Alberta

[Rejigger]

"Alberta to bring in out-of-province contract nurses as COVID-19 patients fill hospitals"

Alberta nurses are paid the highest of the 10 provinces. The cost of living in Alberta is low. Other provinces should take note of the above because they'll lose nurses to Alberta if they don't step up their game.
~

My point is that none of this had to happen if Kenney's ongoing response to the pandemic wasn't a failure of Trumpian magnitude. You rush to his defense just as he rushes to save his own butt with last minute flip flops on his disastrous policy decisions to date. Two tier healthcare, education cuts, handouts to the oil & gas sector as they run for the border, he's not winning a lot of popularity contests among regular folk.

Nope, I did not rush to Kenney's defense. In fact, I didn't defend Kenney at all.

My first post here was to point out the blatant bias between media coverage of Kenney's vacation vs. media coverage of Horgan's vacation (people should not fall for this spin). My next post pointed out the hypocrisy of Horgan going to the East Coast after telling people to stay away from BC (at the peril of the BC tourist industry, btw).

You focused your response post on 'nurses'. To which I responded with facts - stats and financial reports.

You posted your misinterpretation as if it's the truth rather than addressing my points - again, those points being media bias, Horgan's hypocrisy and the data regarding the Alberta health care system. I welcome an honest discussion about these points.
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[fluffy]

How much time did Horgan take off ? Kenney was MIA for over three weeks. Did Horgan call for mandatory overtime and cancel vacation time for healthcare workers while taking time off himself ?

There is talk now that Kenney was asked to "lay low" during the federal campaign as he is so controversial and unpopular that he could affect the CPC's chances of success in Alberta on the 20th.

[bob vernon]

I have a cousin who is a nurse in Alberta. She retired and has come back during Covid. Her prediction: the Alberta health care system is going to collapse in the next few months. COLLAPSE. Doctors and nurses are burned out and quitting at a time when Covid cases are climbing rapidly. And the Kenney government has eliminated tracing and has generally failed in getting the people vaccinated.
This is going to be a disaster in Alberta. The Feds will have to step in and send in the military to care for the hospitals as best they can.

[Rejigger]

How much time did Horgan take off ? Kenney was MIA for over three weeks.
There is talk now that Kenney was asked to "lay low" during the federal campaign as he is so controversial and unpopular that he could affect the CPC's chances of success in Alberta on the 20th.

You tell me how much time Horgan took off since you're the one who is bringing this up.
Don't forget that Horgan took vacation while the province was on fire; the health care crisis wasn't the only crisis going on in BC. Pretty sure he trumps Kenney when it comes to idiotic behaviour.

Regarding Kenney: Which is it, was he on vacay (personal) or was he laying low for political reasons (work-related)?

Did Horgan call for mandatory overtime and cancel vacation time for healthcare workers while taking time off himself ?

https://www.bcnu.org/news-and-events/me ... re-story-4

“I heard just the other day that some nurses are being mandated to work 24 hours,” said British Columbia Nurses Union vice-president Aman Grewal of the shifting required to cover vacant positions or unfilled shifts. “For some, when they thought they’d have a break, they didn’t get that break. They’re now being told their vacation is being cancelled and they have to come back to work.”

...By the way, there's a shortage of health care workers everywhere, not just Alberta.

Alberta nurses must be breathing a sigh of relief that Kenney is offering employment to contract health care workers. This will entice some nurses to work there. What other options are there, really.
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[nucksRnum1]

ou tell me how much time Horgan took off since you're the one who is bringing this up. Don't forget that Horgan took vacation while the province was on fire; the health care crisis wasn't the only crisis going on in BC. Pretty sure he trumps Kenney when it comes to idiotic behaviour.

Does the whole province shut down when the premier takes his vacation? Did Horgan have a magic wand that could put out fires? Does Horgan have superpowers that made it important for him to be in charge while fires were raging?

He took a vacay. So what? His 2nd in command would have stepped in and done what needed to be done. Nothing to see here.

[Rejigger]

He took a vacay. So what?

We were discussing political hypocrisy and media bias in the coverage of Kenney vs. Horgan and the poster brought up Kenney taking vacay while the covid/health care crisis was going on ... asking nurses to work OT while canceling their vacations ... Horgan did the same thing and he did it during the wild fires, to boot. Hypocrisy and media bias.

It's all right there in the previous few posts.
~

[fluffy]

We were discussing political hypocrisy and media bias in the coverage of Kenney vs. Horgan and the poster brought up Kenney taking vacay while the covid/health care crisis was going on ... asking nurses to work OT while canceling their vacations ... Horgan did the same thing and he did it during the wild fires, to boot. Hypocrisy and media bias.

It's all right there in the previous few posts.

Actually, I was discussing Kenney's absence and then you deflected to Horgan.

I'm not sure if media "bias" is actually accurate here. The media is what it is, scandal sells and some measure of bias is the rule of the day. If you haven't learned to filter that out then it's likely you're operating on incomplete information. Kenney's absence, in excess of three weeks, was and still is a valid concern for Albertans, and seeing that his approval rating is currently at 30%, the lowest of any premier in Canada I expect any positive coverage of him would be hard to come by. If the only news is bad news then is it biased to cover it ? The comparison to Premier Horgan lacks validity since Horgan is not currently under fire to the extent that Kenney is, with his approval among the highest in the country, more than double Kenney's, and BC's current problems pale in comparison to Alberta's.

