New polling data shows NDP ahead in Calgary
Author of the article: Michael Rodriguez
Published May 13, 2023 • Postmedia
NDP leader Rachel Notley announces her party's plan to attract more frontline healthcare workers to the province during a campaign stop in Calgary on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
Gavin Young/Postmedia
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Alberta’s leading political parties made competing vows related to health care on Saturday, with the United Conservatives promising investments into care for women and children as the New Democrats pledged hefty recruitment bonuses to attract more health workers to the province.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said if her party gains power in the May 29 election, it would earmark $70 million annually to give $10,000 signing bonuses for doctors, nurses and other health professionals in what she called an ambitious but “critical short-term measure to keep our hospitals open and ensure Albertans in need of care are getting it.”
She also promised an NDP government would add 10,000 university spaces in a variety of health-care programs — at a cost of $375 million over three years — and develop plans to streamline international credentialing and provide income supports to make it easier for foreign-trained health-care workers to find jobs in Alberta.
Notley framed the commitments as part of the party’s solution to the “health-care crisis.” She noted Friday evening emergency room wait times of more than 12 hours at Calgary’s South Health Campus and Peter Lougheed hospitals.
“Today, I come before Albertans with an ambitious plan to make this stop,” she said. “Danielle Smith and the UCP will say this can’t be done, but that’s because they just don’t have the determination. What they do have is a plan to sell off our hospitals to corporations. What we have is a plan to staff them.”
UCP Leader Danielle Smith vowed an expansion of the conditions for which newborns are screened at birth, funding for testing, educational supports, and programs for children with autism and other complex disabilities, and the development of a provincewide midwifery strategy. The party would also provide a $10-million legacy grant to the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation to fund women’s health research.
“Women and children have special health needs that need to be met if we’re going to improve health outcomes,” Smith said. “Whether it’s increasing funding for obstetrics and midwives, working to expand newborn screening or supporting important research, today’s announcement will help more Albertans lead healthier lives.”
Article content
Alberta’s leading political parties made competing vows related to health care on Saturday, with the United Conservatives promising investments into care for women and children as the New Democrats pledged hefty recruitment bonuses to attract more health workers to the province.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said if her party gains power in the May 29 election, it would earmark $70 million annually to give $10,000 signing bonuses for doctors, nurses and other health professionals in what she called an ambitious but “critical short-term measure to keep our hospitals open and ensure Albertans in need of care are getting it.”
She also promised an NDP government would add 10,000 university spaces in a variety of health-care programs — at a cost of $375 million over three years — and develop plans to streamline international credentialing and provide income supports to make it easier for foreign-trained health-care workers to find jobs in Alberta.
Notley framed the commitments as part of the party’s solution to the “health-care crisis.” She noted Friday evening emergency room wait times of more than 12 hours at Calgary’s South Health Campus and Peter Lougheed hospitals.
“Today, I come before Albertans with an ambitious plan to make this stop,” she said. “Danielle Smith and the UCP will say this can’t be done, but that’s because they just don’t have the determination. What they do have is a plan to sell off our hospitals to corporations. What we have is a plan to staff them.”
UCP Leader Danielle Smith vowed an expansion of the conditions for which newborns are screened at birth, funding for testing, educational supports, and programs for children with autism and other complex disabilities, and the development of a provincewide midwifery strategy. The party would also provide a $10-million legacy grant to the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation to fund women’s health research.
“Women and children have special health needs that need to be met if we’re going to improve health outcomes,” Smith said. “Whether it’s increasing funding for obstetrics and midwives, working to expand newborn screening or supporting important research, today’s announcement will help more Albertans lead healthier lives.”
UCP leader Danielle Smith speaks during a press conference in Calgary on Thursday, May 11, 2023. PHOTO BY GAVIN YOUNG /Postmedia
Smith said doctors, midwives, and nurses would also be eligible for the UCP’s recently announced Alberta is Calling signing bonus and graduate retention tax credit “so we can attract and retain more practitioners in Alberta.”
Under those programs, eligible newcomers would receive a $1,200 payment after their first full year of living here, and graduates from an accredited Alberta post-secondary institution could be eligible for up to $10,000 in credits if they stay in Alberta and find work in an in-demand field. The UCP criticized the NDP’s announcement as a “copy” of those recently announced policies.
