REGINA — Opposition New Democrats in Saskatchewan are sounding the alarm again on what they see happening with health care next door in Alberta.
On Monday, the NDP released a letter sent by Opposition Leader Carla Beck and health critic Meara Conway to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal Liberal government. Their correspondence outlined concerns about Bill 11, introduced by Premier Danielle Smith’s government in Alberta, which the NDP claims will lead to a two-tier health-care system in Canada.
“Let’s be clear — bringing privately paid care into publicly funded hospitals, as Alberta has just announced this past week, will destroy the principle of equal access for all that is the defining cornerstone of Canadian healthcare,” the letter states.
The NDP also once more tried to tie Premier Scott Moe’s government to the actions next door in Alberta.
“Our concerns are further heightened by Scott Moe’s public praise of Alberta’s changes, stating that Saskatchewan should look to ‘new ways’ of delivering healthcare,” their letter stated. “Since making those remarks, Premier Moe has repeatedly refused to rule out pursuing a similar approach here in Saskatchewan when asked in Question Period and by the media.”
At a media availability at the legislature Monday, Conway said the Alberta bill would allow “physicians to charge unlimited fees for medically necessary care at private clinics while still working in the public system.”
Conway said that just last week, Alberta took the next step in announcing that physicians could now practise in both the public and private systems in public hospitals. She also said Bill 11 undermines a key provision of the Canada Health Act that prohibits extra billing and user fees and opens the door to a private insurance market.
“Canadians should never have to pay twice for their healthcare once with her taxes and then the second time by pulling out the credit card at a clinic door,” Conway said.
She pointed to “horror stories” from the United States of families going into “hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt” for life-saving health care. Conway also again tried to tie Premier Moe to the Alberta bill.
“If the federal government doesn’t put a stop to this and Scott Moe gets his way, that’s exactly what would happen here as well. The federal government must use all tools at its disposal to ensure that public universal healthcare remains protected for all Canadians.”
This is not the first time the Opposition has accused Moe of trying to copy Alberta’s approach to health care. Last Dec. 8, the NDP had given Moe an ultimatum by 4:30 p.m. that day to denounce any further moves toward what they called private American-style health care.
In response, the government had issued a statement accusing the "lost and reckless NDP” of “desperately resorting to their old privatization scare tactics that have failed to work for them in the last five provincial elections."
"Our government has always followed the Canada Health Act and will continue to do so,” they stated. “Health care in Saskatchewan will remain publicly-funded. That includes delivery of some publicly-funded, privately-delivered health services which the NDP have already committed to eliminating.”
Premier Moe also confirmed in question period that day that the province would use “privately delivered but publicly funded surgeries to lower our wait-list and to provide access to those surgical theatres in a quicker fashion. Mr. Speaker, putting patients first each and every time.”
In a statement in response to Conway's media availability, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill accused the NDP of "calling on Ottawa to further intrude into Saskatchewan’s jurisdiction over healthcare delivery in response to Alberta legislation that has no force or effect in our province."
"Our government is focused on putting patients first by delivering improved access to the publicly funded healthcare services that Saskatchewan people count on. This includes delivery of some publicly funded, privately delivered health services which the NDP have consistently campaigned to shut down."
He said this would result in the cancellation of "thousands of surgeries and diagnostic procedures performed in Saskatchewan every year, further increasing wait times for Saskatchewan patients."
Cockrill also said that while his government "continues to make decisions right here in our province to increase access to care and put Saskatchewan patients first, the NDP is recklessly proposing to hand the keys to our healthcare system over to Ottawa because they don’t like how Alberta is running their health system. This is why no one can take the NDP seriously."
