The Kenney Government

[Full Curl Earl]

No confusion for me on who is mostly responsible. But i suspect most voted in support of him because of his platform to get the Feds to play ball, and he failed.
Kennys budget to save the province with cut backs to essential, life saving services that were already crippled by the NDP is foolish. Guess Kenny is showing how he feels about Albertans and their families.
Heck, im not even a supporter of free healthcare, lol. But I pay for it on every check and expect my taxes to go to these things.
Time for him to pay for his failures. Does anyone really believe there will be dividends paid for this budget? We will have dilapidated health infrastructure, no Doctors willing to stay in alberta, No Medics, poorly skilled Fire fighters, no teachers, nurses. And whoever gets elected next will be handed an empty shell to fix.
And most importantly, and damaging, id say he’s lost the Conservative vote for Alberta...

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Cuts are Kenny the other issues are more to do with federal. I am not impressed with Kenny but people need to realize oil & gas related issues we face are do to federal opposition and markets. On oil & gas related issues it would not matter who the premier of Alberta was they would be getting no where

NDP would have not made the same cuts but would have increased debt accomplishing nothing

I don’t think Kenny is doing a great job but I don’t think it would matter what party was in power in Alberta they would be failing if focusing on oil & gas industry. Not going to get anywhere when you are facing major federal opposition

[AndrewM]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

No confusion for me on who is mostly responsible. But i suspect most voted in support of him because of his platform to get the Feds to play ball, and he failed.
Kennys budget to save the province with cut backs to essential, life saving services that were already crippled by the NDP is foolish. Guess Kenny is showing how he feels about Albertans and their families.
Heck, im not even a supporter of free healthcare, lol. But I pay for it on every check and expect my taxes to go to these things.
Time for him to pay for his failures. Does anyone really believe there will be dividends paid for this budget? We will have dilapidated health infrastructure, no Doctors willing to stay in alberta, No Medics, poorly skilled Fire fighters, no teachers, nurses. And whoever gets elected next will be handed an empty shell to fix.
And most importantly, and damaging, id say he’s lost the Conservative vote for Alberta...

Fear monger much? No doctors, teachers, nurses? Lol. We still pay some of the highest wages. If costs aren’t cut then the rest of us pay the bill. Bills we can’t afford. Debt financing doesn’t help anyone and isn’t sustainable.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

No confusion for me on who is mostly responsible. But i suspect most voted in support of him because of his platform to get the Feds to play ball, and he failed.
Kennys budget to save the province with cut backs to essential, life saving services that were already crippled by the NDP is foolish. Guess Kenny is showing how he feels about Albertans and their families.
Heck, im not even a supporter of free healthcare, lol. But I pay for it on every check and expect my taxes to go to these things.
Time for him to pay for his failures. Does anyone really believe there will be dividends paid for this budget? We will have dilapidated health infrastructure, no Doctors willing to stay in alberta, No Medics, poorly skilled Fire fighters, no teachers, nurses. And whoever gets elected next will be handed an empty shell to fix.
And most importantly, and damaging, id say he’s lost the Conservative vote for Alberta...

He definitely talked a big game but deep down inside he was betting on Cons winning the federal election. He would have been wiser to be more humble because he would have still beat Notly. I don’t agree with the level of cuts but it was needed. Like I said I am not impressed with Kenny but would still say in the long run he will be better then the alternative. Not like we get amazing options to choose from

My wife works in healthcare I hear all about the cuts

Truth is even with cuts Alberta offers fairly good opportunity compared to some of the other provinces. My wife will still make 4$hr more compared to what she did in BC. The cuts won’t push away all the government service workers but poor overall economy might if spouses are not finding sufficient work. I have watched this happen in a small town outside of Alberta

I won’t be surprised he does cost the UPC the next election if things don’t turn around. People will vote out of anger even if the alternative is worse. My self I will vote for who I feel is the best of the worst and hold my nose

[hal53]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Amazing what hes done, job loss, pipeline failures, project cancellations, cut healthcare, cut school programs, taking hard earned pensions to invest as he sees fit while leaving the grossly over paid MLA pensions safe and sound.
Nice work Kenny.
May as well have the NDP back.

