How much did Klein cuts cost Alberta taxpayers?

By Letter to the Editor on July 19, 2017.

Being a Conservative I would like to blame the Khadr disaster on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also but can’t. I remember the warnings the lawyers and judges were giving then-PM Stephen Harper, that if he didn’t handle it properly we could be in trouble. Harper wouldn’t listen. This is the same Harper who treated our veterans so poorly that it likely attributed to him being defeated in the last election.

So where were these people in Alberta who are whining about the $10.5 million we lost on Khadr when Don Getty, Peter Lougheed and a whole bunch of us true conservatives were desperately trying to stop Ralph Klein, a Liberal, from destroying our health-care system, and dumping deregulation in our laps? They were supporting Klein, of course, believing every lie he fed them.

For as long as I live I will never forget the nurses bawling their eyes in my office when Klein destroyed their careers, or the doctor with tears streaming down his face who told me he had six patients who desperately needed to be in a hospital and he couldn’t even get one in because of what Klein had done. I helped nine doctors and at least two dozen nurses relocate out of this province and not one of them wanted to go. Klein gave them no choice. We lost 14,583 health-care workers we are told. My dad, the best supporter conservatives ever had, came within two hours of dying because of what Klein did.

I think that it was eight lawsuits launched against Klein, because of deaths attributed to his health-care cuts. They were all settled out of court, behind closed doors, under a gag order, so Albertans weren’t allowed to find out what we lost, even though it was our money. One man told me his uncle was one of them. He didn’t know what his family got but they went from being dirt poor farmers to “Beverly Hillbillies”-types. Over the years lawyers have indicated that the loss to Alberta taxpayers was huge, but they weren’t allowed to disclose what it was. I’m betting it was a lot more than the $10.5 million we lost on Khadr. Maybe these Klein supporters should think about that.

Alan Spiller

Edmonton

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