Parties continue trading barbs on health care
“Rachel Notley and the NDP may talk a good game on health care, but their actions will inevitably undermine it,” said Smith.
Notley criticized the UCP’s track record on health care, saying it makes any bid to attract health workers a tougher sell.
“Alberta’s NDP is committed to restoring a trusting relationship with all health-care professionals,” Notley said Saturday. “With the UCP, we’ve got a government that ripped up the doctors’ contract right after they got elected, threatened to fire thousands and thousands of frontline health-care professionals and very recently referred to physicians as Nazi sympathizers. With that setting, it is hard to imagine Alberta succeeding in a recruitment campaign in competition with other provinces.”
The UCP has touted its recruitment success, noting that Alberta added “over 1,400 new internationally trained nurses” in April, citing the number as a record. That claim is disputed by the United Nurses of Alberta union.
The UCP and the NDP have butted heads on health care throughout the campaign. Last week, Notley called Smith out over a resurfaced video clip from a 2021 event where the then out-of-politics Smith floated the idea of privatizing major Alberta hospitals. In the wake of that criticism, Smith has repeatedly reaffirmed her party’s commitment to public health care.
“The only card that Albertans will ever need to access health care is their health-care card. Any NDP attack to the contrary is completely and utterly false,” Smith told reporters Saturday.
While vowing that the party has no plans to sell off hospitals, Smith has said a UCP government would continue contracting surgeries to private facilities in a bid to clear the surgical backlog.
NDP ahead in Calgary: poll
New polling numbers released Saturday by Abacus Data show the NDP ahead in a provincewide survey, including notable gains in Calgary. The data, based on a survey of 885 eligible voters from May 9 to 12, shows roughly 43 per cent favour the NDP, while the UCP sits at 35 per cent. Abacus’s last poll in April had the two parties neck-and-neck at 36 per cent.
Among decided voters, those numbers are even more stark. The NDP holds a 10-point margin over the UCP, 51 per cent to 41 per cent, according to Abacus. And in Calgary, widely perceived as the election’s main battleground, the NDP sits at 42 per cent support, up six points on the UCP’s 36 per cent.
The NDP has a sizable 33-point margin in Edmonton (56 per cent to the UCP’s 23 per cent), while the UCP holds an 8-point lead in other areas of the province (43 per cent to the NDP’s 35 per cent).
“We knew that this was going to be a tough election,” said Smith. “I mean, we went for two years polling behind the NDP … I was so pleased to see going into the election that we’ve narrowed the gap. We do have a lot of work to do to get people to understand just how important this election is that we don’t go back (to the NDP).”
Notley was largely unfazed by the new poll.
“When it comes to horse-race polls, there are good polls or bad polls, they will change,” said Notley. “It’s trite, but it’s really true: the only poll that matters is the one that people participate in on election day.”
Abacus Data says the margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
mrodriguez@postmedia.com
Twitter: @MichaelRdrguez
Smith said doctors, midwives, and nurses would also be eligible for the UCP’s recently announced Alberta is Calling signing bonus and graduate retention tax credit “so we can attract and retain more practitioners in Alberta.”
Under those programs, eligible newcomers would receive a $1,200 payment after their first full year of living here, and graduates from an accredited Alberta post-secondary institution could be eligible for up to $10,000 in credits if they stay in Alberta and find work in an in-demand field. The UCP criticized the NDP’s announcement as a “copy” of those recently announced policies.
Parties continue trading barbs on health care
“Rachel Notley and the NDP may talk a good game on health care, but their actions will inevitably undermine it,” said Smith.
Notley criticized the UCP’s track record on health care, saying it makes any bid to attract health workers a tougher sell.
“Alberta’s NDP is committed to restoring a trusting relationship with all health-care professionals,” Notley said Saturday. “With the UCP, we’ve got a government that ripped up the doctors’ contract right after they got elected, threatened to fire thousands and thousands of frontline health-care professionals and very recently referred to physicians as Nazi sympathizers. With that setting, it is hard to imagine Alberta succeeding in a recruitment campaign in competition with other provinces.”
The UCP has touted its recruitment success, noting that Alberta added “over 1,400 new internationally trained nurses” in April, citing the number as a record. That claim is disputed by the United Nurses of Alberta union.
