a physician coming to Lethbridge – clinic space, opportunity for lifestyle and income, access to amenities and determinants that drive quality of family life. You cannot blame the UCP for the choices doctors make, nor can you force or incentivise them to come to Lethbridge.
Rural locums were and are the norm: docs do not want to reside in isolated small communities, far from the region’s main tertiary two hospital facilities.
Specialists need practice opportunities and volume as well; this also speaks to facility capability and capacity. Calgary and Edmonton are the centres for specialized care.
This is changing with the introduction of the Ady Cancer Clinic and recent announcement of the Cath lab (Cardiac) clinic being added to the Lethbridge group of services.
Both these treatments previously required transport or travel to Calgary. Demand drives these services like most other businesses.
Finally, the specialists must be present here, as well.
One clinic brings oncology and radiology specialist requirements, the other requires cardiac specialty.
The recently released publication of Chinook region doctors and their clinic locations revealed many clinics now have more female general practitioners than males.
Young women generally have children, take maternity leaves and work less hours than males.
This observation, like most others, is conveniently missed in the NDP propaganda machine.
The doctors agreement negotiation as well as the nurses, health sciences, AUPE and many more bargaining units are an ongoing cycle of health delivery in Alberta.
Nothing is new. The current UCP government inherited most of these agreements and have been vilified by the NDP as creator of unfair bargaining practices – not factual again.
Health delivery in Alberta costs $46,613 per minute, governments are constantly challenged with balancing service delivery and affordability and the past has proven promising more staff, more doctors, more services, more dollars, does not historically provide for increased efficiency in any of these areas.
When the health system pays $400 for the same pair of scissors you can buy at the drug store for $24, you start to understand why the system is challenged.
The NDP Lethbridge West member Shannon Phillips has proven to be the master of misspeak and misinformation since elected in 2015.
During the COVID crisis the Lethbridge West constituency office was closed, emails not answered, concerns dropped off in bags at MLA Nathan Neudorf’s office, phone calls not returned, and Phillips is asking us to trust her in 2023.
Phillips was a leading partner in the reign of destruction by the NDP party from 2015 to 2019, leaving the province with an increased net debt position after four years in power, without neither COVID or a flat resource economy to use as an excuse.
How could we possibly trust the Phillips NDP (Philips is current Finance Critic) to responsibly manage the Alberta spending budget?
Tax and spend, and promise the sky is the NDP operational plan. Albertans cannot afford this now or ever going forward. Albertans have woken up to the NDP character assassination plan of leader Danielle Smith and realize the focus on trust has not resonated for their leader Rachel Notley.
Mark Switzer
Lethbridge
25-24
Typical response from the left. Shoot the messenger. How about you fact check him and show us where the “conspiracy theories” are.
Bravo Mark! The MLA West Lethbridge Phillips would not stand up for the citizens in her riding regarding the issues of addiction and homeless her government help create by opening a Safe Consumption Site in the city, which as you are aware, cost small businesses dearly and many employees or owners were assaulted over the years when trying to protect their property. The NDP only knows how to attack, offering no good resolutions.
The fact she would not act to help the small business community ruined downtown and the residents truly shows how she didn’t want to respresent anyone who disagrees with her.
Let us not forget the lawsuit against the LPS, even though the matter was dealt with properly, with some officers fired and others fairly reprimanded and or demoted. It is the Lethbridge taxpayer, the people who she is supposed to represent who will be paying that bill and when you include court costs, her lawyer’s fees, the LPS legal fees, the $400,000 she is suing for we, the taxpayer could be on the hook for $1 million.
She appears to be angry by her facial features and tone of voice and has even had heated exchanges in the legislature.
I would vote Liberal before voting NDP and that really says a lot if you knew me!
Mark, the NDP have become the party of deception, hidden agendas and out right falsehoods since their accidental election of a few years back. Thankfully Albertans rememebred the dark age of NDP power, looked to the ” successes” of NDP givernments across Canada and said NO.
Phillips will be the irritating noise in the wheel of progress and West Lethbridge will be the poorer for it…but I am pleased this wheel is not steering. the bus…
As for Rachel, I have had respect for her as a politician of years. I disagree wth her politics but have always considered her as a forthright holder of those views. This election, however, she was forced to abandon her principles…it thought she was not comfortable doing so but as they say power corrupts and she had a taste….
You make accusations but offer no examples so it is easy to dismiss this response. I will offer up an example of Danielle Smith’s integrity in this area. She had this phone call with Pawlowski and gave a variety of stories regarding the purpose of this phone call, not all of which can be true. After the Ethics Commissioner produced her report on this matter, Smith described the result as some kind of exoneration during the debate. If fact, the Commissioner found her guilty of contravening the Conflict of Interests Act and referred to her actions as a “threat to democracy”. Not exactly an exoneration, so Smith lied about this during the debate.
What really concern me, and should also concern you/everyone. Shannon Phillips, in her $400,000.00 lawsuit against LCP officers current and past, is stating in her claim that she “suffers” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (PTSD) To what extent will this serious mental illness effect the ability of her to function as a MLA and represent her constituents?
