Juno News - Smith committed to overhauling Alberta’s healthcare

00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is continuing with her plans to overhaul Alberta Health Services.

00:00:05.740 Plans which the Conservative base say is long overdue. This week the Premier announced that

00:00:11.300 she would be removing Alberta Health Services as the operator of some hospitals. It was the

00:00:17.120 biggest news story in the week and I have all the details for you today here on the Alberta Roundup

00:00:21.660 with Rachel Parker. Let's get into it and you're gonna want to stay tuned all the way to the end

00:00:26.000 of the show because I have a big announcement for you guys this week.

00:00:38.720 Taking a look at our first story here, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith revealed the next phase

00:00:43.660 in her government's plan to restructure healthcare in Alberta, including plans to remove Alberta Health

00:00:48.500 Services as the operator of some hospitals in the province and instead turn the facilities over to

00:00:54.960 other operators like Catholic healthcare provider Covenant Health. The Alberta government is

00:00:59.480 currently setting up a structure where the government retains ownership of facilities and

00:01:03.620 leases them to AHS and is quote, prepared to also take away their authority to operate hospitals as

00:01:09.560 well. Because if our operator isn't performing the services we need them to, we're going to take the

00:01:14.640 hospital back. The next phase is to see how many of those hospitals that AHS currently operates that we

00:01:19.960 can retake ownership over. We can't do it for all of them. Smith said that this strategy will improve

00:01:25.360 the delivery of healthcare and help eliminate service disruption in rural hospitals by introducing

00:01:30.320 two incentives into the existing system, competition and fear. Take a listen to what else she had to say.

00:01:36.120 Alberta NDP leader Nahed Nanshi is calling the plan disturbing. Take a listen to what else he had to say.

00:01:53.520 Come clean and tell us exactly how much money you've already spent, what recommendations you've accepted,

00:01:59.600 which ones you've rejected, which ones you're further analyzing, what your timelines are.

00:02:03.680 Moving into our next story here, another feel good news story for the province of Alberta. Alberta's

00:02:09.280 surplus is forecasted to grow on paper to $2.9 billion on the back of higher than anticipated oil prices and

00:02:17.680 population growth, but also in part due to continued borrowing. The projected surplus for 2024 to 2025

00:02:24.640 is $2.6 billion higher than the slim $367 million surplus projected in the budget last February.

00:02:33.920 But the $2.9 billion represents an accounting surplus where much of that money isn't available for the

00:02:39.680 government to spend. On Thursday, Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters, quote,

00:02:44.720 there are streams of government revenue that aren't accessible for operational spending.

00:02:49.200 He listed university tuition and income earned by the Heritage Savings Trust Fund as examples.

00:02:55.040 He also said the government expects to have no surplus cash on hand at the end of the fiscal year

00:02:59.760 and is instead borrowing an additional $641 million for short-term spending. He added, quote,

00:03:05.440 that means we must be even more measured and responsible. It also means that the surplus won't

00:03:10.640 translate into any tax cuts for Albertans this year. And Horner also says the UCP's election campaign

00:03:17.920 promise of a tax cut is going to have to wait even longer. Under our new fiscal framework, all of the

00:03:23.920 income is left to the fund to continue to grow and generate prosperity for Albertans in the future.

00:03:29.280 Furthermore, the Finance Minister said that Alberta's population growth, expected to grow by 6.4% in 2024,

00:03:36.400 is a mixed bag for the province's bottom line. The growing number of workers bolsters tax revenue,

00:03:42.800 including from personal income tax, which the government projects to grow by $458 million over

00:03:48.400 last year. But the high population count also taxes government programs and infrastructure,

00:03:53.840 prompting a need for upgrades or expansions of some facilities. Moving into our next story here,

00:03:59.280 hockey player Johnny Goudreau, who formerly paid for the Calgary Flames,

00:04:02.880 was killed while cycling in New Jersey on Thursday night. Goudreau and his 29-year-old brother Matthew

00:04:08.560 were riding their bikes in Salem County, New Jersey when they were struck by a vehicle,

00:04:13.040 according to New Jersey State Police, Sportsnet reported. Police said the vehicle was going in

00:04:17.840 the same direction as the brothers. The vehicle then tried to pass two other vehicles and struck

00:04:23.680 the brothers from behind. When officers arrived at the scene, the brothers were pronounced dead.

00:04:28.640 The Goudreau brothers were reportedly in town to celebrate their sister's wedding,

00:04:33.280 which was scheduled for Friday evening in Philadelphia, per People Magazine. A man identified

00:04:38.080 by police as Sean M. Higgins was arrested and charged with two counts of death by auto. Police

00:04:43.120 suspect he was under the influence of alcohol. A devastating story, especially for that family

00:04:48.640 who was supposed to be celebrating a wedding on Friday night and instead received the news that two

00:04:53.200 of their brothers had died. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.