The UCP and the NDP have butted heads on health care throughout the campaign. Last week, Notley called Smith out over a resurfaced video clip from a 2021 event where the then out-of-politics Smith floated the idea of privatizing major Alberta hospitals. In the wake of that criticism, Smith has repeatedly reaffirmed her party’s commitment to public health care.
“The only card that Albertans will ever need to access health care is their health-care card. Any NDP attack to the contrary is completely and utterly false,” Smith told reporters Saturday.
While vowing that the party has no plans to sell off hospitals, Smith has said a UCP government would continue contracting surgeries to private facilities in a bid to clear the surgical backlog.
NDP ahead in Calgary: poll
New polling numbers released Saturday by Abacus Data show the NDP ahead in a provincewide survey, including notable gains in Calgary. The data, based on a survey of 885 eligible voters from May 9 to 12, shows roughly 43 per cent favour the NDP, while the UCP sits at 35 per cent. Abacus’s last poll in April had the two parties neck-and-neck at 36 per cent.
Among decided voters, those numbers are even more stark. The NDP holds a 10-point margin over the UCP, 51 per cent to 41 per cent, according to Abacus. And in Calgary, widely perceived as the election’s main battleground, the NDP sits at 42 per cent support, up six points on the UCP’s 36 per cent.
The NDP has a sizable 33-point margin in Edmonton (56 per cent to the UCP’s 23 per cent), while the UCP holds an 8-point lead in other areas of the province (43 per cent to the NDP’s 35 per cent).
“We knew that this was going to be a tough election,” said Smith. “I mean, we went for two years polling behind the NDP … I was so pleased to see going into the election that we’ve narrowed the gap. We do have a lot of work to do to get people to understand just how important this election is that we don’t go back (to the NDP).”
Notley was largely unfazed by the new poll.
“When it comes to horse-race polls, there are good polls or bad polls, they will change,” said Notley. “It’s trite, but it’s really true: the only poll that matters is the one that people participate in on election day.”
Abacus Data says the margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
mrodriguez@postmedia.com
Twitter: @MichaelRdrguez
Notley promises southern Alberta health-care support at Lethbridge campaign rally
Story by Erik Bay • May 9, 2023
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley speaks at a campaign rally in Lethbridge on May 8, 2023.
Story by Erik Bay • May 9, 2023
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley speaks at a campaign rally in Lethbridge on May 8, 2023.
© Global News
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley started the second week of the provincial election campaign in Lethbridge on Monday, sharing how her party plans to address the city's health-care concerns, if elected.
Notley unveiled the Lethbridge Teaching Clinic at a campaign rally Monday evening.
The model would recruit seven medical students and 20 family medicine residents to serve southern Alberta.
"It would make perfect sense to put it here in Lethbridge when we know there's so many folks in the city who don't have access to a family doctor," Notley said.
According to Notley, it's part of the NDP's family health teams plan, which promises to build 40 new family health clinics across the province.
"We would look to making sure one of those clinics was here in Lethbridge, but we would design it in particular and then put in the extra funding to allow for the teaching component of it," Notley said.
The NDP says the Lethbridge clinic's construction has an estimated $10-million price tag and would operate at a predicted annual cost of $18 million.
Lethbridge-East UCP candidate Nathan Neudorf calls it similar to his party's measures.
"It's interesting to hear they are announcing things we've already started in motion," Neudorf said.
In January, the UCP announced $1 million to explore the feasibility of establishing physician training centres outside the province's two major cities, including one at the University of Lethbridge.
"That's the future, getting out kids into our schools to fill our positions, because after they've done their seven to eight years of training, they've sort of become established in our community," Neudorf said.
The United Conservatives are also funding expansions at Chinook Regional Hospital.
About $11.2 million is earmarked for the renal dialysis program, while $2 million is meant to design a catheterization lab.
"There's lots of people that we need to draw here. Having the facilities that they can fully practise what they went to school for is a big part of that," Neudorf said.
Last month, the NDP promised $20 million to support new interventional cardiac services and enable catheterization in the city if elected.
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley started the second week of the provincial election campaign in Lethbridge on Monday, sharing how her party plans to address the city's health-care concerns, if elected.
Notley unveiled the Lethbridge Teaching Clinic at a campaign rally Monday evening.
