EDMONTON – Alberta should hold off on radical health care reforms until Roy Romanow has the opportunity to deliver his federal review of Canada’s health care system, says the president of the province’s largest union.

"It does not make sense for our province to rush into radical and controversial changes to health care at the very moment a major federally funded review of the entire Canadian system is under way," said Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Dan MacLennan.

"Hopefully, the final Romanow report will do the right thing and recognize the need for the federal government to put more money into the provinces for health care," MacLennan said.

Romanow, the former premier of Saskatchewan, published an interim report yesterday in which he called for provinces that are considering health care changes to wait until the federal report is completed.

MacLennan said Romanow is right to worry about fragmenting the national health care system, adding that "there is no compelling reason to race into ill-considered ‘reforms’ that may do more harm than good.

"Advocates of privatizing and fragmenting the system have done a good job of creating a sense of urgency, even panic, about the need for immediate change to health care," MacLennan said. "The need for extreme haste is exaggerated when the provinces should be ensuring the Romanow commission acknowledges increased federal funding as part of any real solution.

"As the union representing the largest number of health care workers in Alberta, we are confident that many efficiencies have been and can be found within the system that will make Canada’s entire approach to universal health care completely sustainable," he said.

MacLennan cited the idea of handing the services of the Alberta Mental Health Board to regional health authorities – an idea being seriously considered by the Alberta government – as an example of a radical proposal that would do far more harm than good.

"Regionalization of mental health services will result in fragmentation of service, reduction in service, higher costs to deliver less, and huge adjustment costs," MacLennan said.

"The Alberta government needs to provide much more time for input from concerned groups like AUPE and its frontline members into this unwise and expensive policy decision."

MacLennan also noted that "AUPE must frequently deal with for-profit, private sector employers in the continuing-care sector. We have deep concerns about their treatment of both employees and residents.

"We should not allow ourselves to be rushed into irreversible changes to the system that would increase the role played by such employers without time being given for a thorough public airing of what is being proposed."


For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311
or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

Back to Releases