You forgot to blame the Corona Virus on him......you might b happier if you moved someplace that likes socialism as much as you...like maybe Venezuela????

[Dead Moose]

Originally Posted by AndrewM

DOOOMMMMMMMM! LOL.
For the ones mad at all the cuts, how do you propose the government saves money? Simple fact. Alberta's debt is increasing as they are spending more than they take in.

AHS budget cut. Education budget cut. Both fire front line staff rather than cleaning up the systems. Seems like they aren't taking the wasteful spending seriously and are just trying to make the public mad.

A basic economics lesson tells you that the amount of debt carried has to be financed by someone. Deficits and Debt do NOT disappear and if all Governments continue to run massive deficits and ring up big debt we will eventually reach a limit where no one will buy our Bonds that are used to finance this debt. Before we reach these limits, the interest rates paid on the debt will balloon and accelerate the problem.

Face it—-we have been living beyond our means for a LONG LONG time. Something has to give and since nobody wants to pay more taxes , that means cutting expenditures. When Alberta had bigger revenues, our politicians were spineless and wouldn’t say NO to everyone clamouring for more (like a bunch of out of control children).

It seems like some people do want higher taxes as long as someone else (or a business) pays them. But keep in mind that there is no such thing as “Paying your Fair Share” unless we move to a “User Pay” system.

[bsmitty27]

I'm fine with cuts. As long as it saves money, and doesn't put us in a infrastructure deficit. I also dont believe the ucp has the best interests of alberta in mind giving tax breaks to big oil, or planning on investing Alberta's money in a losing sector.
The insurance cap removal is also directly on our backs. They aren't implementing a tax but they may as well be, we are still paying more for everything.

[Full Curl Earl]

Originally Posted by hal53

You forgot to blame the Corona Virus on him......you might b happier if you moved someplace that likes socialism as much as you...like maybe Venezuela????

My happiness is none of your concern Hal.
Everything i stated was Kennys doing, you dont cut the tail of the snake off, its the head that gets lopped. He wont be around long enough to see the damage hes done. And hopefully you don’t find yourself on an ambulance strethcer in the Halls of the Royal Alex or Foothills for 5 hrs wondering how it all went wrong.
And Venezuelas to hot and clammy for me, I’m an Albertan and Feel strong about folks in power taking advantage of my people, guess your good with that.

[Full Curl Earl]

Originally Posted by AndrewM

Fear monger much? No doctors, teachers, nurses? Lol. We still pay some of the highest wages. If costs aren’t cut then the rest of us pay the bill. Bills we can’t afford. Debt financing doesn’t help anyone and isn’t sustainable.

You clearly do not know anyone in those professions. We will have teachers and doctors alright, but not the level i think Albertans deserve. You feel its more important to pay down the deficit? I think its important as well, but Alberta is in a serious crisis with the energy sector and thats isnt changing anytime soon is it!
Can run this province without the core services, education, healthcare, security.
Without those simple needs, who gives a crap about a balanced budget.
It cost money to keep the doors open, and now is not the moment to halt Albertas infrastructure growth. The NDP allowed it to become dilapidated, now it needs fixing, and we could do it at non-boom inflated pricing.

[V_1]

Originally Posted by JamesB

Yet what notable products have been produced by truly communist countries?

Morons who live in western countries and don't appreciate it. AKA useful idiots. This is by far most prominent and devastating commie's product.

PS What is missing in UCP policy is Right to Work legislation, making union membership optional.

[AndrewM]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

You clearly do not know anyone in those professions. We will have teachers and doctors alright, but not the level i think Albertans deserve. You feel its more important to pay down the deficit? I think its important as well, but Alberta is in a serious crisis with the energy sector and thats isnt changing anytime soon is it!
Can run this province without the core services, education, healthcare, security.
Without those simple needs, who gives a crap about a balanced budget.
It cost money to keep the doors open, and now is not the moment to halt Albertas infrastructure growth. The NDP allowed it to become dilapidated, now it needs fixing, and we could do it at non-boom inflated pricing.