So? Do you know how bad or how her diagnosis effects her work? PTSD has many levels and treatment manages the symptoms. A university study has stated 20% of police officers suffer from one form or other of PTSD. Are you going to give the boot to these officers or let them get treatment? As far as the lawsuit is concerned its her right to seek redress for what happened to her. When you have some evidence to back up your concerns let us know(I know you will)
Firstly, Shannon Phillips surely has confirmed diagnosis and severe symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since she has filed this serious mental disorder in her “Statement of claim” which, by the way, is public information accessible through Alberta Justice, Court of Kings Bench. Secondly, please provide your factual basis for quoting an unknown “university study” which you alledge states that 20% of police offices suffer from “one form or other of PTSD” which University? Which report? Which police officers were diagnosed why and how? Thirdly, Is the fact that Shannon Phillips not responding to constituents and having bundled up concerns from her constituents and delivered then to MLA Nathan Nuedorf a possible manifestation of her PTSD?
Google study police PTSD. You’ll find many papers discussing this issue from around the world.
https://www.cam.ac.uk/policeptsd , happy now? Now your turn what is Phillips diagnosis?
In her statement of claim filed in Court of King’s Bench (Alberta) Phillips is self claiming she is suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Read it and weap”
Yeah, for sure… seriously a “National Examiner” article from where? UNITED KINGDOM? Regardless, it does state that PTSD is serious ergo “Shannon Phillips”….. fit for office????
So what is the excuse for Danielle Smith’s terrible decisions?
Terrible decision(s)….???? What? I guess according to you!
You’re joking, right?
Her betrayal of her colleagues in the Wildrose party. Her anti-science, anti-vax positions. Her endorsement of Ivermectin as a cure for COVID. Her suggestion that the 75% of Albertans that got vaccinated were led by a “tyrant” in doing so, rather than understanding and respecting the well-established science supporting vaccination. Her comparison of this to Hitler and the holocaust. Her suggestion that anti-vaxxers were the “most discriminated against” population she had seen in her entire life. Her attempts to subvert the legal process around the Pawlowski case and then her lies with respect to the findings of the Ethics Commissioner. The fact that she went to bat for this wacko who then turned on her. These are all examples of terrible judgement. Surely you know this.
“Well supported science…..” Really? https://rumble.com/v2qor85-lawful-facts-against-the-covid-19-murderers..explosive-rendition-of-facts.html
good video – seems we agree on this much.
the trust that intelligent people place in “the system” is rather scary.
https://rumble.com/v2qor85-lawful-facts-against-the-covid-19-murderers..explosive-rendition-of-facts.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-vaccine-idUSKBN2AM0SS
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health-headlines/alberta-baby-s-whooping-cough-death-renews-health-calls-for-vaccinations-1.885459#:~:text=LETHBRIDGE%2C%20Alta.,from%20complications%20caused%20by%20pertussis.
We can add this ridiculous conspiracy theory about the wildfires being the work of arsonists. The severity of the fires has nothing to do with how they started in any event.
With respect to the doctor shortage, we can blame the UCP for several things. I doubt that ripping up the doctor’s contract and imposing a new deal did much to promote Alberta as a welcoming place for doctors (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-doctors-outraged-billing-changes-1.5471475). I would argue, and most would agree, that this does not constitute a fair bargaining practice despite what you say in your letter. It was after this that Lethbridge’s ob-gyn specialists closed their office. Strangely, you didn’t mention this in your letter yet you accuse others of creating propaganda.
I asked a GP friend of mine how he was doing. He answered: “my boss hates me”. This is how the doctors in this province feel after the way they have been treated by the UCP government. Not exactly a conducive atmosphere by which to attract medical personnel.
With respect to spending, you perpetuate the myth that conservatives are better at balancing the budget. This is clearly not true federally and I would remind you that it was the NDP government in Saskatchewan that was the first to balance a provincial budget (https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/saskatchewan-premiers-and-provincial-government-spending).
In the case of our NDP governments record, I would ask you several questions:
What was the deficit in the Prentice budget – the budget he ran on?
How much in spending cuts in that budget?
What was the price of oil when the NDP took office and…
What is the price of oil now?
To ignore these questions is to ignore the facts. You are guilty of exactly those things you accuse the NDP of in this letter.
You’re absolutely correct we’ve had a doctor shortage in Lethbridge for decades now, but as far as blaming governments for decisions doctors make you’re mistaken. When the UCP ripped up the master agreement with the physicians they changed the working conditions of Doctors and they made professional decisions based on that. The AMA launched a lawsuit over it. If what you say is true does that mean the UCP can stop blaming the NDP for oil and gas investment dropping after they came to power in 2015 due to the instability of O&G policies. Seems fair doesn’t it?
So you’re suggesting that oil at $40 per barrel had nothing to do with a drop in oil and gas investment?
Bottom line – has the UCP government alienated our doctors or not?
Not according to the UCP, it’s all Rachel’s fault or that’s what they’d like you to believe. Nevermind that CAPP informed the government in May of 2015 to expect 125k to 150k less jobs in the next 2 years due to low prices and market instability.