WCN

Well some more "reforms" in Alberta are coming with regards to healthcare. Looks like the province is going to create one health board, a super board to replace the current 9 health boards. link: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/200...th-reforms.html Seems that the government believes that this will help clear the bureaucracy in healthcare somewhat and help standardize the care in the province. But I still wonder how one board can deal with all the problems and issues for the entire province. Not to mention this doesn't really do anything about the doctor or nurse shortage. But we will see what other changes come in the following months.

Yeah when you think of it, it is unbelievable. Though they will get huge settlements from the city and the COPs that did this will probably be on desk duty for the rest of their lives or be forced to retire. But I do hope a higher body reviews this (like a commission) and makes recommendations to prevent it from ever happening again.

They will have to worry about it but it is of their own doing now, when they choose to go on strike they better be prepared to face the people when they come back to work. In fact they made situation worse by not giving anyone notice, so if you went to bed last night thinking the strike was averted, you would really be pissed today if you had to work and take a bus because you got no notice and no time to make alternative plans. Also I wondered why the union would try this sudden strike? It was obvious that the government would step in and force it to work, in fact the PCs and Liberals seem to be in full agreement on a back to work order. I'm not that thick but them not giving 48 hours just makes the situation worse and makes the public even more angry at them so it does not help the situation.

Well it looks like there will be a strike! Isn't this strike breaking the law since they need to give 48 hours? http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories So this is the reason for the strike? Come on! Everyday I take the Bus in Calgary and I see bus drivers being threatened quite often (sometimes in front of me) so this is nothing new to them. But again this won't do any good for both sides since people will just get more angry at transit workers and that lot's of people will suffer because they will not be able to get to work.

I would like to see the government get to bottom of it but even if they do what effect will it have on the situation right now? It will take more than that to solve the problems.

I think the problems more or less have to do with the culture that has developed among the native reserves in this country. This includes drugs, crime, and no respect or caring amongst each other on the reserves. I see some of these people are in their prime of their life and yet already have dozens of convictions! I also question the parental involvment with a lot of the kids, it seems that they don't have any role models or aren't shown any discipline in their lives (Its like the parents don't care about their children).

Hopefully American's look through this short sighted policy and take a good hard look at their consumption. The next president though does have a large problem on this front because their will be people probably demanding the government regulate or subsidize the price of gas.

Well today was the day the healthcare reforms were rolled out to the public and it seems the Alberta PC's chose the do-nothing approach to healthcare They say more details and a exact plan will come in a few months but still, I really don't think these changes will help. Here's what they do immediately: http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/RTGAMArticle.../calgary.ctv.ca (CTV Calgary)

This is very bad policy in my mind in that people will just get short term gain rather than adjusting their consumption. But I'm surprised McCain would even consider such a policy, hopefully this isn't an indication of his economic policy because so far he has shown no leadership or even solutions to America's financial problems.

Raising this old topic... http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...056&k=92554 It looks like we could perhaps see some major reform in Alberta with regards to the healthcare system. The PCs will roll out some of what they call major reforms this week and if the recent election was any sign they sure won't see any opposition. Perhaps this the start of an overall major reform in Alberta as I stated in an earlier thread but it should be interesting to see what happens.

Well the election is over and the opposition parties have been weakened greatly. But Stelmach has a hard road a head of him. If the economy continues to go at the same pace there will be many pressures which he'll have to deal with, so easy times are right now. He'll have to come up with a solution to healthcare in next few years, a labour shortage which will be even worse starting in the next few years, not to mention the state of the enviroment (things like water managment and air pollution) as well as the needs of differen't groups which will be demanding money from him. So with a reduced opposition who'll keep the government accountable? the unions? the general public (who about 60% don't give a ****)? This is the problem we have in Alberta. Of all the elections since 1993, this one so important and yet so many people don't care.

You did better them me, I was off by 21 But only 42 or 41% of the people have spoken so it's a pretty bad turnout.

I'm almost in shock at the Liberals collapse. I fought they would gain some seats but not come out with less. They really have to get rid of Taft and look in the mirror at whether they want to continue with some of there policies.

Here's my prediction PC 52 LIB 21 WRA 5 NDP 5 Perhaps this is the start of the Wildrose Alliance taking away big chunks of the rural vote.

I don't think it's credible parties but what's the chance for change? 0%. It makes me wonder what's the point of even voting in the provincial election when even though seats may change parties nothing else will.

Another thing about Bronco is that he is from Calgary and would Alberta really want another Calgary mayor leading them? Near Kleins last years I heard alot of people who were expressing anger at his bias towards Calgary. This came to a head in the PC leadership race where at one point their were people saying ABC: Anyone But Calgary. So it'll probably be years before we will see anyone from Calgary be Premier again.

Yeah, but not every province has such growth problems like Alberta and we are also seeing some of the effects of the cutbacks from the 1990's. But I guess that's the tradeoff we made years ago (balence the budget and paydown debt instead of investing in social programs and infrastructure). I agree with you there but you won't see any reform in the short run (as Don Martin wrote I believe recently, if Ralph Klein couldn't reform health care no one can). It should be interesting in ten years what the situation will be in terms of healthcare spending and policy. In my opinion we might see a divide in the general population in Alberta with people like me and you (the young populace) asking why so much money is being spent on the program while the older populace (the boomers) demand high spending to keep the status quo. Either way, change is certain in my opinion. I still think higher taxes may be on the way. With the need for new roads and transit we will see those in power look for ways to pay for it (just ask Bronco).

Guess I've been reading to many of those horror stories in the news. With regards to the orginal post content, well its a very interesting time in Alberta since so much money has poured into the government the past few years and yet we have so many problems. The author of the article doesn't mention the huge billion dollar infrastructure deficit which is really impacting Albertans daily lives both urban and rural. Healthcare spending is another problem with healthcare boards facing deficits in the millions. So it makes you wonder whether we will see radical changes in Alberta in the next decade (expanding private healthcare, more P3 projects, a reopening of the royaltie debate, or more taxes (example: toll roads, higher water rates, other taxes)) or even a differen't political landscape.

When you come to Calgary and get a high paying job I'm sure you'll be happy . Now ask some of those people who are struggling to pay high rent and manage a busy life.

In Calgary a lot of the RNs work part time which doesn't help our health system due to the fact we got a labour shortage and the health region is forced to pay large sums of overtime to nurses. Good for the nurses but the health region is running a 100 million dollar deficit and the province is barking at having to pay for this. I can't imagine what this healthcare system will look like in ten years if we don't reform it somehow!

The US is in a no win situation. This rebate or tax refund program will only provide marginal relief and only to those that spend it on goods and services. The problem becomes when people decide they would rather keep this in the bank for fear of a slow down or they payoff debts instead of going to stores and buying goods.