The model would recruit seven medical students and 20 family medicine residents to serve southern Alberta.
"It would make perfect sense to put it here in Lethbridge when we know there's so many folks in the city who don't have access to a family doctor," Notley said.
According to Notley, it's part of the NDP's family health teams plan, which promises to build 40 new family health clinics across the province.
"We would look to making sure one of those clinics was here in Lethbridge, but we would design it in particular and then put in the extra funding to allow for the teaching component of it," Notley said.
The NDP says the Lethbridge clinic's construction has an estimated $10-million price tag and would operate at a predicted annual cost of $18 million.
Lethbridge-East UCP candidate Nathan Neudorf calls it similar to his party's measures.
"It's interesting to hear they are announcing things we've already started in motion," Neudorf said.
In January, the UCP announced $1 million to explore the feasibility of establishing physician training centres outside the province's two major cities, including one at the University of Lethbridge.
"That's the future, getting out kids into our schools to fill our positions, because after they've done their seven to eight years of training, they've sort of become established in our community," Neudorf said.
The United Conservatives are also funding expansions at Chinook Regional Hospital.
About $11.2 million is earmarked for the renal dialysis program, while $2 million is meant to design a catheterization lab.
"There's lots of people that we need to draw here. Having the facilities that they can fully practise what they went to school for is a big part of that," Neudorf said.
Last month, the NDP promised $20 million to support new interventional cardiac services and enable catheterization in the city if elected.
Smith suggested police violated Criminal Code by enforcing Alberta COVID-19 rules: video
Story by Lisa Johnson • Monday, May 15,2023
Danielle Smith answers questions during a news conference in Calgary on May 13, 2023.
GraceLife Church pastor loses constitutional challenge of COVID enforcement measures
Smith referred, in the past videos, to the case of pastor James Coates, whose GraceLife Church west of Edmonton was fenced off after it repeatedly held services in defiance of public health orders.
While Coates claimed the conduct of the health inspector disrupted the service and amounted to state interference in the practice of religion, a provincial court judge dismissed that argument in 2021, saying nothing about the conduct of Alberta Health Services or the RCMP violated Section 176 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits obstruction of a religious service.
“The argument to the contrary conflicts with the facts of the case. Section 176 does not dig a moat around places of worship, preventing enforcement of laws that are being repeatedly broken,” Judge Robert Shaigec stated at the time.
Notley said at an unrelated NDP conference Monday that Smith’s comments show why the UCP can’t be trusted.
“The idea that you would call into question police officers who are enforcing the law and that they would somehow be at risk of being accused as criminals by the premier for doing their job is exactly the kind of threat to the rule of law that Danielle Smith represents,” said Notley.
Notley and Smith are set to debate each other on Thursday and Albertans will go to the polls in a general election May 29.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
Story by Lisa Johnson • Monday, May 15,2023
Danielle Smith answers questions during a news conference in Calgary on May 13, 2023.
© Provided by Edmonton Journal
As Alberta’s election campaign enters its third week, UCP Leader Danielle Smith is dodging questions about her past comments suggesting police broke the law by enforcing COVID-19 health measures.
Video unearthed from last September, before Smith won the UCP leadership to replace former premier Jason Kenney, was reported on by Press Progress Sunday. During the Facebook live discussion, Smith emphasized the importance of “good political leadership” that should not have given officers such “latitude,” pointing to charges against religious pastors who refused to follow pandemic measures.
“You are not allowed, under the Criminal Code, to disrupt a service,” she said.
“I have to wonder whether or not some of those officers are the ones who broke the law in doing so,” Smith said.
In another March 2021 video published by the Western Standard and recently shared by Press Progress, Smith made similar comments, suggesting that preventing someone from delivering a sermon can result in two years in jail.
“Why isn’t someone taking a Criminal Code violation against Dr. Deena Hinshaw for authorizing this?” asked Smith.
At an unrelated news conference Monday, Smith was asked by a reporter what she would say to Albertans who have questions about why she thinks members of law enforcement should be arrested for enforcing public health orders.
Smith didn’t directly answer, but blamed the Alberta NDP and attacked Leader Rachel Notley’s record in office.
