What’s on your mind?
Health care remains the #1 issue once again. The release of the Health Quality Council (HQC) reiterates what you as constituents have been saying for months.
The report by the HQC indicated that the average time patients spent in the ER was 18.5 hours and that severe crowding is a major problem. These excessive wait times diminish the quality of care the patients can receive. As well, the report indicated that while some physicians did come forward many feared that there would be repercussions for doing so.
The health care professionals have indicated strongly that they will NOT come forward without a full independent public inquiry led by a judge. I have consistently said that it is our doctors, nurses, LPN’s and other health care professionals, who work incredibly hard under difficult circumstances and are the glue holding a broken health care system together. They must be made to feel secure and safe in telling the true story about the state of our health care system.
Seniors care was your second issue and we continue to hear about your concerns in accessing your loved one home care and transitioning them into a long term care facility. Your loved ones do not belong in a hospital for weeks or months on end and they need to be in a place where their needs can be met on a daily basis.
I spoke in the legislature on what you my constituents and for that matter my bosses have told me. I wanted to provide my speech to you in text and also give you the video.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Alberta is a proud province, and there is so much the people of this wonderful province can be proud of. Nowhere else in this country have I met people as generous in spirit and as kind in heart. When facing difficult economic horizons, Albertans remain hard working.
They remain compassionate. They remain tough and resilient. They know that the greatness of this province will continue to be built by the people who live here. We work hard, and, yes, we play hard, but when the going gets tough, we dig in our heels and do what we need to survive. They don’t believe in a government that thinks that they know best, that centralizes decision-making and is more concerned about rewarding their pals than putting the interests of Albertans first.
Mr. Speaker, let’s talk about what the people of Alberta want versus what the government tells them they want. This is so clear in the Premier’s speech today by the number of times that we saw the word “we” being used. Albertans want their province to be fiscally responsible and to not spend more than we have and plunge our province into debt. They don’t believe in higher taxes, bigger spending, and more government. Albertans don’t want a government that gives itself a raise behind closed doors. They want to be in charge of handling the salaries of their elected officials and not the other way around.
Albertans want their government to be open, transparent, and accountable to them, to represent the roles of the elected MLAs and give them a free vote in the Legislature. What they really don’t want is a government that warns Alberta of the worsening economic climate and then, Mr. Speaker, takes three weeks off to avoid tough questions and important debate. Albertans want a government that will listen to the issues and concerns and act for them and not for that government’s interest.
Albertans want more from their health care system. They want a health care system where everyone has a family doctor and they don’t wait months and months to see a specialist and wait even longer for surgery. Albertans want a health care system that allows health care professionals to speak openly and freely about the concerns they see, on how to improve the system, without a gag order being imposed on them.
Mr. Speaker, Albertans want our seniors to move seamlessly through the system when they can’t take care of themselves anymore. They want our seniors to have home care when they need it, assisted living when they need it, and long-term care when they need it. Albertans do not want our seniors to have to pay for a bath, to pay for someone to push their wheelchair to a dining room to eat. Albertans are proud of our seniors and believe we need to take care of them. What Albertans don’t want is gobbledygook coming from the government about their continuing care model, where they have developed a system that cannot meet our seniors’ needs, and they nickel and dime them to death.
Albertans know that in a province with no shortage of innovation and determination they can lead all of Canada in the quality of health care received, but they are tired of the government’s talking points and want to see tangible results for themselves and their families. Albertans want mental health beds along with beds available for those suffering with alcohol and drug addiction. They want health professionals to be there when they are needed. Albertans don’t want to be told that there are no beds available and that they need to come back in a few weeks just to see a psychiatrist or a counsellor.
Albertans want our most vulnerable, our children, to be taken care of and for assistance to be available when emergencies hit.
They especially want to make sure that these children are given stronger protection against victimization and crimes in their communities. Albertans want our social care workers to be able to manage their caseloads and be able to spend the time and the effort needed when taking care of our families when they are in crisis. Albertans want our foster families to be treated with respect and compensated fairly when they step up to the plate and to help our children and families when they are in time of need.
Albertans want us to recognize the non profit agencies in this province and the wonderful job they do on behalf of Albertans in our province. They want to make sure they receive a predictable funding formula year after year instead of being subject to an erratic supply of funds.
So why don’t we start listening to Albertans when times get tough instead of turning a deaf ear to their concerns? They are the ones who feed life into our democratic institutions. They are the ones who make this province great. They are the ones we were sent here to represent. Let’s make sure that their voices are heard. Albertans want their province to lead in troubled times, to reach out to those who need it, and to show others across this great country that in tough economic times we know what we’re doing and that we are proactive instead of reactive. Albertans want to stimulate this economy the Alberta way, through lowering taxes, through balancing the books by prioritizing spending on front-line services, through less regulation and, quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, by less government altogether.
Mr. Speaker, Albertans love this province. What Albertans don’t love is a government that has lost its way.
Once again I want to thank all of you who have called, emailed, stopped me or dropped by to voice your concerns.