The opinions circulating that Kenney may have been asked by federal Conservatives to zip it until after the election comes on the heels of political opponents of the CPC attempting to make hay over Kenney's unpopularity in their own campaigns, in particular the healthcare situation in Alberta. There is a close connection between Kenney and O'Toole, and any failure on Kenney's part will reflect on both O'Toole as an individual and Conservative governments collectively.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.6169269

[nucksRnum1]

He took a vacay. So what?

We were discussing political hypocrisy and media bias in the coverage of Kenney vs. Horgan and the poster brought up Kenney taking vacay while the covid/health care crisis was going on ... asking nurses to work OT while canceling their vacations ... Horgan did the same thing and he did it during the wild fires, to boot. Hypocrisy and media bias.

It's all right there in the previous few posts.
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I am well aware that you were likely defending Kenny. But everyone knows that Kenny is flying under the radar for O'Toole. Because what Kenny and the cons did the last election blew up in their face.

Horgan on the other hand was not hiding. He was simply on vacation.

[Jx3]

ou tell me how much time Horgan took off since you're the one who is bringing this up. Don't forget that Horgan took vacation while the province was on fire; the health care crisis wasn't the only crisis going on in BC. Pretty sure he trumps Kenney when it comes to idiotic behaviour.

Does the whole province shut down when the premier takes his vacation? Did Horgan have a magic wand that could put out fires? Does Horgan have superpowers that made it important for him to be in charge while fires were raging?

He took a vacay. So what? His 2nd in command would have stepped in and done what needed to be done. Nothing to see here.

And of course you would have said this very same comment if the Premier was not a member of your party of choice too, right? Right?

[Rejigger]

Does the whole province shut down when the premier takes his vacation? Did Horgan have a magic wand that could put out fires? Does Horgan have superpowers that made it important for him to be in charge while fires were raging?

Does a whole province shut down when any premier takes a vacation? Why go after Kenney if all he was doing was laying low as you indicated?

I am well aware that you were likely defending Kenny. But everyone knows that Kenny is flying under the radar for O'Toole. Because what Kenny and the cons did the last election blew up in their face.
Horgan on the other hand was not hiding. He was simply on vacation.

When you say that someone was "flying under the radar" it doesn't mean they weren't working, it only means they weren't garnering attention.

The link to the global news article that was posted does show Kenney talking about taking a break. It was the media who brought up the nurses, complete with an interview for effect. What's interesting is that the reporter said, "The nurses say what they really want to hear from the premiere or from the government is more of an indication about what kind of measures the province might adopt in trying to get a handle on some of these rising hospitalization numbers to give their members a break."

The province has given the go-ahead to hire contract nurses and to pay them well. Alberta nurses are already the highest paid of the 10 provinces. I would think that nurses will step-up and get hired, and the nurses will appreciate the help.

As I pointed out on page 4 with respect to media bias:

This is bad?...
Premier Jason Kenney offloaded responsibility on Alberta's top doctor for lifting all COVID-19 public health orders,...

But this is good?...
If there were ever questions whether Horgan was influencing Henry’s public health orders for political or economic reasons, the premier put uncertainty to rest at his media availability following his new cabinet’s swearing-in ceremony. “I’ve never interfered. That’s not how [we] operate,” he said. “We come to conclusions based on the best advice we get.”

They're saying the exact same thing. You're obviously a victim of media bias.

When the media decides to turn on someone, there's very little that person can do to combat it, no matter who they are. It's up to the viewer/reader to look past the sensationalism and see the double standard. I'm calling out the double standard.
~

[Rejigger]

Did Horgan call for mandatory overtime and cancel vacation time for healthcare workers while taking time off himself ?

As shown in an above-post, the answer is 'Yes, he was.' (or was planning to as is now the case)
~

[nucksRnum1]

Did Horgan call for mandatory overtime and cancel vacation time for healthcare workers while taking time off himself ?

As shown in an above-post, the answer is 'Yes, he was.' (or was planning to as is now the case)
~

I don't think a premier who works honest hours past 9-5 himself has to worry about this allegation.

[Purity]

I adopt an BC/Alberta and Saskatchewan pancake and lunch social on every second Sunday of July ongoing so we can start to heal our inter provincial hate that has been entrenched by the anti-Canadian antisocial subversives. Becoming Neighbors, Showing Friendship and Building Trust would sure help cure our inter provincial cooperation moving forward!

[Catsumi]

Purity

I’m in

I am all for rebuilding the loss of trust and the abusiveness shown to our Alberta neighbours fostered by the insane covid restrictions.

The rational folks out there must be ashamed for some of our populace shouting at Albertans to go home, for keying their vehicles and trying to make them feel unwelcome.

Such deep rifts in our relationship to our nearest province will take a long time to fill, but maybe some pancakes will be a good place to start.

[daria]

Purity

I’m in

I am all for rebuilding the loss of trust and the abusiveness shown to our Alberta neighbours fostered by the insane covid restrictions.

The rational folks out there must be ashamed for some of our populace shouting at Albertans to go home, for keying their vehicles and trying to make them feel unwelcome.

Such deep rifts in our relationship to our nearest province will take a long time to fill, but maybe some pancakes will be a good place to start.

LIKE.