Public discontent has dealt a near-fatal blow to Alberta's controversial Third Way health-care reforms.
Premier Ralph Klein's Conservative government has backed away from the two most contentious aspects of the 10-point plan, the same points that were recently criticized by the prime minister...
"We are not prepared to proceed with private insurance at this time," Health Minister Iris Evans told reporters following a government caucus meeting Thursday.
"We are not recommending that doctors working in both (the public and private) systems be part of the policy framework."
I have little doubt, if Alberta proceeded with some of these reforms it would have represented the death knell for public health care. The fact that public pressure, as well as some surprising tough talk from the federal government, have forced Klein to abandon his plan shows that Canadians still have faith in our system. Other provinces have proposed legislation which may have dangerous implications, but Alberta's proposals were in another category all together.
Maybe Klein should think about investing the billions from oil and gas into making Alberta's public system the cadillac of the world. I always found it interesting that the province which cried the loudest about unsustainability actually had the resources to keep the current system intact. Today's announcement is a good day, it doesn't fix the problems, but it keeps the notions of equality and the general good in tact.
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