I know multiple people and none have moved or are planning to move. You can’t run a business on hope and pixie dust. Can’t run a government that way either. Books need to balance. It doesn’t matter if it’s our homes, business or government finances. Books need to balance as debt funding isn’t sustainable. Best case is it just delays the inevitable, worst case it accelerates it.

[Sloughsharkjigger]

Lots going on right now... especially for Alberta... current "town fathers" could be challenged with humanity decisions not just financial... think they are ready?

[thumper]

The budget is a cut of 2.8%. Is that a crisis? Alberta's health costs are higher per capita than any other Canadian province, even with our younger average age. The medical associations have no suggestions on how to get those costs down, and so contract talks go on and on with the medical associations just wanting more and more money. Finally the government says 'There are no additional dollars, and even the status quo of paying the highest per capita health care costs in the country - is no longer an option. Since your associations can't come up with a way to get these costs under control, here's our solution'.
I don't see the doctors finding any solutions - only crying about what's being 'imposed' on them. Well, somehow, other provinces are managing with less funding. So now they're threatening to leave, they're supposedly being recruited by far off places. So go already.

Keep walking Mr Kenney, don't slow down. Do what Albertans voted you in to do. The faster the cuts, the faster we cut the interest we pay on our ridiculous loans. Maybe some day, we'll be debt free again and every tax dollar will go back to Albertans instead of the bank. Then maybe we can afford to pay better-than-Canadian-average with your citizens taxes. Until then, it's Kraft dinner, and I'm fine with that.

[Buckhead]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

My happiness is none of your concern Hal.
Everything i stated was Kennys doing, you dont cut the tail of the snake off, its the head that gets lopped. He wont be around long enough to see the damage hes done. And hopefully you don’t find yourself on an ambulance strethcer in the Halls of the Royal Alex or Foothills for 5 hrs wondering how it all went wrong.
And Venezuelas to hot and clammy for me, I’m an Albertan and Feel strong about folks in power taking advantage of my people, guess your good with that.

Almost all of the damage was already done before Kenney showed up.
You are exaggerating just a wee bit.
And I have been on an ambulance stretcher at the Royal Alex. They had me in there and starting treatment in minutes. Not a 5 hour wait by any stretch.

[Full Curl Earl]

You must be a front line health care worker to make a claim like that?
There are places to cut money, your families health aint one of them. Oh well, we will get what we deserve i guess.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

You must be a front line health care worker to make a claim like that?
There are places to cut money, your families health aint one of them. Oh well, we will get what we deserve i guess.

The sector that is truly being impacted in the healthcare union is the service department cooking, cleaning, laundry, and food service for example. This is likely to go private like it has in many other healthcare unions in Canada.

The other cuts are minimal in comparison and still competitive with other provinces.

[JamesB]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

You must be a front line health care worker to make a claim like that?
There are places to cut money, your families health aint one of them. Oh well, we will get what we deserve i guess.

Sure, and no matter where the cuts are made someone will complain that it unduly affects their family. Health, education, infrastructure, no matter what gets cut someone will complain. Unfortunately it has to start somewhere. Increasing spending and then increasing taxes to match is not a solution.

It is also very clear that the unions are over playing their hands by not at least making a token effort to help with cost reductions. The bureaucracies are also going right to job losses without making real reductions in waste. I have worked in government long enough to know that there is waste everywhere and the bureaucracy has a vested interest in keeping budgets high and making to effort to reduce spending.

[CaberTosser]

When I see a public sector union that has even the slightest respect for the average taxpayer, including the low income and completely unemployed, I'll start a thread on it. Right now I see public sector unions publically campaigning to render a lot of their 'bosses' unemployed. Literally biting the hands that feed them and then asking for raises while the hands the fed them are unemployed and over-taxed.

I am all for right to work legislation and the dissolution of public sector unions. This dog is tired of the heavy tail thinking its in charge.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

I am all for right to work legislation and the dissolution of public sector unions. This dog is tired of the heavy tail thinking its in charge.

x2. Look at what poor Ontario is having to contend with their teachers union. That's where we're headed.