00:04:57.920 Moving into the controversy of the week, several corporate sponsors are withdrawing their support

00:05:02.720 of the Canada Strong and Free Network's Red Deer Conference. The termination of support comes after

00:05:08.320 left-wing activists have targeted the networking organization for hosting American conservative

00:05:13.120 journalist Christopher Rufo. A hit piece published by the National Observer at the beginning of August

00:05:17.680 attacked Canada Strong and Free for hosting Rufo, painting the conservative journalist as far-right.

00:05:23.600 Later in the month, a petition on Change.org started by LGBTQ activist Wilbur Turner began circulating

00:05:29.760 online seeking to pressure Canada Strong and Free's corporate sponsors into withdrawing their support

00:05:35.680 from the September conference in Red Deer because of Rufo's scheduled talk. The petition claims that

00:05:41.040 sponsors should withdraw their support because Rufo is one of the leading opponents against critical race 0.97

00:05:47.120 theory, actively campaigns against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, appeared alongside

00:05:53.680 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the signing of his STOP WOKE Act and was appointed to the board of

00:05:59.920 Florida's new college. Soon after, Bruce Power, Ontario's only private sector nuclear energy provider,

00:06:06.240 pulled their support alongside MasterCard, a major payment transaction processor. Sun Life Financial,

00:06:13.120 Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the Canadian Bankers Association also joined the boycott. In a

00:06:18.880 statement to True North, Canada Strong and Free Networking President Adam Bullock said that he is

00:06:23.680 unable to speak to the specific sponsor arrangement and agreements, but appeared to be undeterred by the

00:06:29.520 corporate sponsor boycott. He also said, quote, you may have seen the attempts of the activist left to

00:06:34.320 undermine the spirit of free thought and debate that CSFN fosters at our conferences. Their attempts will

00:06:40.160 never discourage us. Bullock went on to reaffirm his commitment to hosting Rufo at the conference.

00:06:45.520 Finally, moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come. Okay, I'm going to break a cardinal

00:06:50.400 rule of journalism here and make the story about myself or rather about our organization. This was the

00:06:56.720 big announcement that I told you all to stay tuned for. I am actually going to be leaving the Alberta

00:07:02.080 Roundup. It is good news for you all. Let me just explain for a moment. I'm going to be giving the show

00:07:08.240 to my colleague Isaac Lamoureux, who you guys I'm sure know he has appeared on the show a couple of

00:07:13.520 times before. And he also does a lot of the written coverage of Alberta news for True North,

00:07:18.960 considering that I'm not technically on mat leave anymore. But I do have a son and I am by no means

00:07:24.160 working anywhere close to full time. I basically just do a couple hours a week. So he's really taken

00:07:28.400 over a lot of that coverage in my absence. And it seemed very natural for him to take over the show

00:07:33.680 because he's so plugged into Alberta politics. And I want you guys to have the best possible person

00:07:39.040 to be bringing the news for you guys on the show. And it seemed a little bit silly that I would

00:07:43.680 continue doing the show when I was basically using a lot of his written coverage for the show.

00:07:48.320 Obviously, he knows these stories better if Isaac is the one writing them. So he's a more natural

00:07:52.800 fit to do the show just given some of the exciting changes that are going on in my own life.

00:07:57.280 Now that being said, you guys are actually going to benefit from this change because I'm going to be

00:08:01.280 launching a new show with True North, the Rachel Parker Show. And we are going to be covering a

00:08:07.440 wide range of issues from coast to coast in Canada, a little bit of culture and health and US politics

00:08:13.040 mixed in there as well. But obviously, because I live in Alberta, and because I've covered the

00:08:17.280 province so closely, I have a lot of strong ties there. We're still going to be doing a lot of

00:08:20.800 Alberta coverage, a lot of interviews about major topics going on in Alberta news at the moment.

00:08:26.320 So you guys are actually going to be getting even more Alberta coverage than you've had with just

00:08:30.720 one show. So I hope that you can see this announcement for really the exciting opportunity

00:08:36.320 that it is for both myself and Isaac. And Isaac has just done such tremendous work at True North.

00:08:40.880 So I'm excited for you guys to get to know him a little better. I had the chance to catch up with

00:08:45.040 him a little earlier to talk to him about what he's hoping to bring to the show and some of the changes

00:08:49.600 he might implement. I will show you guys what he had to say right now. So Isaac, first of all, congratulations.

00:08:55.520 Thank you, Rachel. Yeah, it's a great pleasure to be afforded this opportunity.

00:09:02.000 As I mentioned already to my audience, one of the reasons I felt that you would be a natural fit is

00:09:08.000 that you have obviously taken over a lot of the Alberta coverage and you're based right there in

00:09:12.240 Edmonton. So you have great access to the legislature and to a lot of the press conferences. Obviously,

00:09:17.840 you know, I've explained sort of the format for the show. And I think you can you can do what you want

00:09:22.880 with it. It really is is your sort of window of opportunity. I guess I'm just wondering,

00:09:26.960 you know, what are some of the the stories that you think that you are most excited to cover

00:09:31.280 or that you'll be focusing with on the show? I'm sure the audience would love to know.