“I know that the NDP are going to constantly be bringing up grainy videos, the things that I’ve said in the past or other candidates have said, and the reason they’re doing that is because Rachel Notley was the worst premier this province has ever had,” she said, pointing to jobs lost during Notley’s four years in government. Smith did not take follow-up questions and the UCP did not immediately respond to requests from Postmedia Monday.
Her party leadership campaign promised amnesty for those fined for violating COVID-19 orders but, since taking office , Smith said she learned politicians cannot offer pardons under the Canadian justice system.
Smith was plagued with criticism last week over her past comments comparing 75 per cent of vaccinated Albertans to Nazi supporters, and expressing her refusal to wear a Remembrance Day poppy because of her disagreement with politicians over COVID-19 rules.
Her connections to street pastor Artur Pawlowski, who was found guilty for his role in inciting violence and prolonging the Coutts border crossing blockade, also made headlines during the first week of the campaign.
Related
Danielle Smith apologizes for 2021 video showing her comparing vaccinated to Nazi followers
As Alberta’s election campaign enters its third week, UCP Leader Danielle Smith is dodging questions about her past comments suggesting police broke the law by enforcing COVID-19 health measures.
Video unearthed from last September, before Smith won the UCP leadership to replace former premier Jason Kenney, was reported on by Press Progress Sunday. During the Facebook live discussion, Smith emphasized the importance of “good political leadership” that should not have given officers such “latitude,” pointing to charges against religious pastors who refused to follow pandemic measures.
“You are not allowed, under the Criminal Code, to disrupt a service,” she said.
“I have to wonder whether or not some of those officers are the ones who broke the law in doing so,” Smith said.
In another March 2021 video published by the Western Standard and recently shared by Press Progress, Smith made similar comments, suggesting that preventing someone from delivering a sermon can result in two years in jail.
“Why isn’t someone taking a Criminal Code violation against Dr. Deena Hinshaw for authorizing this?” asked Smith.
At an unrelated news conference Monday, Smith was asked by a reporter what she would say to Albertans who have questions about why she thinks members of law enforcement should be arrested for enforcing public health orders.
Smith didn’t directly answer, but blamed the Alberta NDP and attacked Leader Rachel Notley’s record in office.
“I know that the NDP are going to constantly be bringing up grainy videos, the things that I’ve said in the past or other candidates have said, and the reason they’re doing that is because Rachel Notley was the worst premier this province has ever had,” she said, pointing to jobs lost during Notley’s four years in government. Smith did not take follow-up questions and the UCP did not immediately respond to requests from Postmedia Monday.
Her party leadership campaign promised amnesty for those fined for violating COVID-19 orders but, since taking office , Smith said she learned politicians cannot offer pardons under the Canadian justice system.
Smith was plagued with criticism last week over her past comments comparing 75 per cent of vaccinated Albertans to Nazi supporters, and expressing her refusal to wear a Remembrance Day poppy because of her disagreement with politicians over COVID-19 rules.
Her connections to street pastor Artur Pawlowski, who was found guilty for his role in inciting violence and prolonging the Coutts border crossing blockade, also made headlines during the first week of the campaign.
Related
Danielle Smith apologizes for 2021 video showing her comparing vaccinated to Nazi followers
GraceLife Church pastor loses constitutional challenge of COVID enforcement measures
Smith referred, in the past videos, to the case of pastor James Coates, whose GraceLife Church west of Edmonton was fenced off after it repeatedly held services in defiance of public health orders.
While Coates claimed the conduct of the health inspector disrupted the service and amounted to state interference in the practice of religion, a provincial court judge dismissed that argument in 2021, saying nothing about the conduct of Alberta Health Services or the RCMP violated Section 176 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits obstruction of a religious service.
“The argument to the contrary conflicts with the facts of the case. Section 176 does not dig a moat around places of worship, preventing enforcement of laws that are being repeatedly broken,” Judge Robert Shaigec stated at the time.
Notley said at an unrelated NDP conference Monday that Smith’s comments show why the UCP can’t be trusted.
“The idea that you would call into question police officers who are enforcing the law and that they would somehow be at risk of being accused as criminals by the premier for doing their job is exactly the kind of threat to the rule of law that Danielle Smith represents,” said Notley.
Notley and Smith are set to debate each other on Thursday and Albertans will go to the polls in a general election May 29.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
