Health
Province & Doctors Ratify New Agreement
By Sheldon Spackman
The Alberta Government has announced the ratification of an amending agreement between the province and it’s physicians that aims to improve patient care. However, the amending agreement still needs to be signed by both parties.
Government officials say the voting process for Alberta Medical Association (AMA) members started six weeks ago with the final count showing that 74 per cent of voting physicians were in favour of amending the existing 2011-18 master agreement.
Minister of Health Sarah Hoffman says “We thank Alberta’s physicians for their support of these amendments and their dedication and commitment to improving the health and well-being of all Albertans. As shared stewards of our health system, we now look forward to working together on changes that will improve accessibility to high-quality care and keep the health system sustainable in the long term.”
Alberta Medical Association President Dr. Padriac Carr says “In ratifying this agreement, physicians and government are moving in positive new directions. We will work to moderate the rate of expenditure growth while maintaining quality care and providing greater value for patients. The amending agreement will also contribute to a higher level of integration and increased efficiency in the system in the long term.”
The ratified amendments come after six months of negotiations and are based on a tentative agreement announced Aug. 31. The agreement, which recognizes a shared responsibility to provide quality health care in a financially sustainable framework, is expected to improve patient care and significantly slow the growth of health-care spending by the end of 2018.
Highlights of the amending agreement include a needs-based Physician Resource Plan that will help place doctors in the communities that need them. Primary care improvements, including new information technology and data-sharing. New compensation models for some primary-care physicians, as well as academic physicians, to reward time and quality of care given to patients rather than just the number of services provided. New physician peer review and accountability mechanisms and the linking of certain benefits and compensation increases to performance on other cost-saving measures.
The current master agreement with physicians will now be amended. The government and the AMA will immediately start negotiations on the overall master agreement that expires in 2018.
From LifeSiteNews
British Columbia premier David Eby announced that his province plans to re-criminalize hard drug use in public spaces after its decriminalization last year led to widespread social disorder.
British Columbia is asking the Trudeau government to roll back its drug decriminalization program after increased violence and continued overdoses.
On April 26, New Democratic Party (NDP) premier of British Columbia David Eby announced that he is working with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s federal government to re-criminalize drug use in public spaces, including inside hospitals, on transit, and in parks. British Columbia, under permission from the Trudeau government, had decriminalized such behavior in 2023.
“Keeping people safe is our highest priority,” Eby explained in a press release. “While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe.”
“We’re taking action to make sure police have the tools they need to ensure safe and comfortable communities for everyone as we expand treatment options so people can stay alive and get better,” he continued.
Under the new regulations, police would be given the power to prevent drug use in all public places, including hospitals, restaurants, transit, parks and beaches.
However, drug use would remain legal at “a private residence or place where someone is legally sheltering, or at overdose prevention sites and drug checking locations.”
Eby’s concerns over drug use were echoed by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth who said, “Our communities are facing big challenges. People are dying from deadly street drugs, and we see the issues with public use and disorder on our streets.”
“As we continue to go after the gangs and organized criminals who are making and trafficking toxic drugs, we’re taking action now to make it illegal to use drugs in public spaces, and to expand access to treatment to help people who need it most,” he promised.
Beginning in early 2023, Trudeau’s federal policy, in effect, decriminalized hard drugs on a trial-run basis in British Columbia.
Under the policy, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime.
While British Columbia has not yet indicated it plans to re-criminalize possession, its decision to clamp down on public drug use presents a major departure from its previous tactics of continually liberalizing its attitude toward narcotic use.
Since being implemented, the province’s drug policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect.
The effects of decriminalizing hard drugs in various parts of Canada has been exposed in Aaron Gunn’s recent documentary, Canada is Dying, and in U.K. Telegraph journalist Steven Edginton’s mini-documentary, Canada’s Woke Nightmare: A Warning to the West.
Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”
“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”
Addictions
Must Watch: Addiction worker estimates 90% of “safer supply” drugs resold on black market
“It’s just… it’s created more addicts,” says David McEvoy, an Ottawa-based outreach worker who specializes in overdose prevention.
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“Safer supply” refers to the practice of prescribing free recreational drugs as an alternative to potentially-tainted street substances. While advocates claim that this practice saves lives, David McEvoy, an Ottawa-based addiction outreach worker, says that approximately 90% of clients are reselling their taxpayer-funded drugs on the street, leading to new addictions and relapses.
His testimony is consistent with the testimony of dozens of addiction experts, former drug users, and youth. You can read a summary of his interview in the National Post here.
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