[Head Lice]

Originally Posted by thumper

x2. Look at what poor Ontario is having to contend with their teachers union. That's where we're headed.

Have you ever seen a teacher that's happy with anything ?

[ESOXangler]

Originally Posted by Buckhead

Almost all of the damage was already done before Kenney showed up.
You are exaggerating just a wee bit.
And I have been on an ambulance stretcher at the Royal Alex. They had me in there and starting treatment in minutes. Not a 5 hour wait by any stretch.

Just spent 5 hrs in a disease filled waiting room because my son had a cardiovascular issue. Youd think we would be seen faster considering he has CHD and was complaining alot! Nope waiting. Even though we were high on the triage rating as well. Beds were filled and staff was low! At a children's hospital.

[Fisherdan]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

Just spent 5 hrs in a disease filled waiting room because my son had a cardiovascular issue. Youd think we would be seen faster considering he has CHD and was complaining alot! Nope waiting. Even though we were high on the triage rating as well. Beds were filled and staff was low! At a children's hospital.

Wife bright our daughter there last week at 1:00 AM. Waited 3 hours to be seen.

[fishtank]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

Just spent 5 hrs in a disease filled waiting room because my son had a cardiovascular issue. Youd think we would be seen faster considering he has CHD and was complaining alot! Nope waiting. Even though we were high on the triage rating as well. Beds were filled and staff was low! At a children's hospital.

Politicians usually don’t have our priority as theirs because worst come to it they just paid out of pocket to get better service elsewhere eg USA, one thing I understand is that you get what you paid for , and cutting back on essential things like these is uncalled for, iam sure they can make a cut somewhere else rather then doctors . Better yet if Alberta was to collect All the taxes and paid for Alberta’s essential before handling the left over to the feds ( I think Quebec has something similar)

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

Just spent 5 hrs in a disease filled waiting room because my son had a cardiovascular issue. Youd think we would be seen faster considering he has CHD and was complaining alot! Nope waiting. Even though we were high on the triage rating as well. Beds were filled and staff was low! At a children's hospital.

The Canadian healthcare system faces this issue in every province. I could give all kinds of horror stories from 4 different provinces that would match or surpass yours. Abbotsford BC’s hospital is brutal and one of the worst I have seen.This has been a problem from a long time and would say about 20years ago it really started to ramp up.

This is not an Alberta cut back issue but an overall issue with the Canadian healthcare system. We may have “free” healthcare in Canada but it has been used and abused because it’s “free” and has degraded overtime

Sorry to hear you and your son had to deal with the wait time but this problem is across Canada

[Sundancefisher]

We are no longer the fat overpaid province overflowing with cash. No longer the province in which all public servants are the highest paid in the country. No longer can we have the waste in the system that’s costs us more than other provinces. We need to tighten our belts because as mentioned doing nothing is not a strategy. Hoping things get better is not a strategy. Continuing to bleed out is not a strategy.

Deficits build debt. Debt takes interest to pay. That interest goes to banks and not to social services.

Some of the bleeding heart NDP rhetoric on here makes me really wonder how clueless these people are. What is way worse than paying for something you can afford is to keep raising taxes. That will drive everyone away as it erodes wealth and savinging and economic spending.

Yes. Cuts are needed. Successive governments have left us crippled. The strategy should be the right cuts. Waste of all kinds should be looked at. Unions should be demanding members bring all waste to the table from materials to processes and including overtime scams. Unions should be looking to remove members who are contributing to low productivity.

Klein years were tough but really helped the province in the long term until broken again.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

The Canadian healthcare system faces this issue in every province. I could give all kinds of horror stories from 4 different provinces that would match or surpass yours. Abbotsford BC’s hospital is brutal and one of the worst I have seen.This has been a problem from a long time and would say about 20years ago it really started to ramp up.