00:09:36.080 That's a tough question. Obviously, any political Alberta, Alberta politically stories like

00:09:42.800 Conservative Party of Alberta, the NDP of Alberta, I'll be covering stories that encompass those two

00:09:49.280 parties in any way. But something that I'm really looking forward to is that obviously for True

00:09:55.200 North, I've done quite a bit of work on The Daily Brief and Off the Record, which are two shows or

00:10:01.360 one's a podcast more so than a show. But those those while I've been on those shows, they weren't my show.

00:10:06.720 Right. So for this, what I'm really looking forward to is kind of, I guess, making it my own and maybe

00:10:12.960 building relationship with some of the viewers. I know that one of the

00:10:16.160 previous segments you've had was to look at top comments from last week. I'm really excited to

00:10:23.600 keep that going to help build that personal relationship with viewers. So yeah, really

00:10:28.720 excited about that. Another aspect that I'm maybe going to bring in that you probably didn't have,

00:10:33.920 Rachel, was definitely any Alberta sports stories I'll be mentioning. Obviously, for those who don't

00:10:39.840 know, I'm an Edmonton Oilers fan when it comes to hockey. So sorry for any Flames fans.

00:10:45.200 You're going to alienate the audience.

00:10:45.680 I know, I know. So I'll definitely be covering hockey stories in the winter. The summer sporting

00:10:51.840 stories are less common, obviously, in Alberta. But while saying that, stories do come up pretty often.

00:11:00.240 For those who don't know, Johnny Hockey, I woke up to the news today that he was killed

00:11:05.120 by a drunk driver while bike riding with his brother. Obviously, he used to play for the

00:11:12.400 Flames, but he was playing for Columbus. So that was terrible news to wake up to on Friday morning.

00:11:17.760 But yeah, I mean, even in the summer, like I said, yeah, the sports stories, they keep coming. So

00:11:23.440 I'll definitely be talking about sports because I love sports and I always love any opportunity I get

00:11:28.560 to cover any sporting stories.

00:11:30.080 I think one of the really unique things about the video podcasting format is sort of that ability

00:11:35.760 to, as you mentioned, build a relationship with the audience, read through the comments,

00:11:39.520 see what people like, see what they didn't like, see what sort of stories people are most interested

00:11:43.520 in. And I was going to ask you, but you already beat me to it, if there would be sort of a sports

00:11:47.760 segment of the show. I know we have so many big hockey fans in Alberta. I'm sure people will be

00:11:52.320 really keen and eager to see that on the show. I did sort of debate a couple of times,

00:11:56.640 including more hockey stuff on the show, but it never really felt appropriate because I barely

00:12:01.760 understand the hockey issues. I don't watch it. I don't follow it closely. So I think that certainly

00:12:06.240 that will be in better hands with you. And who knows, maybe there will even be so much interest

00:12:10.160 that there'll be a sport or just even a hockey spinoff show at some point. So again, Isaac,

00:12:16.240 congratulations. And I'm really excited to see where you take the show.

00:12:18.400 Thanks, Rachel. I'm really looking forward to hosting it. Yeah.

00:12:23.200 Okay. And so he'll be taking over the show in about two weeks time. So stay peeled for,

00:12:29.200 for that. And, um, I'm excited to see where he takes the show and to, you know, see him grow and

00:12:34.960 to see the audience grow as well. Okay. And finally, moving into our weekly comment roundup last week,

00:12:40.000 Isaac and I covered the coots four. Here's what you guys had to say about it. User Lynn Theven said,

00:12:45.040 they are trying to break these men. I absolutely believe that to be true in the case of law fair.

00:12:50.640 So often it's really just about grinding people down and tiring them out. And I believe that is

00:12:55.280 what we are seeing here with the two men who are still in jail. And I know that the crown asked for

00:13:00.560 nine years, nine years is far more time in jail that many criminals have been given for killing

00:13:06.720 actual people in Canada. Just an FYI. And user Volzerg said, perhaps if it hadn't been for the actions of

00:13:13.840 the freedom convoy participants, we would still be having lockdowns at this time to protect the public from

00:13:19.520 monkey pox. I think you raised a really good point. And I think that the future governments 1.00

00:13:23.920 will have to think twice about doing something like the lockdowns that we saw. I know that we

00:13:28.880 haven't been successful in every area. For example, the Supreme Court refusing to hear whether the the

00:13:34.320 travel ban, um, violated Canadians constitutional rights, but we have seen a lot of legal successes.

00:13:41.200 For example, in Ontario, a lot of hospitals have had to pay huge sums to unvaccinated nurses,

00:13:47.200 nurses, and then are even being told they have to hire those nurses back. So we are also seeing a

00:13:51.600 number of legal wins. So hopefully this will set a precedent in our country never to do these types

00:13:56.400 of lockdowns again. Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today on the Alberta Roundup.

00:14:00.640 Please give Isaac a warm welcome in the comments section below. We'll be back

00:14:05.040 next week. Hope that you guys have a great weekend and God bless.

00:14:17.200 Thank you.

00:14:18.720 You

Juno News - August 31, 2024

Smith committed to overhauling Alberta’s healthcare

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