Beware the Boogey Man

Ralph Strikes Back
Private Health Care is Still On the Agenda

Klein, dubbed "The Wrangler" in the Canadian Health Care Manager Journal's seventh-annual national awards, was recently given the honour for his tenacity in tackling health-care issues with the province's yet-to-be-introduced Third Way health-care proposal.'
Wrangler' premier nabs health award

Canadians deserve better health system : Klein

canada.com
Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Ralph Klein says Alberta is trying to find ways of addressing non-emergency health issues outside of the current public system.

The Alberta premier says his province is exploring ways to address a recent Supreme Court decision declaring inordinate wait times unconstitutional and opening the way to private health care.

Klein says Canadians deserve better access to a health system that provides quality services when they need it.

Sitting on billions of surplus dollars, and having cut hospital beds, privatized laundry and support services in hospitals, laid off nurses and doctors, and reduced access to post secondary education in the last decade is the reason Alberta and the rest of Canada has a hospitalization crisis. Privatizing health care is NOT going to increase access, funding and reforming the billing system is. Something the Klein government is ideologically opposed to. Funds are clearly not the problem in Alberta. King Klein and his neo-cons on the other hand are.

Health-care boogeyman label unfair, says Klein

No its not, its accurate.

This all began over six years ago with Bill 11. The Liberal Government of the Day did not confront the imminent privatization that Bill 11 opened the door to.
The failure of the Klein Reich in Alberta, the Fraser Institute, the NCC and its spokesman Stephen Harper, and assorted right wing lobbyists to convince Canadians that privatization of health care was neccasary during those years was due to the effective popular mobilization of mass opposition. The Canadian liberal-left stymied the right wing by equating 'privatization' with 'Americanization'.

As the outspoken leader of the neo-con putsch against the public sector and public services, Klein is now spouting his 'Third Way' as an alternative to both the Canadian and American models of health care delivery. "If the Canadian system is unsustainable, which it is, and the American system is unacceptable, which it is, let's find a third way," said Klein.

That Third Way is still privatization. Having been whupped by the left, the neo-cons in Canada, under Kleins leadership, have adopted a new model of privatization to sell Canadians. It is the Euro model. Former Reform/Alliance leader Presto Manning and former Klein Klone and Ontario Premier Mike Harris announced during the last federal election this model of health care reform on behalf of the right wing think tank the Fraser Institute.

Klein still has to tell us what his Third Way is. Even his much lauded 'tell it like it is' speechifying in Ottawa yesterday didn't say what this term means. And he was of course speaking to the converted as his speech was held at the Ottawa Establishment old boys club, the Canadian Empire Club. Whose president is a federal Conservative Strategist.

To some it up for the past six years the Klein Reich in Alberta has tried by hook or crook to come up with plans to expand the privatization of health care, but have faced a resistance from Albertans, as well as other Canadians. His Third Way is just a new label on the same old bottle of cutting costs by devolving them to Albertans directly through private insurance, cost recovery, user fees, medicare accounts and private public partnerships.

While other provinces have their share of P3's, notably Quebec, and services not covered by medicare, only Alberta has the outspoken leadership of the right wing in Canada promoting privatization.

Yes Virginia there is a boogey man and his name is Ralph Klein.

Health should be key election issue: Klein

I couldn't agree more.....cause here it comes.....more privatization through the back door....Ralph's Third Way.....

Members-only clinic opens

Vancouver primary care facility charges $1,200 to join, plus $2,300 a year