This is not an Alberta cut back issue but an overall issue with the Canadian healthcare system. We may have “free” healthcare in Canada but it has been used and abused because it’s “free” and has degraded overtime

Sorry to hear you and your son had to deal with the wait time but this problem is across Canada

At the same time it should be noted Canada pays less per capita on health care than the US and enjoys a higher life expectancy. Cleaning up waste will only strengthen our great system.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Useless Kenny just cut both NAIT and SAIT by millions and laying off around 500 staff. Great to see where All the tradesman with good paying jobs will be in future. No problem at least Tim Hortons will have lots of workers and employment will be low in the future Alberta.

[pittman]

Many good posts about healthcare here. We are indeed spending more per capita on health care in Alberta than other provinces, and given our demographic we should be spending less. That said, we do provide a number of more advanced services here in comparison to other similar provinces.

The Kenny government is slinging a fair bit of misinformation with regards to physicians, however. They are happy to quote that physicians in Alberta are paid more than other provinces. For this they used inaccurate data. Physicians are actually compensated reasonably appropriately in AB, especially when adjusted for cost of living.

Keep in mind that physicians are not the biggest source of health expenditure in AB, we spend far more on hospitals and drugs. Both areas where there is significant room for efficiency without harming patient care.

This year the AMA offered 3% cost savings on physicians wages in response to government efforts to reduce costs. No other group of health care providers offered or accepted a pay cut. The government rejected that and has subsequently imposed a 20% pay cut with family physicians taking the brunt.

I'm not sure how many here would tolerate a 20% pay cut. I suspect it wouldn't go over well.

What many people don't understand is that cuts to primary care are an expense in the long run. Primary care is how you save money on health care. Treat things early and keep people out of the hospital. Nothing is more expensive than a hospital admission.

So, Kenny may be saving money right now, but it will cost money later. And young physicians will leave. They are a portable bunch.

[bsmitty27]

Originally Posted by pittman

Many good posts about healthcare here. We are indeed spending more per capita on health care in Alberta than other provinces, and given our demographic we should be spending less. That said, we do provide a number of more advanced services here in comparison to other similar provinces.

The Kenny government is slinging a fair bit of misinformation with regards to physicians, however. They are happy to quote that physicians in Alberta are paid more than other provinces. For this they used inaccurate data. Physicians are actually compensated reasonably appropriately in AB, especially when adjusted for cost of living.

Keep in mind that physicians are not the biggest source of health expenditure in AB, we spend far more on hospitals and drugs. Both areas where there is significant room for efficiency without harming patient care.

This year the AMA offered 3% cost savings on physicians wages in response to government efforts to reduce costs. No other group of health care providers offered or accepted a pay cut. The government rejected that and has subsequently imposed a 20% pay cut with family physicians taking the brunt.

I'm not sure how many here would tolerate a 20% pay cut. I suspect it wouldn't go over well.

What many people don't understand is that cuts to primary care are an expense in the long run. Primary care is how you save money on health care. Treat things early and keep people out of the hospital. Nothing is more expensive than a hospital admission.

So, Kenny may be saving money right now, but it will cost money later. And young physicians will leave. They are a portable bunch.

X2

I think money can and should be saved in private sector. But the moves kenny is making will cost us much more than we are saving.
Think less about liberal vs conservative ideas and more about good and bad ideas. Both sides have good and bad ideas. If you cant see that your part of the problem.
Brad

[RandyBoBandy]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

Just spent 5 hrs in a disease filled waiting room because my son had a cardiovascular issue. Youd think we would be seen faster considering he has CHD and was complaining alot! Nope waiting. Even though we were high on the triage rating as well. Beds were filled and staff was low! At a children's hospital.

Originally Posted by Fisherdan

Wife bright our daughter there last week at 1:00 AM. Waited 3 hours to be seen.

Dayumm, I can't imagine your frustrations with the system at the time you really need it. These inefficiencies lay DIRECTLY responsible at the bloated HealthCare MIS-MANAGEMENT The front line staff and funding get circumvented by OBSCENE fat cats in management

[Bigjohn87]

Alberta spends 20% more on each individual than any other province. We spend more on students and more on patients. This isn’t the free for all it was when Oil was flowing out of every seam. Public sector employees need to be reined it with the rest of the province.