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Editorial: Alberta doctors deserve better treatment from government

How can the minister of health on one hand publicly declare that Alberta's doctors earn too much and savings must be found to be fiscally responsible, and on the other hold press conferences to announce new funding to support frontline workers during a health crisis? 

The way the Alberta government and Health Minister Tyler Shandro have treated doctors in this province is an embarrasment, and if Premier Jason Kenney hopes to regain public trust on this file, he should take action immediately to fix his government's mistakes. 

Shandro himself no longer holds any credibility when it comes to managing this issue and an announcement last Friday (April 24) that contained major errors in terms of the information on programs being changed is even more proof that doctors deserve better treatment.

The foundation of the current mess dates back almost a year when the UCP-appointed MacKinnon Report on Alberta's Finances was made public and clearly took aim at doctor compensation rates in this province.

Identified as an area where savings could occur, as Alberta's doctors earn more than in any other province, Shandro has spent the past 12 months destroying the government's relationship with doctors, putting primary care in rural locations at risk.

The MacKinnon report failed to acknowledge any of the reasons why doctors receive higher compensation in this province when compared to others, which is a failure in understanding the situation you are trying to fix.

Albertans overall earn more than Canadians in other provinces. The fact that doctors are included in that comes as no surprise. Then there is the higher cost of living required to do business in many rural Alberta communities. 

Canmore, for example, was the most expensive place in the province to live before the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent economic crisis hit. Doctors in this community pay more to staff their clinics, for the cost of and transportation of goods, for services provided by other businesses, for rent and utilities. 

Shandro has failed to negotiate a new compensation agreement with Alberta's doctors and instead his government passed legislation allowing it to cancel the contract altogether and introduce a new funding framework earlier this year.

But at the same time this minister and government were taking a hardline with doctors to reduce their overall compensation, the situation with the coronavirus was developing into a full fledged pandemic.

The messaging out of the minister's office has been that this government supports health care workers and doctors on the frontline of this public health crisis. Unfortunately, their actions speak louder than their spin cycle.

Trying to clean up the mess on Friday, Shandro's mistakenly published bulletin adds insult to injury. How can doctors believe anything he says, when the evidence of his actions add up a campaign to stress and demoralize physicians in this province. 

The Rural and Remote Northern Program is just one funding mechanism and program for Alberta doctors, but it is the perfect example of how Shandro and the UCP have failed.

Instead of collaborating and listening to doctors, whom they have a contractual relationship with, they have provided confusing and incorrect information on sweeping changes that are meant to reverse course on the past year's efforts to pay doctors less. 

How can the minister of health on one hand publicly declare that Alberta's doctors earn too much and savings must be found to be fiscally responsible, and on the other hold press conferences to announce new funding to support frontline workers during a health crisis? 

This minister of health has lost his moral authority to continue in this position. If our premier does not show leadership and step in to fix the mess Shandro has made, rural Albertans will continue to see the slow loss of health care services. 

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