Notley acted quickly on cancer centre
By Letter to the Editor on April 12, 2019.
In 2015, then-premier Jim Prentice cancelled the expansion of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. Too expensive. On Rachel Notley becoming premier she went ahead with the $1.2 billion project. Dan Holinda, executive director of the Canadian Cancer Society in Alberta said, “This government in a very short period of time reached out to us, they sat us down, we brought the evidence, they listened and in a very short period of time – we’re talking days – came out with this decision.” John Osler, who represents a group dubbed Concerned Citizens for a new Calgary Cancer Centre that had lobbied for the Foothills site, said the NDP government’s approach was a “breath of fresh air” compared to the PCs. The project is on time and on budget. In 2023 when the Tom Baker expansion is due to open we will have a state-of-the-art cancer centre attracting docs, oncologists and cancer research specialists from the best in the world. The UPC as it is now would have saved $1.2 billion and maybe they would put up a nice piece of marble, they could inscribe it with their manifesto, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” John Beaven Medicine Hat (The writer is a board member of the local Friends of Medicare chapter.) 9-8
There is no question that Notley is a lot more like Lougheed she cares about the well being of the people. Unlike Kenney who thinks we should live like third class citizens doing without proper schools, health care facilities, properly paved roads and accept an American style health care system, while he gives away billions of oil royalties and increases tax breaks for his rich friends and sells off parcels of public land, the Treasury branches, costing their employees their jobs, and god only knows what hospitals he plans to sell off to privatize the health care system, while ignorant seniors see nothing wrong with what he is trying to do.